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February 12, 2008 Town Board Meeting
TOWN OF BROOKLYN Office: N5988 County Road A-- Green Lake, WI 54941 Regular Monthly Town Board Meeting February 12, 2008 – 7:00 P.M. E-mail: townofbrooklyn@centurytel.net Web: www.townofbrooklyn.com Minutes q Call Meeting to order by Mike Wuest at 7:00 p.m. Present: Mike Wuest, Chair; Susan McConnell, Supervisor; Sydney Rouse, Supervisor; Kathleen Morris, Treasurer; and Marian Mildebrandt, Clerk q Pledge of Allegiance said by all in attendance q Approve Minutes of January 8, 2008 meeting M/S Correction: Page 2 should be Communities of Green Lake/ Rouse/McConnell with the correction. Motion carried 3-0 q Monthly Financial Review: o Treasurer’s Report - Morris: Reviewed the collection of tax roll 6 0.64 % of tax collection this year. o Clerk’s Report - Mildebrandt – answered questions on bills. q Assessor report –– Elizabeth Rowley – not much happening this time of year. q Library Report – Linda DeNell – Couple of programs - $1200 at book sale last weekend. Winter music series going – one at the end of this month the rest in March. q Building Permit Report – Jerry Buhrow, Jr. Commercial buildings should have been 6 on monthly reports. 3 permits issued this year. q Fire Commission Report (Including Fire Dept. & 1st Responder Dept.). Orlo Bierman – absent. 1st responders have display down at the Courthouse. Election of officers will be this month. q Update on City Affairs – Sydney Rouse - Did not attend the meeting last night. Nothing on the agenda that would affect the Town. Feb. 20th Committee at Large at 7:00 p.m. q Update on County Affairs – Susan McConnell - there was no county board in January. q Plan Commission – Report on progress of Comprehensive Plan Revision – Wuest - Worked on the Comp plan at Feb. 7th meeting. We will be doing last section at March 6th meeting. We will then put together things we want to change and give to the attorney for his advice on how to proceed. q Suggested items for possible future agendas – Rouse- Chairman’s report should be added. q Appearances: none - Wuest on snow plowing. Dec. –Jan 151 tons of salt. Our allotment was 250. We have gone to a salt/sand mix. Dec./Jan we had 29 days with snow plows out. We’ve had to send the blower out due to the fact that the banks are so high and can’t be pushed back. Try to get them out at 3:00 on the morning so the school buses can go. Please put in both papers that people should slow down when driving on the snow-covered roads. q Public Comments (15 minutes). Edde Johnston – Carpenter lane – Room Tax increase. Give some consideration to the lodgers that are involved. It is her impression that most are private homes. It would be a considerable increase. We bring 1500 people her in the summer time. – They add to the economy. We want to encourage people to come to Green Lake. This would discourage them. q Consideration and action on increasing Town Board to 5 (five) person board – Rouse. – Basic reason for recommending that we increase to 5-man board is representation. The population has increased and representation is not broad enough. There should be more of a variety to make decisions. Also the 3-man board was before the open meeting law. You can’t talk to either board member or you are violating the open meeting law. Also, if someone misses a meeting, you only have a 2-man board. She doesn’t feel that that is right. You can also spread the work over more people. McConnell – agrees with the points that Sydney has brought up. Also the amount of business and responsibilities increases. Decisions are made without the entire board. She feels that the input should be on decisions. The Clerk and Chair take the most brunt of the work. It’s not representation of the town. Wuest. The Chair and Clerk only make daily decisions such as bill paying, payroll and other day-to-day operations; non-daily decision-making is done by the town board. July 11, 2006 town board meeting was discussed at length and a motion to consider 5-man board died due to lack of second. The biggest problem is the monetary payment. Wuest suggested that we put this on a referendum on November and let the taxpayers decide if they want to pay the extra $10,000. Rouse, was surprised at her salary, and she thinks it’s too much. Wuest, we would need an ordinance to make a change– he will check it out. Opened to public opinion. Rowley – 2% on budget increase restraint could be a problem with the cost increase. Ron Triemstra. Agrees with Rouse. H thinks there may be more people interested in participating in the government and not wanting to run against someone doing a good job. M/S Rouse/McConnell to table to next monthly meeting. Motion carried 3-0 q Consideration and action about Town Constables – Rouse. Learned via the grapevine and on the website that we are down to one constable. She was upset that it wasn’t’ brought to the town board. She felt that the town board should be aware of it and be informed if someone resigns. Wuest presented the resignation of Dan McConnell. It is an elected position. We have Constable Janes, and myself. When the other constable left the area, we waited until the election to have 2 constables. M/S Wuest/Rouse to accept the resignation of Dan McConnell effective immediately. Roll Call: Wuest: Yes. McConnell - abstain, Rouse, No. Motion: 1-1 1 abstained. Not carried. Rouse –wanted to changed vote to yes, although she does not agree with what she is doing. Motion carried 2-0 1 abstained. q Consideration and action on monthly rental fees business/non-business of the Town Hall – Mildebrandt. – Concern Triemstra - - there are enough places in the area for businesses to have meetings. This should be for non-for profit groups and residents. No businesses for seminar’s. M/S Rouse/McConnell to change bullet #5 - “no for profit business and/or activities will be allowed”. Motion carried 3-0 q Consideration and action 2% Room Tax Increase - Rouse & McConnell were not in favor of raising the room tax. M/S Rouse/Wuest that we do not increase the room tax by 2% at this time. Motion carried 3-0 q Next Board meeting March 11, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. q Adjournment. M/S Wuest/McConnell to adjourn. Motion carried 3-0 at 8:35 p.m. Requests from persons with disabilities that need assistance to participate in this meeting or hearing should be made to the town office at 294-6600 with as much advance notice as possible. Marian Mildebrandt, Clerk Approved: 3/11/08