City Council

​ Town of Vermont Board Meeting ​ CLOSED SESSION - 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Meeting of Town Board members along with Mark Roffers, engaged consultant, to discuss strategy and negotiation points for developing cooperative boundary agreements between Town of Vermont and the Villages of Mount Horeb, Blue Mounds and Black Earth ​ Town of Vermont Board Meeting April 10, 2023 Vermont Town Hall 4017 County Rd JJ, Black Earth WI 53515 ​ 7:00 P.M. ​ To Join the meeting by phone: +1 347-896-0991 PIN: 481 262 925# ​ In attendance: Karen, Doug, Nick, Alex, Kirk 1. Call to order and certification of notice posting Karen called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Katie certified that the notice was posted in the Mount Horeb Mail, Star News, on the door of town hall, on the website and emailed to subscribers 2. Approval of agenda Doug motioned to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0 3. Approval of March minutes Nick motioned to approve the March minutes. Motion to approve carried 5-0 4. Chairman's report and acknowledgments The annual town meeting next Tuesday, the special topic will be soils in Town of Vermont 5. Citizens’ Input none 6. Treasurer’s report Our current balance is just over $561,000 between all 4 accounts, $265,000 is the current reserve balance. No significant deposits this month, just personal property taxes, dog licenses, building permits and a small refund from General Communications for some unneeded chargers for the radios. Alex moved to approve the treasurer's report. Motion carried 5-0 7. Clerk’s report The election went smoothly with a good turnout. Thanks as always to our poll workers for their hard work. There were no permits for new construction this month. We paid our poll workers as well as a few quarterly and annual expenses, as well as paying Mark Roffers for his time in the preceding meeting as per the contract he signed with the town. Kirk made a motion to approve the clerks' report. Motion carried 5-0 8. Payment of bills Tabled to a later point in meeting, returned to this item while David set up his photos Doug moved to approve the payment of the bills. Motion carried 5-0 9. Opening of Chip Sealing road bids as well as consideration of and possible acceptance of a bid  The first bid was from Fahrner, with roads listed per the planned road maintenance schedule. The bid was for $281,251.31. The bid from Scotts was for the same roads with exception of Cedar Hill and Schulenberg. The bid totalled 261,600.00. The budget for chip sealing was 171,700. Because the bids so far exceed the budget the board discussed removing Ryan Road from this year's chip sealing plan. Scotts agreed to do all of the roads on the full list, adding in Cedar Hill and Schulenberg and removing Ryan Road for $155,650. Kirk moved to accept the amended Scotts bid for the chip sealing. Motion carried 5-0. 10. Patrolman Report, Mt. Horeb Fire Department, Black Earth Fire District and District 1 EMS Reports The International is at Burke as it is not turning the broom head. Weight limit signs came down today. Patching in preparation for crack filling is about to begin. Brush mowing is almost complete. Only one culvert will be replaced this year. Mount Horeb Fire voted to join the union. The department has retained an attorney in order to begin contract negotiations. It is expected that it will take months to years. No meeting for Black Earth. 11. Update regarding Dane County Housing Advisory Committee from Vermont citizen representative Nick Hiebert Nick shared an update with the board on the projects currently underway in Dane County related to affordable housing. He is also willing to meet with the planning commission as they begin a review of the comprehensive plan. 12. Board discussion and approval of the “Then and Now Photography Project” exhibition of photographs, to be mounted in early July, 2023 David described the photo project that is to be presented at an exhibition and brought in a sample of the then and now photos. There will be 14 exhibits in all. The project is being funded by several grants. Photos will be displayed in Town Hall and will also serve as a reference as the comprehensive plan is being considered. 13. Discussion regarding how to proceed with gathering updated community input on the question of opening Town of Vermont roads to UTVs. We had a referendum in April of 2020 on this issue. We are being asked how the community feels at this time given that some other towns have opened their roads to ATVs. We may want to ask for information from the sheriff's deputy to see if this has been going smoothly in other townships. 14. Review Final 2022 Financial Report and Reserve accrual schedule Heather went through the final 2022 numbers for the board. Kirk made a motion to move the 2022 fund carryover into Road Maintenance Accrual. Motion carried 5-0 15. Review and possible approval of letter to Dane County Land and Water Resources Department with follow ups from listening session Karen made a motion to send the letter to Land and Water Resources. The letter is a follow up from the listening session to request FAQ and data gathering. Motion passed 5-0 16. Review in progress revisions to Town of Vermont website  Everyone should send feedback to Gary. The board will take one more look before the new site goes live. 17. Agenda items for May Reserve allocation Website review Budget Amendment for the Ford 550 18. Adjournment Nick ade a motion to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0 and meeting adjourned at 8:46