City Council

​ Minutes ​ Town of Vermont Board Meeting February 10, 2025 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 Carlock Doug Meier Alex McKenzie Kirk Lynch 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 according to statute, and emailed to subscribers 2.​ Approval of agenda Doug made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0 3.​ Approval of January minutes Kirk made a motion to approve the minutes. Motion carried 4-0 4.​ Citizens’ Input none 5.​ Treasurer’s report We received the first payment for General Transportation Aid and the full portion of our levy has been received and then also we got 17,000 for an MFL withdrawal, some of which will go on to Dane County. Our assets currently are 1,990,409 and we are paying out the February settlements this evening for roughly 750,000. 6.​ Clerk’s report We have been sending absentee ballots for the February election and have been getting those back in the mail. We have the schedule set for the poll workers and should have everything we need. There were no permits for new construction this month. Bills were largely routine; we wrote the settlement checks for Feb today, to Dane County for their portion and for Mount Horeb Schools, Heights Schools and the community college. We also paid for the phase 2 bridge design work. 7.​ Payment of bills Doug made a motion to pay the bills. Motion carried 4-0 8.​ Patrolman Report, Mt. Horeb Fire Department, Black Earth Fire District & District 1 EMS Reports Things have been quiet, we have been doing some presalting and the F-550 needed a fuel filter after a gas cap was left off in the storm. It has also been derating and is under warranty for the work that it needs. A solution has been found for the Moyer driveway. The owner will berm it up so that there isn’t a lip that could potentially catch the plow wing. Jack did tell the landowner that the plow wing will dig scratches in the driveway and Dave Moyer said that he understood and was fine with that. The town will include in a letter the details of the requirements for this asphalt work to ensure that the work is done in a way that will work safely with our plows.  Mount Horeb fire has a new manager at the billing company and the income is up substantially. They were able to top up their reserve funds and they have about $280,000 that has not yet been allocated. Looking down the line Jenny Minter is considering the need to drop down to two engines, rather than to continue having three, due to the high cost of replacing trucks. Black Earth Fire is looking at levying one third of Act 12 monies from the townships. They would then put that money into the equipment fund. This would not take effect until 2026. Good progress has been made in the potential Heights Unified Fire District discussions so the town is not giving Black Earth Fire an answer about their plans at this time. 9.​ Review and possible action regarding updates from Land & Water Resources None, tabled until March 10.​ Budget Amendment for tire and rim purchase Karen made a motion to shift $3867.11 to Ford Truck repair within the 2024 budget. Motion carried 4-0 and the amendment was signed. 11.​ Bohn road bridge update, project timeline & decisions regarding aluminum box culvert procurement as well as other opportunities that for cost-savings All permits for the bridge have been acquired. The proposal for phase 3 involves bid document assistance. We will have Mr Polkinghorn prepare the bid documents, but we would prefer to have Jack do the on-site administration. We would like to have him prepare the bid documents for the culvert so we can get the bid out, but we would like him to amend the proposal to remove 44 hours: the 4 hours that seem to be a mistake in the spreadsheet and 40 observation hours, and have that replaced with time and materials up to 8 hours. Looking over all the hours, the board is concerned that they are a bit padded. Kirk stresses that he must include the bid documents (material order assistance lump sum cost) as we will need his expertise for that. Kirk made a motion to approve a revised proposal for phase 3 at a cap of $16,500. In the discussion, Karen pointed out that Contech might be able to do some of the bid documents. Motion carried 4-0. Kirk made a motion to send the bid out for the culvert to purchase as a town, per plan B of the schedule. Doug asks that we consider reviewing the bid documents ourselves. Kirk says that we can look at all the bids and just send the potential winning bid to Ray for review. Motion carried 4-0. Doug will reach out to Mr Polkinghorn with the revised proposal. 12.​ Update regarding land acquisition process We will send a cover letter stating that we need to get the signature before we order the survey, but will do that as soon as we have the signature. The clerk will mail the signed agreement and cover letter to the land owner this week. 13.​ Consideration and possible action on Dane County Zoning Ordinance Amendment #23 (OA) regarding the Conditional Use Permit review process Tim reports that one thing to consider is that the rezone process is different from the CUP process. If a town would deny a CUP application the county wouldn’t send it to the ZLR, however that is against State Law. A resident sued and the court is likely to find for that landowner. So, the county is getting out ahead of that by changing the policy. This does reduce the towns ability to limit CUPs, however we still need to approve it because otherwise we are not following the state law. Options for towns include opting out of county zoning or suing the county in order to stop a CUP they regard as being unacceptable. Another way to manage some of the more controversial conditional use categories is to simply make things like rock quarries a zoning category. This would have  to be done at the county level. The county also suggested adding language to the town comprehensive plan to include the conditional uses we would envision in the town, because in the finding of fact at the ZLR that can be brought up to support if an application is not within one of those anticipated conditional uses. Karen made a motion that the town of Vermont approve Dane County Zoning Ordinance Amendment #23 and to ask DCTA to pursue and consider changes to the zoning categories. Motion carried 4-0 14.​ Discussion regarding safety planning at Town Hall We will revisit this as part of next year’s budget planning due to potential costs 15.​ 2024 Year-End Financial Review and Reserve Allocation Heather presented the 2024 Financial review, which will also be presented at the annual meeting. 16.​ Agenda items for March Horribly Hilly application, received 2/10/25 Land Acquisition Update Land and Water Resources Bohn Road Bridge Annual Town Meeting Public Safety Consolidation Reviewing bids for culverts 17.​ Adjournment Kirk made a motion to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. Meeting adjourned at 8:53 Posted:​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Katie Zelle, Clerk The Town Board’s agenda includes a period for public comments. That period, which is not mandated by state law, is offered to permit orderly and civil discussion of Town public business and matters. During the remainder of the Town Board meeting, persons other than Board members and Town officers are permitted to speak only if recognized by the Chair. Public comment may address any matter pertaining to Town, but must not be repetitive, involve personal attacks, profanity, or disruptive comments. The Chair may rule any person out of order and terminate their comment period. By adhering to these principles, we aim to ensure productive and fair discussions while respecting the rights of all to be heard. We appreciate active engagement and encourage participation in the governance of our wonderful Town of Vermont.