Town of Lake Mills
December 12, 2017
Monthly Board Meeting
1)Meeting called to order by Chairperson Oostdik at 8:00pm.Notice was posted at the Town Hall, North End Boat Launch, and Cul-de-sac on Finch Brothers Road and on the town’s website:
2)Adoption of Agenda –Motion made bySup. Schroeder to adopt the agendaasprinted,seconded by Sup. Peterson. Motion carried.
3)Approval of Minutes - Motion made by Sup. Schroeder to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2017public hearing, seconded by Sup. Peterson. Motion carried. Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2017 special meeting of the electors, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Motion carried. Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2017 monthly Board meeting, seconded by Sup.Schroeder. Motion carried.
4)Treasurer’s Report –Motion made by Sup. Schroederto approvetheDecemberTreasurer’s Report, seconded by Chair. Oostdik. Motion carried.
5)General Fund Vouching- Motion made by Sup. Schroederto approve Decemberdisbursements of $176,159.24,seconded by Sup. Peterson.Motion carried.
6)Reports
a.Police Report – read by Chief Miller. Anticipate new squad ready for use by end of the month.
b.Joint Rock Lake Committee Report – No report.
c.Plan Commission Report – Sup. Peterson reported. Met December 5, and heard update from Daybreak Foods on proposed site development. No action taken.
d.Other committee reports –None
7)Period of Public Comment and Questions – Brent Johnson, County Road A, raised issue of dead animal odor and health issues from composting of chickens at Daybreak Foods. Johnson spoke to Jeff Meyers at DNR, and is gathering information on cadavering exposure and Code 4903 related to public health nuisance. Torey Smith, County Road B, asked questions about Rock Lake Rd construction, particularly from the I-94 overpass to County B, asking for consideration of the amount of walking and biking traffic happening there. Smith also followed up on planned Hwy A overpass project. Chair. Oostdik answered Town does not have more information on Hwy A project, but will ask the engineer. Rock Lake Rd is in Town’s 5-year road plan and Chair. Oostdik is writing a grant proposal for discretionary funds. That proposal does address the amount of bike and walking traffic. Chair. Oostdik is looking further into whether or not Rock Lake Rd is a County designated bike route. The project would not be a total reconstruction, which requires a 4 ft shoulder, but more likely would be done similarly to London Rd with wider lanes and 2 ft shoulders. The (porkchop) intersection of Rock Lake Rd and Hwy B would be redone too.
8) Application Reviews
- Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to approveoperators license for Samantha J Garcia, Kroghville Oasis, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Chief Miller ran background check and found no issue. Motion carried.
- Motion made by Sup. Schroeder to approve special event Knickerbocker Ice Festival by Lake Mills Main Street Program on February 3, 2018 with condition Town receive certificate of insurance, seconded by Sup. Peterson. Chair. Oostdik abstained. Motion carried.
9) Old Business
a.Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to approve expenditure of up to $1000 for Wheeler, Anderson and Van Sickle law firm to review proposed revisions to Town Ordinance 5-6: Regulating Piers on Rock Lake. Joint Rock Lake Committee requested legal advice on the proposed revisions. Chair. Oostdikgathered two quotes. Fee will be paid from Rock Lake account funds. Motion carried.
b.No action taken on Intergovernmental Agreement with Cambridge Fire and EMS. The agreement is not yet available.
c.Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to approve the building inspection contract with SafeBuilt, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Motion carried. SafeBuilt is the same group Town has been working with. SafeBuilt bought Independent Inspections, and is a bigger company with a different structure. New fees will be in effect January 1, 2018.
d.Discussion on Daybreak Foods Creekwood site development began with Chair. Oostdik stating no decisions will be made at this meeting. Daybreak asked to be taken off the agenda after last week’s Plan Commission meeting because there was nothing new to bring forward at this time. Several residents living on or near Crossman Rd and County Hwy A appeared, voicing concerns about the proposed site development.
Tony Beard began -Daybreak needs to go cage free by contract, making existing barns obsolete.Those barns have exceeded their lifespan and are falling apart anyway. Beard perceives Daybreak is saying they can either keep running things as they have been, or they can build the new facility and eliminate existing problems, but the reality is they can’t use the existing facility anymore and are trying to sell us on this other idea.Daybreak has a history of being a bad neighbor. They are not forthcoming on the bad odor problem or resulting health problems. There are more questions, and do we have any say on what happens next, what we want them to do, and how agreements are followed up on. Mike Hellekson, David Kykendahl, Sherry Hellekson and Connie Johnson added:
-Board to take thoughts and concerns under advisement when voting on this issue.
-These issues have been going on for 10 years and nothing has changed. Now our health is in question.
-Jobs were actually cut when Daybreak went to liquid eggs. Cage free is not the same as free range.
-Proposed conveyor belt over the road will be an unpleasant sight and produce a continuous noise
The Board members appreciate and need these comments; they cannot know how people feel about an issue if they do not speak their thoughts, concerns and ideas. Chair. Oostdik added the whole Town and community are also experiencing these things, and the first concerns of the Board are public safety and health. The toughest things for the Board to deal with are nuisances, so we want to be proactive and deal with them up front. The difference between management issues of manure odor and cadaver odor was addressed with Daybreak representatives at the December Plan Commission meeting. Town power is limited when it comes to livestock siting, but there are conditions we can tackle. No action taken.
e.Chair. Oostdik to work with City of Lake Mills utility on brushing needs. No action taken.
10) New Business
a.Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to continue the surety bond method of tax collector bond renewal, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Changes in State statute 70.67 require a choice between surety bond and the municipality assuming all responsibility by ordinance. Motion carried.
b.Motion made by Sup. Schroeder that effective immediately, there will be no tax refund checks issued for amounts smaller than $10 unless requested by the recipient, seconded by Sup.Peterson. Clerk will put the policy in writing, and publicize it.Motion carried.
c.Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to accept appointments of Election Inspectors as made by Clerk for 2018-2019, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Motion carried.
d.No Board expenses submitted
11) Correspondence – Holiday greetings; ongoing annexation paperwork; education opportunities; quarterly newsletter
12) Meetings scheduled were read.
13) Motion made by Chair. Oostdik to adjourn, seconded by Sup. Schroeder. Motion carried.
These minutes were approved at the January 9, 2018 monthly Board meeting.
Sarah FitzGibbon, Town Clerk
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