August 6, 2024

Attendance: Sandy Raspotnik, Scottie Sandstrom, Jim Park, Lynn Adams, Lance Twombly, Mike Harvey, Kim Bro, Karin Kozie, Bill Route, Mike Vavrus, Bob Adams, Robert Olson, Milo McGillivray, Bob Defoe, Nancy Hanson, Tim Schwenzfeier, Nori Schwenzfeier, Trevor Schwenzfeier, and Sven Schwenzfeier. Virtually: Wendy Stein.

At 7:00 pm, town meeting called to order by Chair Raspotnik. Road Crew member Matt Lippo could not make tonight’s meeting.

Meeting notices were posted in the two public places, on the website, and sent to Ashland Daily Press, not printed.

Public comments (Hove Ln comments will wait until later during agenda item):

· Karin Kozie thanked the town for not supporting the National Park designation for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, at this time.

· Bob Adams suggested town should wait until after the November election before supporting the National Park designation.

· Nancy Hanson thanked the town for the work done on Paulson Rd. Asked about future of Paulson Rd and about the activity at Church Corner Rd and Paulson. Chair stated Paulson Rd is not on the 5-year Road Plan and she will address the latter in her report.

A motion to accept the agenda by Supervisor Park and seconded by Supervisor Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

Motion to accept last month’s minutes by Supervisor Sandstrom and seconded by Supervisor Park. All Ayes, motion carried.

Clerk update: Town now has a Bremer Bank Credit/Fleet Card to purchase fuel filters at Napa for a significant discount. In clerk’s name and can be used for other purchases if credit card is required. Clerk is using KeePassXC password manager. Clerk is seeking IT support for email and computer. Clerk may also be seeking Bookkeeping support from QuickBooks, one month for free. Road Crew is using QuickBook Workforce app to clock in and out to see if it will work for the town. Clerk also trying to save some money for town by moving quarterly paid employees on and off the payroll. Voting Machine testing on Aug. 3rd. Absentee Ballots still going out, some coming in, and three Absentee in-person voters, so far. FOIA request for election information sent to town, but the County is handling this request. Assessment Roll mailings out today. Property valuation has increased. Open Book session scheduled for Monday, September 9th, 4pm-6pm, at Town Hall. Board of Review scheduled for September 17th, 6pm-8pm. Public Notices will be sent out. Clerk is working with Assessor. A motion by Scottie Sandstrom and seconded by Jim Park to accept the clerk’s report. All Ayes, motion carried.

Treasurer report: Packet sent out with Balance, Profit and Loss, and Budget Sheets. QuickBooks Online is great. Check from County for taxes coming in. Snowplow contracts go out in September and Treasurer asked if price is going up or staying the same? Board said to leave it as is. Treasurer

also asked about the $90 phone bill from Brightspeed. Could town use VoIP (internet-based phone) or some other option to reduce cost? Clerk will look into it. Chair asked about budget and cleaning up accounts. Treasurer and Clerk will work on cleaning up accounts and Board will work on formalizing budget for next year. Motion to approve treasurer report by Park and seconded by Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

Road Crew report: Matt is mowing and improving overall. FR251 gravel done with over 200 loads. Pulverizing completed on FR251 and Wannebo. Wannebo project asked for town help with soft spots. Northwoods Paving will fix patch on Chequamegon Heights Rd. Grading in barrens is ongoing. Logging trucks impacting previously graded roads. No landfill update other than opening and closing gate and rocks moved in preparation for trucks dumping clay spoil from City of Washburn construction. Jim asked about potholes on Wannebo and Mike said that these need cold mix. A motion by Jim Park and a second by Scottie Sandstrom to accept road crew report. All Ayes, motion carried.

Chair report: Two invoices out to US Forest Service, one for $100,000 and other for $4,000. Boat Storage activity on Church Corner Rd and Paulson Rd is in a waiting period to clarify who is landowner after previous landowner died and two adult children are in jail. The landowner must be determined to go forward with any actions from Bayfield Co. Sheriff’s Office, Zoning Department, and town. Field access was not approved as a driveway, but the landowner would be responsible for making changes, getting permit, etc. Scottie is continuing to talk with Charly Ray, County Board Supervisor, for more options. Motion to approve Chair’s report by Supervisor Park and seconded by Supervisor Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

Plan Commission: Kim Bro gave a report on planning policies from yesterday’s meeting. The Commission is looking to send out a 1/3-page announcement for residents using MailChimp and posting on website. Ready by September 15th. Kim requested a Plan Commission email address through town so he is not using his personal email. They focused on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Transportation for this month. See Plan Commission & Task Force Minutes, August 5th, 2024 for more information.

Hove Lane: Chair Raspotnik requested motion to open floor for public comment. Supervisor Scottie made the motion and Supervisor Jim seconded. Motion carried with all Ayes. The Schwenzfeiers’ and Lynn Adams had lots of complaints about the constant heavy dump truck traffic hauling to and from Bob Olson’s sand pit. Trucks are causing lots of dust, with little to no dust mitigation, speeding, failing to follow traffic signs (not stopping at stop signs), noisy, and are aggressive and confrontational. Residents are traumatized and upset. They asked the town to hold those responsible accountable for dust mitigation and controlling truck drivers, and to post speed limit signs (20 mph). Bob Olson stated that he bid for contract but wasn’t awarded (didn’t really want it), but pit on McKinley Rd that won bid did not work out. Hoffman Contractor for city construction asked Bob, since he has “the finest sand in Bayfield County.” He has tried to control drivers and mitigate the dust. His only option is to close his gate to get their attention. Bob also stated that the road will be in better condition after the project. Chair asked Bob for a list of issues and contacts. Mike will order 20 mph speed limit signs. Chair will request county to monitor/patrol once they are installed. Sandy and Mike will also talk with the contractors. Motion made by Sandstrom to close the floor, seconded by Jim. Motion carried with all Ayes.

Wannebo Road Update: Supervisor Sandstrom attending weekly meetings. FR251 will get paved tomorrow (August 7th) and Wannebo will be paved starting Thursday, August 8th. Finish Saturday (or

the 16th). Shouldering will occur after that. Northwoods Paving will do a complimentary patch on Chequamegon Heights Rd. An invoice will be sent in about a month for 20%, not the full amount.

Accounting practices: Clerk still has to work on document storage.

Hiring Policy: Jim made a couple of minor updates. Confidential information and Open Records policy will be looked at later to determine how to deal with this on applications. Motion to approve Hiring Policy made by Park and seconded by Sandstrom. Motion carried with all Ayes. Jim will post new policy on website.

Change of insurance for equipment: Truck value needs to be replacement value, not current value. Mike and Sandy will check to see if $400,000 is adequate to replace the Grader.

Next agenda: Open Records Policy, Insurance amounts, document storage, Open Book Meeting, Hove Ln, Road Crew contracts and evaluations (October and November), and Budget.

Motion to authorize all payment of bills listed on Check Details dated July 10th through August 6th, 2024 by Scottie Sandstrom, seconded by Jim Park. All Ayes, motion carried. The Board likes the new list of payments to approve instead of initialing each one.

At 9:25 pm, a motion to adjourn was made by Supervisor Sandstrom and seconded by Supervisor Park. All Ayes, motion carried.

 

 

Lance Twombly, Cler