(To be approved at the next meeting)

TOWN OF BELL
BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
7:00 p.m. at the
COMMUNITY CENTER

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. Board members present were Roger Lindgren, James Kaseno, Andrew Sauter Sargent, Allen Hahn, Jackie Eid, MaryBeth Tillmans and Janice Olson.
– Board Meeting Minutes – A. Hahn made a motion to approve the minutes and J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Unanimous. Approved.
– Treasurer’s Report – J. Eid made a motion to approve the report and J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Vote (3-1) Yes – A. Sauter Sargent, J. Eid, & J. Kaseno. No – Allen Hahn. R. Lindgren abstained.

Board Comments
– J. Eid – Thanked the town road crew for keeping the roads open.
– R. Lindgren – John and Diane Hall have recently been recognized as Brick Builders for the Brick Food shelf. They were thanked for their service.

Correspondence – Reviewed

Committee Reports – Committee reports submitted prior to the meeting were reviewed.
– Recycling – The town website is being used for getting communication out. The Recycling Center is used by everyone and is a good place to get information out too. Trash from the town facilities and parks is being kept track of for budgeting.
– Roads – M. Hipsher asked people to contact him if they see drifting on roads or driveways after they are done plowing.

Public Comments
– R. Lindgren – He had two written comments that he distributed to board members. One was that he fully understood the comments from last month from Shaun McElhatton. He confirmed it with him. The other was from Jeff Byerhoff on the ATV trail.

Old Business
– Transient Vendor Ordinance – Allen Hahn – They started asking questions of people about goals, how to go about them and desired outcomes. He will be meeting with the Parks and Lands committee. He attended a City of Washburn meeting, which has a very similar ordinance. They too are working on the issue of conditional use of land. Anyone who would like to help with the ordinance should send an email to Allen Hahn (tobsuper1@cornywi.org).
– ATV route – Klemik to Old 13 – update – The plan has been revised to place it 40 feet off of the roadway. Now it is impacting .58 acres of wetland and an individual permit from the DNR is required. The cost for it is between $35,000 to $40,000 before design and construction costs. There are a few ways to go forward. A trail could be made less than twelve feet wide. It is recommended that they be at least 12 feet wide so that they can pass. Another possibility is to ask the DOT to put the trail closer to the road and avoid wetland sections. R. Lindgren spoke with them and they said they would not approve it. It has to be forty feet or nothing. The third possibility is to elevate the trail with boardwalks or something similar. The cost would be similar to mitigating costs. The fourth option is to request special permission to mitigate wetlands on town land ourselves. R. Lindgren will continue to pursue this.
– BIG, RBF Award, HAP Grant Award – update – A letter was sent out to locals and property owners answering questions about the grants. The BIG (Boating Infrastructure Grant) is a federal grant. It is a grant focused on providing
space for transient boaters greater than 25 feet. The BIG grant that covers the 150’ on the east side of the river, north of the bridge. The RBF (state) grant is for approximately 75 feet north of the end of the 150’ of the BIG grant. A subcommittee did review putting the sheet piling to the end of walkway. It was determined that it would be too commercial, it would narrow the river hydraulically and boats that are currently there on the west side would not be able to turn. The town has received this award. The BIG award is done in March. The BIG and RBF are working together in combination. The Harbor Assistance Program (HAP) is a Wis. Dept. of Trans. award to the Town of Bell. It is for sheet piling on the west side of the river all along the Siskiwit Bay Marina to the gas dock. It is to be used to repair failing dockwalls, reduce sedimentation, and strengthen the shoreline to support routine dredging efforts on the Siskiwit River to protect the Cornucopia Harbor. In additional to the money for that, another $245,00.00 for the east side will be awarded if funding is not received from BIG or RBF. A lot of work has been put into the grants. None of the grants have been committed to yet. The grant contracts are being reviewed.
– Received a bid to install the 3 pole lights in front/rear parking lot. – A proposal for $8964.00 was received. It for installing one in the front parking lot of the community center and two in the back parking area. It will be looked at in the budget.
– Dark Sky – consider ordinance – update – J. Kaseno will research this.
– Request for sealed bids released for back-up generator – R. Lindgren has sent out four requests for sealed bids. A notice will be in the paper. The date to have them received by is March 1, 2021. Replacement of the fluorescent
lights to LED in the meeting room was looked at. The best way to do it would be to eliminate the ballast and go straight LED. The cost to do twelve lights would be approximately $1000.00. This includes buying the bulbs and converting the fixtures. New fixtures could be put in. They would not be less expensive, safer and use a little less
energy. R. Lindgren will continue to work on this.
– Monthly review of Community Center COVID restrictions – A. Hahn made a motion to allow use of the fitness room in the community center on a restricted Covid type basis and J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Unanimous decision. Approved. The equipment will be adequately spaced.
– Website Posting and distribution of reviewed minutes and other correspondence – The town website is being updated regularly and minutes and correspondence are being sent out with MailChimp. People can sign up on the website to regularly receive correspondence.

New Business
– Maryann Ledin – presentation on educational opportunities through Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College and other opportunities.
– John Anderson – presentation about what is going in the court system and the upcoming election
– Recycling Job Description(s) – A. Hahn has worked on the job descriptions for the recycling manager and relief operator. A. Hahn made a motion to use the updated job descriptions and J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Discussion was held. There was concern about wording for freon certification. The motion was withdrawn by A. Hahn. R. Lindgren made a motion to approve the updated job descriptions, with the edit that they must receive freon certification within 90 days of employment. J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Unanimous decision. Approved.
– Sann Class A Special Use – They are asking for the ability to build a structure on their property that is zoned forestry. The location is the back side of Siskiwit Lake. The Planning Commission voted unanimously for the structure. However, they noted that a driveway permit is required and that a rezone should not be considered, but the consideration should be a dwelling in forestry with a F-1 zoning setback. J. Eid made a motion to approve the Sann Class A Special Use permit for putting a dwelling in forestry and A. Hahn 2nd the motion. Unanimous decision.
Approved.
– Halvorson Lease – review and potentially approve Harbor Commission Recommendation – The lease was reviewed by the board members. Discussion was held. Concern was mentioned of fairness to all users of public lands. Concern was expressed that the Halvorsons needed certainty. The board expressed that they want them to stay and to be successful. R. Lindgren made a motion to approve a one year lease contingent upon accompanied by the Harbor Commission giving full consideration to what action would we take to encourage a replacement fishery and at what cost, and investigate what our harbor offers that is unique and a significant benefit to a resident fishery and what other forms of agreement can we offer the Halvorsons, that would give them the security or assurance that any commercial business of that size, would require for remaining in our harbor. There was not a second. More discussion was held. A. Hahn made a motion to approve a one year lease extension with a caveat that the Harbor Commission work with the town board to clear up issues and come up with a long term lease during that time, that everyone is comfortable with. There was not a second. More discussion was held. J. Eid made a motion to accept the lease as written and ask the Harbor Commission prior to Nov. 1st, to review some of the terms for clarification and possible renegotiations. The boat slip agreement and storage lease will be for 10 years, renewable annually. The leases will not have increases that would exceed the CPI. J. Kaseno 2nd the motion. Vote (2-3) Yes – J. Eid and J. Kaseno. No – R. Lindgren, A. Hahn and A. Sauter Sargent. Motion did not pass. A. Hahn made a motion to approve a one year extension of the existing Halvorson lease. A. Sauter Sargent 2nd the motion.

At this point there was a ten minute recess.

Discussion was held. A. Hahn withdrew his motion. A. Hahn made a motion to approve a one year extension of the existing Halvorson lease, with the intention of the board of supervisors working with the harbor commission to come to a long term lease agreement favorable to all parties, by Aug. 1, 2021. The motion was 2nd by R. Lindgren. Unanimous decision. Approved.
– Storm Water Drainage System Evaluation – The ACOE will not do a storm water drainage study for the Town of Bell. Randy Lund from Lund Engineering has given the town a proposal to look at the drainage situation. He will find ways to get the water to the river instead of Highway 13. His proposal is for $2500.00. The board will consider it.
– Computer Training Opportunity – Maryann Ledin has offered to do classes for the town board. R. Lindgren asked for
input from the board for possible classes.
– Civic Affairs Classes UWGB – registration deadline Feb 15 – The UWGB website shows classes available to the board.

Bills were paid. At 10:57 p.m., A. Sauter Sargent made a motion to adjourn the meeting and R. Lindgren 2nd the motion. Approved.

Respectfully submitted,

MaryBeth Tillmans – Clerk