Town of York
Monthly Board Meeting
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Please Note: These Town Board meeting minutes are posted as draft-only to inform town residents of the topics addressed at the board meeting. These minutes are subject to review and possible revision at next month’s Town Board meeting and should not be considered official until they receive final board approval at that time.
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm. The meeting was held as a video conference on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman Steve Van Hout, 1st Supervisor Tim Czerwonka, 2nd Supervisor Steve Hermanson, Treasurer Ann Carlson, and Clerk Heidi Hankley were present, as well as Plan Commission Secretary Bethany Storm, and several members of the public. Verification of proper notice was given. Meeting minutes for the Tuesday, April 14, 2020 Board Meeting were presented. Steve Hermanson moved to approve the April 14, 2020 minutes as presented; second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report- Ann Carlson presented her monthly report and noted that the state lottery credit and transportation aids have been paid to the town. She also presented the board with an updated list of driveway permits and their status. Steve Van Hout made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented; second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried.
Bills- Heidi Hankley and Ann Carlson presented bills to be paid. Tim Czerwonka made a motion to approve the bills as presented; second by Steve Hermanson. Motion carried.
Patrolman’s Report- Steve Hermanson gave the report and noted that Wayne had an accident with the Ford F550 truck. Wayne was not seriously injured, but the truck had to be towed to Alphorn Ford in Monroe. Steve took pictures of the damage and is working with the town’s insurance agent to process the claim.
Plan Commission Report- Bethany Storm reported that the Plan Commission held a meeting on Tuesday, May 5th and they discussed a possible parking pull off pad on the Severson’s land along Hay Hollow Rd. The parking area would be on a Department of Natural Resources’ easement and would be used by people to access the stream for fishing. The Plan Commission recommended passing the project inquiry along to the board for review. Tim Czerwonka suggested that it might be treated similarly to a field access road for permitting. Bethany will forward the plan documents to the board for review.
Public Comment- There were no public comments.
New Business-
- Gary Henshue, Bug Tussel Wireless- Driveway Permit- Gary presented his application materials and site map for a tower installation on the Peterson’s land on Highway 39. The tower will be 199 feet tall and will not have lights on it since it’s under the 200 foot limit that requires illumination. The plan map shows the driveway coming off of Lee Lane (a town road) to cross the Peterson’s property to the tower location. Gary noted, and Kim Peterson concurred, that the heavy equipment used to install the tower will access the site via a field road entrance to the west of the proposed driveway. Tim Czerwonka moved to approve the driveway application for BugTussel wireless, for a driveway coming off of Lee Lane; second by Steve Hermanson. Motion carried with Steve Van Hout voting “no” citing traffic safety concerns. In association with the discussion related to the tower construction, Tim Czerwonka asked Gary Henshue if the proposed tower would be providing BugTussel internet service. He also asked why a previously constructed tower on Postville Rd. was not yet providing internet service by BugTussel. Gary replied that the towers are constructed and space on them is leased to AT&T and FirstNet for cellular service and that BugTussel waits to install internet service equipment on the towers until there is a sufficient customer base established. Tim and other town citizens expressed their frustration that the town is hosting all of these new towers but not experiencing any of the internet benefits. Gary said he would try to get answers to Tim’s questions from the BugTussel marketing department and that he would report his findings back to Tim.
- Samantha Hoesly- Driveway Permit- Samantha presented the board with her application materials and site map for a second driveway on her property on County Rd. A. She explained that the location of her current driveway access is very dangerous. She has received approval from Green County to add the second driveway access and will obtain the necessary County variance to do so. Steve Van Hout moved to approve the driveway permit application for Samantha Hoesly at N8310 County Rd. A, Blanchardville, at no cost; Second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried.
- Angela Patton- Driveway Permit- Angela presented the board with a driveway application and site map for her new home construction in the York Heights subdivision, coming off a private road that comes off of Highway 39. Steve Van Hout moved to approve the driveway permit for Angela Patton for Lot 4, York Heights; second by Steve Hermanson. Motion carried.
- James & Jayne Campbell- Driveway Permit- The Campbell’s presented their driveway application materials and site map for a driveway on County Rd. J. The driveway location is dependent on a successful land swap with a neighbor, which is still in the process of being worked out. No dwelling units are being transferred as part of the land swap. Steve Van Hout moved to approve the driveway application for James and Jayne Campbell at Lot 1, CSM 4036 on County Rd. J, contingent on the successful land swap transfer that is currently in process; Second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried.
- QuickBooks upgrade- Ann and Heidi tried the QuickBooks Online subscription that was approved by the board in April. Both women found that the online software was significantly different than the desktop version and caused disruption to their workflows. After consulting with QuickBooks staff, it was determined that the QuickBooks desktop would be a better fit for the Town and the cost for two users would be $595.49 with the software being supported for 3 years. Steve Van Hout moved to purchase QuickBooks desktop 2020 for $549.95; second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried.
- Road Repair Estimates- Steve Van Hout presented the Green County Highway Department estimates for seal coating the three town roads that were paver-patched last year. He provided estimates for two levels of oil application rate, 0.40 and 0.42. Steve Hermanson moved to approve the seal coating with an oil flow rate of 0.42 for Hay Hollow Rd at a cost of $26,074; for Sunnyside Rd. at a cost of $31,145; and for Poplar Grove Rd. at a cost of $28,042; second by Tim Czerwonka. Motion carried. Steve Van Hout will sign the contracts and return them to Green County. Steve Hermanson also suggested that any additional road funds be put toward continuing improvements to town lanes.
Old Business-
- Purchase of Cruz-Air Machine- Steve Hermanson had a chance to look at the Cruz Air machine the town is considering buying and noticed several issues that would need to be addressed. In response to the asking price being raised from $30,000 to $38,000, Steve began searching for comparable machines on the market. He found a John Deere 595 that would have been comparable to the Cruz AIr but at a better price, however this machine sold to someone else before the board could act. Steve Hermanson will continue to look for other purchase options.
Adjournment- Tim Czerwonka moved to adjourn the meeting; second by Steve Hermanson. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Hankley, Clerk