City Council

Draft Minutes Town of Vermont Board Meeting July 10, 2023 7:00 P.M. Vermont Town Hall 4017 County Rd JJ, Black Earth WI 53515 ​ To Join the meeting by phone: +1 347-896-0991 PIN: 481 262 925# ​ In attendance: Karen Carlock, Doug Meier, Kirk Lynch, Alex McKenzie & Nick Balster 1. Call to order and certification of notice posting Karen called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Katie certified that the meeting had been posted according to statute on the website and door of town hall and emailed to subscribers. 2. Approval of agenda Doug motioned to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0 3. Approval of June minutes Karen motioned to approve the June meeting minutes. Motion carried 5-0 4. Chairman's report and acknowledgments none 5. Citizens’ Input Warren Gaskill spoke about the Horribly Hilly Bicycle event. He did the ride this year and found it to be safe and well run. Karen noted that the crew in charge this year took a different approach to road marking and that went very well. Jack reported that there was no trash anywhere to be found after the event. 6. Treasurer’s report There were a number of small deposits this month for permits and fees, totalling $3413.35. Our current total balance is $261,589.89 with an operating balance of (3713.78). Alex made a motion to approve the treasurer's report. Motion carried 5-0 7. Clerk’s report Expenses this month were routine. There were no permits for new construction. I will be out of the country for the August meeting. We will make arrangements to take care of signing checks before I leave. I will still be available by email. Kirk made a motion to approve the clerks' report. Motion carried 5-0 8. Payment of bills Doug made a motion to approve the payment of the bills. Motion carried 5-0 9. Patrolman Report, Mt. Horeb Fire Department, Black Earth Fire District and District 1 EMS Reports A number of trees have come down this month as they are under stress from the lack of moisture.  Mount Horeb Fire is meeting next week. The Local Relief Aid Package that previously had been $9628 will be increased to $44,838. Black Earth Fire meets this Thursday. District One is experiencing some staffing issues. 10. Consideration and possible approval of homesite, zoning and driveway application for Barb Grenlie on Greenwald Road There will be two zoning changes on Lot 3 in order to make this a residential lot. Rezone from RM-16 to Karen made a motion to approve the zoning from RM-16 to FP-1. Tim clarified that this moves the PDR to this lot. Motion carried 5-0 Karen made a motion to take Lot 3, 19.667 from FP1 to RR-16. Because this land is in CSM it does have to be RR-16. Motion carried 5-0 Alex made a motion to approve the driveway application. We do have a shared driveway agreement on file between the Eve and Barbra Grenlie property. Motion carried 5-0. Doug motioned to approve the homesite location. A ridgetop protection agreement is on file. Motion carried 5-0. 11. Consideration and possible approval of homesite and driveway application for Eve Grenlie on Greenwald Road Eve’s lot is Lot 4 on Greenwald road. The zoning for this one does not need to change. Karen made a motion to table the item til after item 12. Upon receipt of a document from Eve Grenlie authorizing Barbara to act as her agent Kirk made a motion to approve the driveway permit. Motion carried 5-0. Doug made a motion to approve the homesite as surveyed and visited by the planning commission. Motion carried 5-0. 12. Consideration and possible adoption of retroactive resolution to allow signatory municipalities to exceed the levy limit in response to increased fire department levies. *Note: This is a procedural resolution being made in order to address a levy issue in the Town of Springdale. No changes to the levy in Vermont are proposed and Vermont’s taxes and budget will be unaffected.. John Rosenbaum, chair of Town of Springdale, came to speak to the situation that precipitated this situation. Karen made a motion to approve resolution 20230710. Motion carried 5-0. 13. Consideration and possible approval of solution(s) to address safety issue on Forshaug Road, including review of a bid for rock removal There are concerns about visibility and safety regarding the driveway on Forshaug road. We measure sightlines for 300 ft of visibility. While this driveway does meet this guide, because of the hill and the frequency with which agricultural equipment is coming down that hill, there are concerns that a vehicle could not stop in time. The rock that blocks the view is in the right of way on Eric Forshaug’s land. Jack got a bid of between $3000 and $3500 to shave the rock down enough to make the visibility better. At this time the board does not plan to remove the rock, however as the rock is on private land the  landowner may chose to do so if they wish. Karen made a motion that we put up signage for safety. A 25 mile an hour black and yellow sign was suggested. Motion carried 5-0. 14. Bohn Road Bridge project discussion and grant funding update The application is in, but we won’t hear anything until the county approves their budget. We will have this on the October meeting 15. Cooperative Boundary Agreement progress discussion Alex provided an update on the discussions with Blue Mounds. Kirk added some information about meetings with Black Earth and Mount Horeb. Mark could come in for another closed session in August. Kirk will invite him for 6:30-7:00. 16. Land & Water Resources letter follow up including request for FAQ document Nick suggested that we send another mailed letter with a timeline for requested follow up and offered to do so. Karen made a motion that we draft a follow up letter to Land and Water Resources. Motion carried 5-0. 17. Consideration and possible approval of Driveway Ordinance amendment revisions following 1st reading at June meeting Tim provided follow up on driveway variances. The WTA reviewed the language and agreed that the language was sufficient. Regarding sightlines, the discussion was between set numbers per the DOT guidelines versus somewhat more subjective criteria. Because the actual DOT guidelines do not take into account slope and terrain, we are better off not adopting the DOT distances based on speed limits. Kirk made a motion to approve the driveway and field road ordinance as revised. (added emergency vehicle turnaround over 250 ft, visibility, passing lane based on driveway length and administrative language cleanup). Motion carried 5-0 18. Possible approval of updated Town Website Karen made a motion to make the new site live. Motion carried 5-0 19. Reserve Schedule Karen made a motion to table this item til September. Motion carried 5-0 20. Turnaround agreements for Shower Road, Skogg Kled and Hoda as well as discussion regarding potential future turn-around agreements Katie will reach back out to the surveyors to get that done. Will revisit in September. 21. Town of Vermont Emergency Management Plan and generator installation discussion with Vermont Lutheran Church which serves as the designated emergency location for the Town of Vermont Karen made a motion to hold on the generator strategy and will pursue grant opportunities. 22. Town of Vermont 2023 Picnic planning The board discussed plans for the upcoming picnic (note: the date discussed at the meeting was unavailable. The picnic will be held Sept 10 from 4-7pm) 23. Agenda items for August Dane county water letter Turn around agreements Cooperative boundary agreements 24. Adjournment Doug made a motion to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0.