City Council

​ Town of Vermont Board Meeting February 12, 2024 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, Alex, Doug, Nick, Kirk 1. Call to order and certification of notice posting Karen called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Katie certified that the meeting was posted on the website according to statute and emailed to subscribers. 2. Approval of agenda Doug made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0 3. Approval of January minutes Doug made a motion to approve the January meeting minutes. Motion carried 5-0 4. Chairman's report and acknowledgments Thanks to everyone for attending this evening 5. Citizens’ Input Mark Haukoos discussed the issues he feels are related to the 1992 land use plan as it was applied to himself and subsequently, his neighbors. He believes the Parisi property that had been part of the Bakken farm exceeded the density study and that houses were built near him in 2000 and 2002 that should not have been allowed, after he completed his house in 1999. Karen suggested that two board members will meet with him this month and will return with information about this issue at the March meeting. William Sonderberg, a resident with an easement to the property at 4732 State Road 78 does not have water despite a well easement with the property owner at 4732. He is looking for solutions because the derelict house on the property cannot have electricity put back in it, per the inspector and the power has been shut off and the meter pulled by Vangard. Despite the easement agreement, Mr Sonderberg was told by the landowner that he could not install his own electric wiring to the well pump and the sheriff was called out. Mr Sonderberg says the sheriff would not look at the well agreement. The electricians currently won’t connect the wiring up to the well because they are unwilling to get involved because the owner at 4732 has contacted law enforcement. The board is looking at possible solutions with the sheriffs department, Dane County Public Health and Dane County Zoning. 6. Treasurer’s report January tax collection continued. $1,276,000 was collected in January. We also got our first transportation aid payment. Our current account balance is $1,091,600.99. Kirk made a motion to approve the treasurer's report. Motion carried 5-0 7. Clerk’s report Bills this month were generally routine. We wrote the February settlement checks distributing property tax funds out to Dane County, Madison College for $32,608, Mt Horeb Schools for $161788, Wisconsin Heights for $299,373. There were no permits issued this month for new construction.  Doug made a motion to approve the clerks' report. Motion carried 5-0 8. Payment of bills Doug motioned to approve the payment of the bills. Motion carried 5-0 9. Patrolman Report, Mt. Horeb Fire Department, Black Earth Fire District & District 1 EMS Reports A radiator hose blew on the IH during one of the January storms, and the carbide blades needed replacing. Lots of trees came down in the wet heavy snow. MH Fire held interviews for deputy chief and should have news soon. Black Earth Fire has no news. District One EMS did hire a chief. 10. Interim District Administrator for Wisconsin Heights School District, Craig Gerlach presentation on school funding referendum The proposed referendum is an operational referendum due to the school funding model in Wisconsin and increasing costs for operations. For 2024-2028 the proposed referendum is $3,200,000. Per 100,000 of property value it would add an additional $9 per year. 11. Horribly Hilly Hundreds Permit Application consideration and possible approval We have received the check and application from the Friends of Blue Mounds State Park for the Horribly Hilly event. The event will use cones and signage again this year, which worked well last year. They anticipate their usual 1200 riders. Karen made a motion to approve the application. Motion carried 5-0 12. UTV/ATV Survey Results and action steps The online survey was completed on January 31. Doug Meier recapped– 70% were in favor of opening up town roads to ATVs. 210 people responded and 147 said yes we should have an ordinance favoring ATVs. 57% said we should have a speed limit but only 40% were in favor of limiting hours of use. Karen suggested that a subgroup begin drafting an ordinance and bring it to next months’ agenda. Kirk and Karen will work on this. 13. WI State Required Culvert Inventory We will continue to work on this next month. The town has the option of working with a contractor to inventory the culverts or doing the work ourselves. The state is providing funding at $100 per culvert. 14. Possible review and approval of Bohn road bridge engineering bids and next steps for bridge replacement Doug provided some info on the options for an aluminum box culvert bridge like what the county has been placing. This should save money both on the structure and on engineering. Doug is continuing to work on this. 15. Discussion and possible action regarding the building located at 4732 State Road 78 There is a dilapidated house at 4732 State Road 78 that is unoccupied. Tracy Johnson reports that the house is not habitable. The steps for the town taking action would be to get an inspection warrant and begin the process to condemn the house. County Zoning has gone out there. The town will notify the Health Department of the issue. Additionally, at this time, the taxes have not been paid on the property. 16. Review of bids and possible acceptance of a bid to add small roof for back door of Town Hall  The town received a bid for $4825 to build a roof over the back door to shed the snow. Kirk made a motion to approve the building of the shed roof for $4825. Doug asked about making it 8 feet and Kirk amended it to say up to $5000. We will pull the money from the fuel tank reserve budget. Motion carried 5-0. 17. Review of building code ordinance Nick looked into this and the concern with condensate draining onto the ground is apparently about ph. 18. Road planning: review of dead-end roads, turn-around areas & sample turn-around ordinance The board will continue discussing this next month as more data is gathered. 19. 2023 Year-End Financial Review The board will revisit this in March. 20. Agenda items for March Bohn Road Road planning 4732 State Road 78 Planning for annual meeting Mark Haukoos follow up 3 land use petitions Fire District ATV draft ordinance Culvert inventory 21. Adjournment Alex made a motion to adjourn. Motion carried and meeting adjourned at 9:24 Posted: Katie Zelle, Clerk