5/18/2020 – Town Board Minutes
May 18, 2020 PORT WING TOWN BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm, by Chairman, Russell Bailey. This meeting was virtual via Zoom in the Town Hall, Russell, Ken and Gary at front table, Marge and Nora adjacent and workers Troy, DuWayne and Brett present. Pam was in the office running the Zoom process.
Motion was made to accept the minutes as presented by Gary Williams, second by Ken Bodeen. Motion was made by Ken to accept the Treasurer’s report, second by Gary.
Citizen’s Input – Via Zoom – Judy Moyer was saying that several vendors would like to do the Saturday Market again starting right after Memorial Day. Russell asked that she enforce the social distancing, the masks and the cleaning as the Town would not be able to do that. Gary made the motion to allow the Saturday Market providing they follow the rules and enforce the social distancing and the masks as well as the clean-up each week to keep everybody safe. A second was made by Ken Bodeen.
Mike Ostrenga was next on Zoom explaining what the Lion’s Club is planning for their fishing contest – he said they have it all worked out so there will be minimum contact, they are advertising ahead of time about the rules and they intend to enforce them. All participants will be required to wear masks, use hand sanitizer, use their own pens and keep the 6’ distancing. Participants will weigh their own fish, there will be no public raffle this year but participants will sign up for the raffles that will be determined by the fish caught. If the virus gets any worse, they will cancel the contest. Their goal is to keep everyone safe. Motion made by Ken with a second by Gary to OK the fishing contest after listening to all the safety rules they plan to enforce. Russell felt that it might be even more important to stay safe now as things open up in the State.
Big Pete road was always open to ATV traffic, apparently there was some misunderstanding for a while, but all of the Town Roads in Port Wing were designated as ATV routes several years ago.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Trusty Trucking and Olson Brothers are OK with working together on the gravel needs this year.
FEMA –Cody Kamrowski has moved on to his new job and we received a letter from Patty Fahey, she will be our new Public Assistance point of contact. We are still waiting for our final payout from FEMA. Russell reported we still have a problem on Flagg River Road, he talked to South Shore Sand and Gravel, as well as Ben Duford, and plans were made to add filter and more rocks in the problem area, estimated cost would be around $2,000.00.
Bill Gustafson was able to clean up the area on Almstead Road, he dug out a bunch of trees and brush that was holding water and making the area wet with banks starting to slide. He put in a longer culvert and now the water is running freely away, and things should be able to dry up now.
90/10 projects – Ken Bodeen – Kinney Valley Road Bridge replacement is moving on, the agreement with the State was signed tonight at the meeting, Ken will get it to the right people at the State and then we can start looking for an engineering firm. Several, including Ayers, have already contacted Russell and plans are being made for them to come look the project over.
Still waiting for a firm bid on the doors for the Town Hall, we keep changing the plan so it’s hard to get a firm quote, now we want emergency handles on the front doors and a window in the side door, it seems the quote will be somewhere around $5,000.00.
The health infrastructure Grant was applied for, but we have not heard back from them yet. The plan is to improve the court so it can be used for basketball, pickle ball and new fencing.
Board agreed to purchase an upgrade for our Zoom meetings at a cost of $150.00 per year.
Motion made by Russell with a second by Gary to raise the poll workers hourly rate to $15.00 per hour.
Due to Covid19 a motion was made to charge the Port, South Shore Bar and Johnson’s Store just $100.00 for all the Town provided licenses for the year starting June 30, 2020 and ending June 30, 2021.
Ambulance report was read – 6 calls for Port Wing last month.
The annual payment of $800.00 to the Port Wing Garden Club was approved for this year.
Road Weight Restrictions were off as of May 4th.
Recycling and Dump rates were reviewed, and they will be put on the Port Wing Website. https://portwingwi.com/port-wing/local-government/
Sewer hook-up application from Jane Snilsberg was received – Board wanted to get more information and wanted to know what the water board decided so decision was tabled until next meeting.
Some complaints were registered about garbage and unlicensed vehicles in and around Town. If some progress is not made to clean things up, we will have to notify the County.
Parking at the lake is a problem – been a lot of fishermen parking with trailers, etc. Someone got boxed in by the parked vehicles and registered a complaint, Troy suggested painting some lines for parking on the blacktop.
Steve Gustafson has started mowing the cemetery and parks.
Troy reported we have a problem with the culverts near Carl Christenson’s and riprap will be needed for the whole bank. He talked to Bayfield County Highway Department and all agreed the culverts will need liners inserted in them and at least one of them will be eligible for County aid. He is working on a gravel map for this year and the plan would include some work on Big Pete Road. He reported a busy time at the dump this spring and Brett concurred. Troy also informed the Board about a problem in the alleyway between Pennsylvania and Braff Avenues, south of 7th Street – it seems the property lines are in question and a fence line was erected right over the top of the sewer line, Troy will try to correct some of the problem by making a ditch to drain the water away better. We will have any further problems on the agenda for next meeting.
Date for Board of Review will be decided next month after we hear from the assessor.
Next meeting set for June 8th Meeting adjourned by Gary with a second by Ken.
Submitted by Marge Ogren, Town Clerk