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October 4, 2007 October Meeting Minutes
Minutes of: Regular Monthly Town Board Meeting October 4, 2007 Vol 7, Page 124 Notice of the meeting was posted in accordance with law and informational copies were provided to the media. Present: Steve Rhode, George Champeny, Karl Jennrich, Gary Vold, Nancy Vold, Richard Martinson, James Hedberg, Jeff Barnekow, John Barnekow, Karl Boehm and Brian Engel. The meeting was called to order and opened with the pledge of allegiance. Motion was made by Karl Jennrich to approve the agenda, was seconded by Champeny and was carried. Minutes of the previous meeting was approved in a motion by Champeny, was seconded by Jennrich and was carried. Hedberg made a presentation on material that he and Jim Bert were presented at a Community Development Seminar in Minocqua last month. The hi-lite of the seminar was a presentation made by Ruthann Watts of the IRS and Carol Doran of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. In a nutshell, the Internal Revenue Code requires payroll deductions from all compensation for all workers, contractors etc. Compensation is wages no matter how you look at it. A push has been initiated by the IRS to visit all towns within the state with Fire Departments/EMS and insure compliance by seeking to audit records of compensation and compel payment of previous years. Hedberg stated that towns willingly making efforts to do this will be only required to go back to 2006 but others can be forced to go back up to 7 years. Bert commented that in fire meetings, it was said that volunteers could make up to 1500 annually but according to Watts, that was a mis-interpretation and the language was clarified in 1990. Hedberg made the point that Election Works can make up to $1300 tax free and our emergency personnel who have there lives on the line, are screwed on what little compensation they receive. Watts said don’t shoot the messenger – look to your legislators who put these regulations into law. Hedberg is checking with the IRS as to what impact the2006 W-2 will have as a requirement on the volunteers. Because of the unfairness of this IRS code, Hedberg made the recommendation that the Town pay the .0765 and that the amount be added to the line item for social security in the budget. A listing of the following showed compensation that is subject to withholding that at the present time, was not: Board Expense, Board of Review, Fire Calls, EMS Calls, CFD Secretary and Zoning Administrator. This amounts to $3687.30 in Social Security and Medicare. Motion was made by Jennrich to budget funds for payment of these taxes to allow for the base net to volunteer as appears on list. Motion was seconded by Champeny and was carried. Vold reported that the department responded to 3 assisted help for the ambulance and one search and rescue. A $1,000 grant check was received from Wal-Mart and it was requested that the department invest in a big screen TV so that the department could be able to initiate its own training classes during fire meetings. Gary reported that the amount of money requested for completing the fire truck would be $198,788. In a motion by Supervisor Jennrich amount was said to be rounded to $200,000 and be applied for. Motion was seconded by Champeny and was carried. Hedberg would initiate the paperwork from the State of Wisconsin and determine the term etc. Nancy reported that the ambulance alternator went out and neighboring units filled in calls. Eleven calls were made in September. There is 10 on the crew and as part of the record, it was agreed that only a fire department member should be driving the mini-pumper when used to respond as a first responding unit. It was felt that because of the size, only Fire Personnel were qualified to drive this in an emergency. Vol 7, Page 125 Martinson reported that Old 45 Road will be scheduled to grid the existing road, gravel and grade. Highway TRIP funds were discussed for Birch Point or Struck Road but Vilas County would have to be contacted for further information. Church Road was completed and the request for funds from the State required signatures of the Clerk and Town Chairperson. Request for payment was in the amount of $209,151.91. Crew will be working on widening Pioneer Creek Road and the Dodge going in for service on Monday. Cold patching would also take place next week and Pitlik and Wick would be fixing at no charge, the low swamp section of Church Road between Champeny Lane and Monheim. Martinson stated that Joe Ritchie has not been cooperative regarding the placement of the Conover sign on 45 and 17. With the town owning the dump and shop LP tanks, other suppliers could take over that supply and West Central out of Ewen would be able to supply the diesel fuel to the town. The agreement made with Glenn Miller in 2004 was that the town would be able to have sign on property and Ritchie would be our supplier. The sign has been down for over a year and after several calls and letters, we are now getting that the sign be moved to his North driveway and there is no power there. Phelps moved to Highway 45 near the potato fields and that route will be investigated by Gary Vold and Hedberg with check on another site near the Animal Shelter to the North which has a power supply. Jennrich reported that he and Rich had toured the Boulder Junction facility and the compaction unit. Rich described the layout. Jennrich to draft letter to Veolia stating that the Town will request quotes/bids for servicing the transfer station when contract expires. A decision is needed to consider the compactor vs concrete pad and new dumpsters. Prices for power and the generator will have to be investigated. A check was presented from Veolia representing back payments of recycling revenues (Oct 2004 – Aug 2007) amounting to $3240.94. Letter stated that funds will be sent on a monthly basis. Rhode read procedures regarding the abandonment and discontinuance of a town road and indicated that parties had contacted him to discontinue the road namely, East Hunter Lake Road (gravel portion). It was discussed that town must notify the DOT of the aids received and must have a petition from the property owners in agreement for this procedure. Approximately 3 property owners currently are on the road. Letter to be written to abutting owners asking for their decision regarding such action. Discussion was also made regarding logging operations on the Boyer property and the requirement that a road be constructed to town specs as part of the agreement where the town took lands from others to accommodate a town road to the land-locked property. Rich will speak with the Tijans who are starting the project. New agreement with Pludeman was reviewed, discussed and approved regarding the decreasing cost of timber. Motion was made by Jennrich, seconded by Champeny and was carried signing the new agreement. Many compliments on the looks of the park and areas that have been harvested. Rhode turned over a NIMS compliance certification for the Town of Conover. Vilas County Emergency Management has NIMS Point of Contact as Fire Dept. Lt. Chad Lederer as contact for implementation. Documents on file in the Clerk’s Office. With no other correspondence, town claims were review and motion was made by Jennrich to adjourn, was seconded by Champeny and was carried. James Hedberg Clerk
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