Town Of Bell Harbor Commission Meeting Monday March 13, 2023

1. Call To Order – The meeting was called to order by Chuck Perry at 7:06p.m.. Members present were Chuck Perry, Pauline Colamatteo, Doug Becker, Roger Lindgren, and Will Tillmans. Members appearing by Zoom were Jessica Resac, and Jennifer Sauter-Sargent. Others appearing by Zoom were Marybeth Tillmans, Dave Tillmans, Nancy Thorson, and Michael Thorson.
2. Minutes -Pauline made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from February and Doug
2nd. Passed unanimously

3. Conflict Of Interest – None

4. Citizen Comments – None

5. Public Hearing – None

6. Reports

A. Harbor Dredge Committee – Per Dave Tillmans;
“The amount we have been awarded is a Congressional add-on to the FY23 Presidential Budget and is for 1.12 Million Dollars.In order to complete our current WI-DNR dredging permit to include the entire Harbor the DNR wants more sampling and analysis work done in the East and West slips. The end result we are seeking is to enable dredge spoils to be distributed along the NE beach below the OHWM. The funds awarded should be enough to include this work. It will need coordination with the Corps and WI_DNR to be sure the funds cover not only the Corps needs but also to include the sampling and analysis to meet the WI-DNR requirements, to complete our Cornucopia Permit. I have already been in discussion with the people involved with this in both the DNR and the Corps.”

The last time the marina was dredged by the Army Corp was in 2008. The cost was around $100,000. This new dredge funding was awarded largely based on safety issues: Cornucopia Harbor being in close proximity to the Apostle Islands National Park, the Sea Caves and as a designated harbor of refuge by the USACE.
Dave requested to be reinstated as a harbor commissioner. It was stated that there will be 3 seats open in April for the Harbor Commission.

B. Green Shed Committee – Pauline gave an update on the Green Shed. One bid has been received from Serve Pro. They need more measurements and photos in-order to complete the bid. Roger might have some measurements and photos and will give them to Pauline. There was discussion about replacing the floor with new concrete later in the future.
C. Shop Lease Policy Statement – At this March meeting Jennifer Sauter-Sargent resigned from heading up the Shop Lease Policy Statement Committee. She did not feel comfortable being a shop owner and leading the lease policy Statement. Chuck put together a rough draft of The Shop Lease Policy Statement. There will be comments open for the next meeting and vote. Jessica asked if the policy will be part of the shop lease agreement or will it be in addition to the lease agreement. That will be discussed next month. Pauline made a motion to table the shop lease policy till next month and Jessica second. Passed unanimously.

7. Old Business

A. Harbor Map – Roger sent out the comments from the town board. They want to know if the bathroom, Old Boats, and the Breakwater access should be part of the Harbor Commission. There is concern that harbor map boundaries don’t correspond to boundaries on the county map. Also that the map should give actual dimensions. It was discussed that the Break Wall was its own thing and separate from the commission and that the town was never supposed pay any money towards the Break Wall. Parks and lands has been taking care of the Old Boats and the Breakwater Access. Doug has been looking into grants to help fix up the bathrooms. He asked the DOT if they would like to upgrade the bathroom because it is on a National Scenic Byway but they said no because it is on town land. They gave Doug four suggestions with grant applications. He’s going to reach out to the project manager for the DNR. She helps people through the grant process. Doug also brought this up at the last Parks and Lands committee, and he would like to have a joint meeting to see if we can work together to get it done. Chuck thinks the public use of the bathrooms is more than marina use. He feels that if the Harbor Commission takes over the bathrooms then they should be locked for just boater use. Doug made a motion and Pauline 2nd to have Chuck and Doug meet about the bathrooms and then report back at the next meeting. Passed unanimously. Pauline asked
about what is the intent with the boats that don’t float. The intent is for them to decompose and go back into the ground. Will Tillmans will put the longitude and latitude on the the map.

B. Ten Year Plan- Jessica wants to put replace the wood dock posts with metal posts. Chuck asked Michael if he replaced them last year and Michael said he did not get that done. Chuck asked to come up with a motion for next meeting in order to get that done this upcoming summer.

C. Breakwater Access – The path needs to be mapped out from the parking lot to the break wall access. Doug suggested asking Matt what equipment we will need and his input. Chuck established The Breakwater Access Committee and Doug was made Chairman. The Access is from the parking lot behind Halvorson to the gravel that goes to the break wall.

D. Sheet-pile Project – Two bids have been received, one from Nordic and the other one from Wren Works. Both are over $800,00. That’s out of our range. Both of the companies that bid on the job said that requiring the coating on the sheet piling almost doubles the cost. Roger is going to write again to the grantors to ask if we absolutely have to have the coating. Roger received a note from Jessica saying that Rocky Tribovich Construction is interested in this job. He sent him the request for bid. They were due on march 6th at 5pm. Roger says that we can reject both bids, which we will have to, because it is out of our budget. In order to move forward we need the grantors to bypass the requirement for the coating, also a lower bid. Jessica asked if the second revised bid went out in the paper. There was talk about whether it was, or was not put in the paper. Nancy recalled that she did not put it in the paper. Roger sent it out to the bidders that responded to the first bid. Jessica thinks that the revised bid needs to be put in the paper. She wants to make sure that we’re doing everything right. Roger is going
to ask the grantors what we need to do in regard to putting the revised bid in the paper. Chuck appointed Roger as the Sheet Pile Project Chairman.

E. Norvado – Roger contacted Norvado. They communicated that the Harbor Shops will not be charged to hook up the internet in their shops. They will have to pay a monthly charge for the service. One alternative would be to put up a router for the shops and their customers and then one for the boaters. There was discussion about how many access points the marina will need to get internet to everyone. Jesica asked if the marina was going to reimburse the shop owners the have internet already. Chuck said no. There was discussion on what the shops would be required to pay and what would happen to the shops that already have the internet. There was discussion about how the internet would work with the boaters and the shops. Pauline made a motion to have Roger talk to Norvado and Doug 2nd it. Jennifer has concern about the cost year round, because the marina isn’t active year round. Chuck thinks you can disconnect during the winter months, Roger confirmed. Passes unanimously. There was discussion about getting our own router and setting it up ourselves.

F. AIS System Update -This isn’t a project we need to pursue and the marina isn’t that interested in it. It has been removed from the agenda.

8. New Business

A. Secretary Job Description Revised – Jessica published the Secretary Duties. Jennifer made a motion to approve the Secretary Duties and Doug 2nd. Roger spoke about the SJD; he brought up the town ordinance states that any expenditure has to be signed by the chairman and the secretary. Chuck did not remember that. Marybeth stated that the bills can be changed to the Harbor Commission mailbox 301 and Nancy can present them to the chairman. Chuck stated that Nancy and Jessica can write up a procedure about how to handle the incoming and outgoing communications that the secretary handles. Marybeth will advise. Chuck asked Jessica to head that. Jessica is going to look at the town ordinance and the state statue for the Harbor commission. To come up with a procedure list. Passed unanimously

B. Marina Docks and Grounds Committee – Tabled till next meeting.

C. Financial Statement – Jennifer made a motion to approve and accept the financial as published Pauline 2nd. Motion approved

9. Communications – None

10. Adjournment – Will made a motion to adjourn Pauline 2nd meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Thorson – Secretary