Town of Blooming Grove Board Meeting Minutes – April 22, 2008

Chair Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. Board members in attendance: Chair Johnson, Supervisor Berg, Supervisor Linzmeier, Supervisor McLaughlin and Supervisor Stube. Also in attendance: Clerk/Treasurer/Administrator Mike Wolf, Public Works Supervisor Rick Konkel, Fire Chief Glenn Linzmeier, Dane County Board Supervisor John Hendrick, Dane County Deputy Sheriff Mike Butler, and town residents Deborah Sellers, Mike Meyers, Mary Burmeister, Lucy Strub, Caren Young, Donna Dillman, Brian Dillman, John Uselman, and Walt Prohovnik.

The pledge of allegiance was recited. Chair Johnson asked if the meeting notice had been properly posted, and Mike Wolf said that it had been. The agenda was slightly adjusted to accommodate those present, as presented below.

2g. Dane County Ordinance Amendment #54, 2002008 re: Conditional Use Permits: Dane County Board Supervisor John Hendrick explained that this amendment would give more authority to Town Boards as it pertains to Conditional Use Permits. Supervisor Berg made a motion to approve this amendment. Chair Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0.

2a. Report from Deputy Sheriff Mike Butler: Deputy Sheriff Butler distributed a report that had details of criminal activity in the Town during the first three months of this year. He said that there was not an unexpected amount of crime in the Town compared to other areas of the County.

2b. Public Hearing on Proposal to Open Rankin Road to the West and Carncross Drive to the East: Chair Johnson opened the Public Hearing at 7:17pm.

Mike Meyers spoke against this proposal, citing the increased amount of traffic that would result, public safety concerns as a result of the traffic, and the condition of Carncross Drive and how it would deteriorate as a result of the traffic. He said he understands the need for another road, but would only want Rankin Road open to the West.

Brian Dillman reiterated some of Mike Meyers' concerns, and also said that since this wasn't going to get done in time for the Siggelkow Road construction project, it should be a moot point.

Mary Burmeister also spoke against the proposal, based on safety concerns.

Lucy Strub spoke in favor of the proposal, as she lives at the end of Carncross, and opening the road there would make it much easier for her and her husband to get in and out of their driveway.

Mark McLaughlin said this is a contentious issue that goes back to when Lyle Siggelkow first decided to sell the land and have it developed. Residents then were very vocal about not having these roads opened up.

Mike Wolf reported that the postcard surveys came back: 53 in favor, 53 opposed, 2 no opinion. He also explained that, if the Board should pass this tonight, this would still need to be approved by the City.

Ed Stube expressed concern about the ability for Carncross to handle the increased traffic, and the fact there aren't any sidewalks along Carncross. He would like to see this issue be used in negotiations with the City of Madison as it pertains to bringing in sanitary sewer infrastructure.

Arnie Berg cited safety as a reason to accept the proposal, as this would result in more than one way in or out of the neighborhood.

Fire Chief Linzmeier said that neighborhood residents, as well as the Town, are at risk until a second access point is opened into the neighborhood. There is no other subdivision in Dane County that has only one entrance/egress.

The Public Hearing was closed at 8:17pm.

2c. Board Decision on Opening Rankin Road to the West and Carncross Drive to the East: Supervisor Berg made a motion to approve of the proposal to open Rankin Road to the west and Carncross Drive to the east. Chair Johnson seconded the motion. It passed 3-2, with Supervisors Stube and McLaughlin voting no.

2d. Neighborhood Clean-up Day in April Hill Park : Chair Johnson made a motion to approve the neighborhood clean-up day in April Hill this year. Supervisor McLaughlin seconded the motion. Supervisor Berg pointed out that, while he will support this event, this could be the kind of item the Board may wish to not fund given the fact that the Town is over budget in the first quarter or the year. The vote was in favor of this event 4-1, with Supervisor Stube voting against it for budgetary reasons.

2e. EMS Consolidation: After some discussion, Supervisor Linzmeier made a motion to defer this to a future meeting, after the Village of McFarland has taken action on the proposal. Chair Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0.

2j. Loose Gravel in Town Right-of-Way: Walt Prohovnik expressed his unhappiness with the inordinate amount of gravel that is currently in the Town right-of-way along side his property. He said that the Town shouldn't have put the gravel down when it did, which resulted in all the gravel there now. He said the Town should get the gravel out of the grass.

Public Works Supervisor Rick Konkel explained that the shoulder really needed gravel last fall, and he did the best he could to pack it down. Then the snows came before the ground froze, which contributed to more gravel than normal going into the right-of-way.

Mike Wolf said that no town that he is aware of cleans out gravel from right-of-ways. Chief Linzmeier and Supervisor Mark McLaughlin both stated that they spent a considerable amount of time getting gravel out of the town right-of-way along their respective properties, and that this is to be expected.

The Board took no action; the gravel will not be removed by the Town. Mr. Prohovnik stated that this would not be the end of this issue, and that he has sought legal counsel.

2f. Resolution Regarding Dane County 's Application for Rail Transit Funding: This is a resolution put before the Board by the Dane County Town's Association. Supervisor Berg made a motion to approve the resolution as presented, which urges the U.S. Federal Transit Administration to reject Dane County 's application for Rail Transit Funding. Supervisor McLaughlin seconded the motion. Discussion ensued about the role of rail transit in the Madison area, and who would be advantaged and/or disadvantaged. The motion was subsequently defeated, 2 in favor (Supervisors Berg and Linzmeier) and 3 opposed (Johnson, McLaughlin, Stube). Mike Wolf will contact DCTA with the result of this vote.

2h. Establishing a Code of Ethics for Town Officials and Employees: Mike Wolf explained that this would be good for the town, and came from a suggestion made by Fire Chief Linzmeier. The Board agreed that we should move forward with the process of considering an ordinance covering this issue.

2i. Final Approval of Loan for Siggelkow Road Project: Supervisor Berg pointed out that we had previously agreed on a loan up to $250,000, and the loan request is for precisely $250,000. He asked if we could take out a loan for less money if we needed less. Mike Wolf said that the loan application requires a specific amount, and that if we end up with more than we need we could pay back the difference and have it applied to the balance due. Supervisor Berg made a motion to approve the loan as presented. Supervisor Linzmeier seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0.

2k. Quarterly Treasurer's Report: There was a review of the Town's financial condition as of March 31, 2008. Mostly as a result of the record snowfall, but for a few other reasons as well, the Town is about $17,000 over budget. Mike Wolf said the staff will do what it can to get us under budget by the end of the year.

3a. Minutes of April 8, 2008 Town Board meeting: Chair Johnson made a motion to approve the April 8, 2008 minutes as presented. Supervisor Berg seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0.

3b. Minutes of April 15, 2008 Town Board meeting: Supervisor Berg made a motion to approve the April 15, 2008 minutes as presented. Supervisor McLaughlin seconded the motion, and it passed 4-0 – with Supervisor Stube abstaining.

3c. Vouchers: Chair Johnson made a motion to approve the vouchers as presented, and it was seconded by Supervisor Berg. The motion passed 5-0.

4. Public Comment: Deborah Sellers suggested the Town consider selling items from its storage garages as a way of raising revenue.

5. Adjournment: Chair Johnson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Supervisor Berg seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0 at 9:26pm.

Minutes Written and Submitted by

Mike Wolf, Clerk/Treasurer/Administrator