The meeting notice has been posted at the Black Earth Branch of the State Bank of Cross Plains, at John Bird Accounting in Black Earth, Harris Bank in Mt. Horeb, on the town web site www.townofvermont.com, and on the front door of the town hall. It was also published in the News Sickle-Arrow and the Mt. Horeb Mail.
Present: Chairman, Mark Sherven; Supervisors, Don McKay, Barbara Grenlie and Larry Ziemer; Clerk Marc Robertson and Treasurer Kathy Smith. Supervisor Todd Culliton was absent.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Larry Ziemer, seconded by Don McKay and approved.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE
Dane County OA 42 regarding wind siting will require action at the April Board meeting. The Treasurer will be attending a meeting in March where the status of area emergency shelters will be discussed and hopefully local information will be brought up to date.
CITIZEN INPUT
There was no citizen input.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Larry Ziemer moved approval of the minutes of the February 11th meeting, Barbara Grenlie seconded, and the minutes were approved. Barbara Grenlie moved approval of the minutes of the February 25th meeting, Larry Ziemer seconded, and the minutes were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Total deposits for the month of January were $101,623.72. The majority was $97,640.56 for 2013 property taxes paid in 2013. $3,279.71 was DNR Payment in Lieu of Taxes, $500 was for a driveway permit, $115 for Dog Licenses, $25 for an assessment search, $9.71 for a January Special and the remainder was $53.74 in interest.
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Don McKay to accept the Treasurer’s report and the motion was approved.
CLERK’S REPORT
The spring election is on April 2nd and the Annual Meeting is now on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, which this year is April 16th. Quite a few February checks were written, but most of the larger checks were mandated tax distributions to the school districts and other levels of government. Many of those were required to be sent out early. Of the remaining larger expenditures, check 3361 was for new carbide snow plow blades and check 3366 was for topping off the propane tank beyond our 2012 – 2013 prepaid amount and installing a rerouted propane line to the garage to bypass the attached salt shed
A motion was made by Larry Ziemer and seconded by Barbara Grenlie to accept the Clerk’s report, and the motion was approved.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Approval is sought for payment of bills for February, 2013, paid by checks numbered 3321 through 3372 and ACH transfer 7 for health insurance. Checks 3321 through 3325 were discussed at the February meeting. Checks 3326 for Diesel Fuel and checks 3327 through 3332 for tax settlements were sent out early. Check 3341 to the Village of Mt. Horeb for the Town’s annual municipal court fee was also sent out early. Checks 3373 and 3374 are March checks written for bills that arrived the day of the meeting. Checks other than those discussed in the clerk’s report are for normal supplies, repairs and maintenance and for regular monthly bills.
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Larry Ziemer to approve payment of bills for February 2013 and the motion was approved.
CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF ROAD COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION REGARDING ACCEPTANCE OF TOWN GARAGE ADDITION BID
Present was Bill Montelbano, the architect for the garage addition, and Shannan Stevens, representing S & D Builders, the low bidder for the project. At a February 25th Special Town Board Meeting, a motion was approved “that the S & D bid be accepted with the stipulation that while the Town will accept the $2,000,000 aggregate liability limit, S & D Builders LLC must supply performance bonding for at least the amount of the bid.” Subsequent investigation indicated that it would be advantageous to both parties if an “irrevocable letter of credit” were to be substituted for the bond. Further statutory requirements are introduced because the project is being constructed for a municipality. Chairman Mark Sherven moved 1) that the Town will waive the $3 million liability insurance requirement, substituting a $2 million requirement, 2) that the Town would hold back ten percent of the total project cost until the project is completed and the Town has signed off on the project, 3) that the Town, as a policy, may accept an irrevocable letter of credit on any building projects that exceed $50,000 but do not exceed $100,000 as a substitute for payment and performance bonds, 4) that the contract includes a provision which allows the Town to make direct payment to subcontractors or to pay the prime contractor with checks that are made payable to the prime contractor and to one or more subcontractors, 5) that building and zoning permits will be obtained by the builder and State approval by the architect, (6) that the project be awarded to S & D Builders LLC, which will provide a certificate of insurance and a one year’s builder’s warrantee, and (7) that an 8 foot concrete wall be substituted for a concrete / framed wall on the east side of the garage addition. Barbara Grenlie seconded the motion and it was approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Inspection of Town roads has indicated some damage from the winter weather as well as the loss of some of the stone coverage from 2012 chip sealing. The latter appears to be due to the use of aggregate which was too large to permit proper adhesion. Further inspection will be necessary before a decision is made on which roads should be chip sealed in 2013. The tractor will be traded for a new one sometime in late March. The Ford truck will soon require repairs to the air conditioner clutch and bed hoist.
Two Supervisors attended a recent Wisconsin Towns Association meeting in Mineral Point. Topics on the agenda included statutory changes to the date on which the terms of town officers begin and the conduct of annual town meetings. Items that the WTA will be pushing for from State government in the coming year are an increase in general transportation aid to local governments, passage of a bill to allow town withdrawal from county zoning, and permitting local governments to carry unused levy limits into following years. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has established a task force to develop a plan of action for dealing with potential road damage caused by increasingly large agricultural equipment.
Larry Ziemer attended a recent meeting of the Dane County Towns Association. Among the topics discussed were the possible appointment of a rural representative to the Dane County Zoning and Land Use Regulation Committee and the proposed dissolution of the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission. Also discussed was a rezoning controversy in the Town of Blue Mounds in which Dane County has overridden local approval of the construction of a driveway and home, progress on the DaneCom communication system and proposed construction of an underground power transmission cable to new wind turbines in the Town of Springfield.
DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR APRIL MEETING
There will be several bicycling events considered at the April meeting, along with Planning Commission recommendations regarding OA 42, which addresses wind turbine siting.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Larry Ziemer and seconded by Don McKay that the meeting adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 9:43.
Marc Robertson, Town Clerk