City Council

/ Town of St. Joseph - St. Croix County, WI Minutes of the Town Board Meeting St. Joseph Town Hall August 8, 2024 Call to Order by Chair Theresa Johnson at 6:00pm Statement of Public Notice read by Clerk Roll Call: Chair Theresa Johnson, Dan Gavin, Chris Marshall, Matt Moore, Engineer Lee Mann, Attorney Nick Vivian; Online: Justin Kruse Adoption of Agenda: MOTION to adopt the agenda as presented (Marshall/Moore). Motion carried. Pledge of Allegiance recited Justin Kruse present at 6:05pm Public Comment: Allison Page, candidate for State Assembly, Democrat Candidate for the 38 th Assembly District, introduced herself. Theresa Johnson discussed the equalized value and the increase to the Town of St. Joseph’s equalized value of 17%. Business discussion and possible action on: 1. Stillwater Fireworks – August 31, 2024: MOTION to approve the Stillwater fireworks for August 31, 2024 (Marshall/Gavin). Motion carried. 2. DairyLand Power and St Croix Electric plans for new substation in Town: DairyLand Power (Conrad Domine) and St. Croix Electric (Rob Dooley) representatives appeared to discuss the proposed substation needs and potential locations. The timeline is out 2-3 years. The substation on County Road V and 150th is an approximate size comparison. This substation would help with outages in the area. The representatives will speak with Stantec to discuss any preliminary plans. 3. CSM – Derek Bratager/Zach Hartman – 410 Highland View – PID# 030-2099-10-000- 3 lots: Ty Dodge was present to discuss the CSM. Discussed the email received from a resident in opposition to this development. MOTION to approve the CSM for Zac Hartman and Derek Bratager for 410 Highland View with the following conditions: conservation easements will be placed on the slopes and wetland areas of the CSM, buildings will be removed prior to any building permits issued, driveways will be installed (Johnson/Marshall). Motion carried. 4. Approval of Developer’s Agreement for Steve Vader – 144th Ave sharing of costs to upgrade roadway: Doug Zahler and Steve Vader were present to discuss the Developer’s Agreement. A contractor has been chosen, J&S. The final plat, insurance, LOC are in process. Lee Mann discussed the information needed for the LOC and the language for the Developer’s Agreement. Nick Vivian discussed the Developer’s Agreement finalization. The cost estimate was approximately $599,000. Rick Caruso was present to discuss his concerns about the development at the end of a straight line road and the potential for speed issues, as well as the removal of trees. Doug Zahler stated they will preserve as many trees as possible. Lee Mann discussed the potential for a “meandering” road. He stated their project manager would review this project. MOTION that we conditionally approve this Developer’s Agreement with Steve Vader for 144 th Ave conditional upon you getting done with the HOA documents, that the Letter of Credit is taken care of and insurance, and the 144th split of costs between the Town and the developer is approved by our engineer, Lee Mann and that the Developer’s Agreement is approved by both the engineer and the attorney before it is filed (Johnson/Marshall). Motion carried. 5. Town Hall Building update a. Pay Request #2 for building: The pay request is for $86,424.35. MOTION to approve Pay Request No. 2 for the Town Hall Building Construction in the amount of $86,424.35 (Johnson/Kruse). Motion carried. b. Update on furnishings for Town hall and Fire Hall: No updates at this time. c. Projected expenditures and available funds and timeline for construction: Discussed the financial spreadsheet. Northwest Communications will be reviewing the site. Chris Marshall / asked about a safety fence for the site. The project will be resuming on August 19 th. d. St Croix Electric rebates: Justin Kruse asked about the status of the St. Croix rebate forms. Bruce Paulson will review and send any documents. e. Update on AV: No new updates at this time. 6. Update on road connections on west side of Town: Lee Mann stated that Phil Carlson is working the State to review the plans. 7. Major Road Project a. Update on Church St Project and pay request: Lee Mann stated there is some concrete work and ravine work remaining which will be finished soon. There are no pay requests at this time. 8. Public Works a. 2024 Road Maintenance – update and pay request: b. Sealcoating roads 3 years after install with monies from developers: Spray patching has been completed and sealcoating will begin. Lee Mann discussed the piles of rock which are currently blocking the shed. The contractor stated they will be working on creating a lane for access. Discussed having a map in the future for placement of the rock piles. Discussed the maintenance of the roads and costs associated with it. MOTION to move forward with asking the engineer to draft language with regards to the seal coat roads 3 years after installation with the developer’s monies (Kruse/Marshall). Motion carried. The engineer will work with the Town attorney. c. Update on tractor –maintenance: Chris Marshall discussed the current status of the tractor. It is being repaired by a new mechanic in Rice Lake. d. Update on tree removal: Trees have been removed on Valley View. e. Complaint of jake braking Burkhardt: Bob Marty had spent time in the area discussing this issue with the residents. Discussed placing signs on the road. MOTION to decline the installation of signage for the complaint of the jake braking in Burkhardt (Marshall/Kruse). Motion carried. f. Update on County Rd A and McCutcheon roundabout project and consideration of signing River Road as a Class B roadway: Theresa Johnson discussed the update to this project. Discussed making the road a Class B road and put signs up to that effect which would keep the semis off the road. MOTION to approve ordering Class B roadway signs for River Road to be installed when the signs are received (Marshall/Moore). Motion carried. g. No parking signs on Perch Lake Road: Discussed the issue with parking on Perch Lake Road. Dan Gavin stated that the residents would be willing to help pay for these signs. h. No parking signs on Nelson Farm Road: Discussed the issue with parking on Nelson Farm Road. Chris Marshall has been communicating with the DNR to get a parking lot off of this road. Will ask Lee to research this and let the Board know how many signs we need for these roads. MOTION that the Town post no parking signs on Nelson Farm Road and Nelson Farm Lane starting at River Road end-to-end on both sides of the road (Gavin/Marshall). Motion carried. 9. Parks, Trails and Recreation a. Update on Playground and plans to be completed in spring i. Grant for bike racks and possible bike repair station: Bike racks are no longer available and the Town should move forward with other plans. b. Fall Festival – September 21, 2024: 8-12, Pat Tuma is working with Zac on signs. People should contact Pat Tuma if they have any questions. c. Mowing of trails at Town Park, brushing and buckthorn: Theresa stated she has received complaints about the overgrowth at the trails. d. Weeding of flower beds at signs and at front door: The Parks Committee will reach out to the prior ladies who were weeding the Town Hall areas, otherwise they will do it themselves. 10. Plan Commission a. Junkyards and other chronic nuisances and enforcement issues: Mike Michaud was present to discuss the complaint he received from the Town. He has requested copies of documents from Nick Vivian. b. Update to ordinances i. Update public hearing date for Chapter 170 to September 12 at 7:00PM: MOTION to change the date of the public hearing for this ordinance to September 12th. (Johnson/Kruse). Motion carried. / ii. Ordinance 2024-07-Chapter 98 – Membrane Structures and Temporary Structures: This will be brought to the next meeting. iii. Ordinance 2024-09-Chapter 50 – Election Conduct: Nick Vivian discussed he proposed ordinance. This ordinance does not relate to poll watchers but does relate to election workers. Violations are handled by citations or by the Sheriff’s office. Laurie DeRosier asked questions about this proposed ordinance. Nick stated it was just a tool that the Town has to protect our election workers. MOTION to approve the Ordinance 2024-09 Election Conduct as presented (Kruse/Marshall): Roll Call: Justin Kruse-Aye, Matt Moore-Aye, Dan Gavin-Aye, Chris Marshall-Aye, Theresa Johnson-Aye Motion carried. 11. Technology Committee – switch from Google Drive to Synology: Anton Rang discussed the Synology system, no costs associated with it as we already are licensed for it, and the testing of it. The Technology Committee made a motion for a limit of $2,000 on this project. MOTION to approve the Technology Committee’s recommendation to switch from the Google Drive to Synology (Moore/Johnson). Discussed the timeline for this transition. The Board has discussed starting this after the 2024 Elections. Motion carried. The Clerk will work with Tim Whiteside to begin this process. 12. Fire Department a. Plan for build out of storage in Fire Hall: Chris Marshall and Zac Spates discussed the start of this project with DesignWorks, as well as the details and timeline for this project. 13. Operator Licenses: Jeremy Ryan and Jamie Fiedel: MOTION to approve the operator licenses for Jeremy Ryan and Jamie Fiedel (Moore/Gavin). Motion carried. 14. ARPA funding and approval of expenditures a. Approval of transfer ARPA funds for Pay Request #2 - $86,424.35: MOTION to approve the transfer of ARPA funds for Pay Request #2 in the amount of $86,424.35 (Kruse/Gavin). Motion carried. 15. Public Records Requests – progress and costs 16. Approval for Budget Workshops on Tuesday, Sept 17 and Tuesday, Oct 8 and Thursday, Oct 24. Schedule the Budget Hearing, Special Town Meeting of the Electors and Special Town Board Meeting for Tuesday, November 19: MOTION to set our Budget Workshops for September 17, October 8, and October 24, and the Budget Hearing, Special Town Meeting of the Electors and Special Town Board Meeting for November 19 (Johnson/Marshall). Budget Meeting to begin at 7:00p Motion carried. 17. Approval of Town Board minutes – July 11 and July 23. MOTION to approve the Town Board Minutes for July 11 and July 23 (Marshall/Kruse). Motion carried. 18. Budget, Invoices, checks and bank balances: MOTION to approve Check Nos. 25217 through 25263 including the epays to the withholdings and the transfers (Johnson/Kruse). Motion carried. 19. MOTION to go into Closed Session: Wis Stats 19.85(g) (Kruse/Gavin). Roll Call: Dan Gavin-Aye, Chris Marshall-Aye, Matt Moore-Aye, Justin Kruse-Aye, Theresa Johnson-Aye. Closed Session: Wis Stats 19.85(g)—Conferring with legal counsel who is rendering oral or written advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved – trash burning, animal control issues, Cajun Club, illegal campground, vape manufacturing. 20. MOTION to come out of closed session (Gavin/Kruse). Roll Call: Theresa Johnson-Aye, Justin Kruse-Aye, Chris Marshall-Aye, Matt Moore-Aye, Dan Gavin-Aye. Motion carried. Open session to discuss or act upon matters considered in Closed Session a. Action on any items in closed session 21. Items for the next Town Board Agenda or committee agendas 22. Adjournment: MOTION to adjourn at 8:45 pm (Kruse/Marshall). Motion carried. Minutes submitted by Teri Kelly