Town of Washburn

Bayfield County

Town Meeting Minutes

June 11, 2024

Attendance: Sandy Raspotnik, Scottie Sandstrom, Jim Park, Lance Twombly, Mike Harvey, Matt Lippo, Kim Bro, and Lynn Adams (virtually).

At 7:02 pm, town meeting called to order by Chair Raspotnik

Meeting notices were posted in the two public places and on the website.

Public comments: No public attendance.

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

Motion to accept last month’s minutes by Supervisor Sandstrom and seconded by Supervisor Park. All Ayes, motion carried. Scottie suggested using regular time instead of 24-hr/military in the future.

Treasurer report: Books are balanced. Working on budget with clerk and sent out four documents to board and clerk. Chair asked that Road Superintendent be included on budget handouts and emails. Motion to approve treasurer report by Park and seconded by Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

Clerk update: Election training almost complete, only WisVote left. For the minutes, the Treasurer salary is $5,000/year and Clerk is $8,000/year. Successfully transitioned to QuickBooks Online. Two payrolls completed, first by check, second by direct deposit. Quarterly payroll and mileage done. Testing out QuickBooks Workforce app for clocking in and managing employee time. Clerk will continue to do payroll and not outsource. Road Crew employee contracts need to be modified for next year but can wait until fall to do this. State Form SL-305 submitted and working on PA-551 with assessor. Received an extension on filing Worker’s Comp Insurance audit since I missed the deadline. Bremer loan, Holden Insurance, and other bills paid. In addition, Clerk requested board to approve Lynne Borchers and Caroline Twombly as election workers. Motion to approve Lynne and Caroline by Jim Park and seconded by Scottie Sandstrom. Motion carried with all Ayes. A donation request to improve Thompson West End Playground was sent to town. Motion to donate $100 made by Scottie and seconded by Sandy, motion carried with all Ayes. A motion by Jim Park and seconded by Scottie Sandstrom to accept the clerk’s report. All Ayes, motion carried.

Road Crew report: Matt Lippo is helping to fix tractor with some effort, mowing, hauling dirt, and working on weight limit signs. Matt requested a small, efficient electric, battery-operated saw to help cut saplings that get stuck in mower deck since blades are designed for mowing grass and not brushing. This saw will be convenient to carry in limited space making it more accessible and still capable. Jim made a motion to approve purchasing this electric saw for $280, seconded by Scottie. Motion carried with all Ayes. Also, Matt has successfully completed his 6-month probation and will receive a $1 pay raise.

Road updates: On Hove Lane, a truck ran over culvert. Reflectors were put up to help mitigate this issue. There is a concern with heavy truck traffic detouring construction on Highway 13 in City of Washburn and using town roads. Chairperson Raspotnik will contact DOT representative.

Hopefully, posting, monitoring and maybe stopping a few trucks will get the word out. There is a possibility of listing our roads as part of the detour so that they will later be fixed. Paulson is an option but won’t last long. McKinley cannot handle the heavy loads. Trucks do not want to use Church Corner with steep hill, climbing and descending. Mike will try to get videos for documentation. Grader: Almost fixed but more issues found. $17,500 already into it but will need an additional $2,500 to complete. The Board approved this additional expense. Once grader is back (Monday?), Mike requested to work 12-hr days for two weeks to finish roads in barrens. Supervisor Park made a motion for Mike Harvey to work 12-hr days for 12 days and was seconded by Supervisor Sandstrom. Motion carried with all Ayes. Also, the 2015 International snowplow truck is leaking from rear-differential. Crew is hauling mud and clay on Church Corner N. Working on Rustic Rd, putting an end on a culvert. Chequamegon Heights culvert is undermining due to all the rain. Motion to put a sleeve on this culvert for $7,800 made by Jim and seconded by Scottie. Motion carried with all Ayes. Mailboxes: The letter sent out needs to be changed to state that box should be at the shoulder and not the edge of blacktop/road. Priest Rd: This is a low priority road and will be worked on when time allows. Mike will fix areas where water is collecting, as well as continue ditching, a little at a time. And this road will not be on the 5-year plan. Sandy will call resident on this road to report Board’s decision. A motion by Scottie Sandstrom and a second by Jim Park to accept road crew report. All Ayes, motion carried.

Chair report: Received one load of rock for barrens roads at $500. Need $4,000 more of rock. Mike will check and work on getting the best price. Motion to accept Chair’s report by Supervisor Park and seconded by Supervisor Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

Plan Commission: Kim Bro gave Plan Commission & Task Force Minutes to Board. The commission recommended approving the no-fee driveway permit off a private access road on Paulson Rd with their recommendations. Chair Raspotnik finished filling out the permit and adding modifications and future contingency. Motion to approve driveway permit for Elizabeth Post with Commission’s recommendations made by Park and seconded by Sandstrom. Motion carried with all Ayes. During this discussion, Chair stated that new 911 standards may require roads to have a name if there are three or more residents living off that road. Sandy will look into it. Comprehensive Plan Committee: Six residents asked to be part of the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Current timeline for completion is before April 2025 elections with a February public hearing. Budget may need to be adjusted. Committee will try to use internet more effectively to engage community. Such as the webpage, Mail Chimp, QR Codes, Survey Monkey, etc. to get feedback. Plan on mailing out postcards using town mailing list for outreach, connecting people to website, at the end of summer. There is no limit to the number of participants on this Committee. Committee will try to focus on the implementation plan and potentially trying to protect larger tracts of land from being broken up into 5-acre rural residential plots, keeping those closer to Hwy 13 and paved roads. They hope to clarify development and roadwork by setting priorities and where to spend money. Landfill: Kim suggested mowing it the same as last year. But reports of lots of rocks in it. Looking for it to be mowed in the second week of July and potentially seeking bids. The Plan Commission recommends 3,000 cubic yards of clay, approximately 130 truckloads to cover landfill. Get responsible parties to contribute (City of Washburn and Town of Bayview). Clay can come from the northside of pond across from town hall, which already meets requirements. A skid steer will be needed to move clay around to fill in deep spots. A sandy mix of topsoil should be placed on these spots. Chair Raspotnik will check into finding a contractor.

Bids:

Asphalt: One bid from Northwoods Paving, $191,108.87. Motion to accept Northwoods Paving bid made by Jim and seconded by Scottie. Motion carried with all Ayes.

Gravel: 3 bids for FR251

1. Bob Olson: $23.90/ton

2. Trusty Trucking: $23.95/ton

3. Olson Brothers: $21.93/ton

Motion to accept Olson Brothers bid made by Scottie and seconded by Jim. All Ayes, motion carried.

Wannebo Road Update: Supervisor Sandstrom gave handout to Board and emailed summary to Board this morning. There are some cost savings with the current bid and potential efficiency due to proximity of construction in the city. In this discussion, Board decided to complete the original 2-mile project to end at Ondossogan Rd, and fund an additional $50,000, if needed, and to also keep town savings at around $200,000 for rainy day/emergency funds. Motion made by Sandstrom to continue Wannebo project for full 2 miles, up to $50,000, seconded by Park. Motion carried with all Ayes.

Box blade: No.

5-year Road Plan Update: Scottie gave a handout but will be discussed in the next meeting.

Request for Bridge Aid for North Church Corner Road: Chair will put in to county for next year.

Accounting practices: Pushed to next month’s meeting.

Hiring Policy: Discussed next month. Supervisor Sandstrom asked to move this topic to the top of agenda for next meeting.

Motion to authorize payment of bills by Scottie Sandstrom, seconded by Jim Park. All Ayes, motion carried. Sandy Raspotnik suggested approving a list of bills/checks instead of initialing all paperwork.

At 9:23 pm, a motion to adjourn was made by Supervisor Park and seconded by Supervisor Sandstrom. All Ayes, motion carried.

 

 

Lance Twombly, Clerk