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Town of Clinton – Board Meeting April 13, 2022
Meeting called to order at 7 pm with the pledge of allegiance at the town hall. In attendance were Chairman Corey Leis, Supervisor 1 Wally Hemmersbach, Supervisor 2 Fred Brandt, Clerk Sandy Schweiger, Treasurer Jan Clark, Patrolman Scot Sanders, Vernon County Highway Commissioner Phil Hewitt and many visitors.
Motion made by Mr. Brandt, 2nd by Mr. Hemmersbach to approve minutes; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Brandt, to approve the financial report as read; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Brandt, to approve transferring $31.49 from tax savings to regular savings on April 4th followed by $29,000 from savings to checking and $8,760 from savings to money management on April 14th; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Brandt made a motion to pay the bills, 2nd by Mr. Hemmersbach; all ayes, motion carried.
Mr. Leis made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Hemmersbach, to place an ad in the Episcope for a replacement assistant patrolman. This full-time position will require a CDL with pay based on experience. Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion to proceed, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried. Motion was made by Mr. Leis to pay part-time summer help $20 per hour, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried. Although the former assistant patrolman is still acting as the attendant at the Recycle Center, Mr. Leis made a motion to pay the next attendant $20 per hour, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried.
Mr. Brandt was still awaiting a proposal regarding the HVAC system at the town hall; motion made, seconded and passed to again postpone this matter.
Mr. Leis made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Brandt, to apply for the standard allowance of the American Rescue Plan funds; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Leis requested a copy of the report for review by April 22nd , prior to submission.
A statement from Al Buss was read regarding his delay in addressing issues on the website; he has located the glitch and should be able to correct soon. Mr. Brandt expressed his dissatisfaction with the current website and made a motion to terminate agreement with Constellation Web Services, 2nd by Mr. Leis; all ayes, motion carried. Board moved to suspend future postings. Mr. Brandt contacted Vernon Tech as an alternative at a cost of $300 per year plus $300 for hacking shield; full payment is required upfront. Mr. Brandt made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Hemmersbach, to contract with Vernon Tech at $600; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion to proceed with website development for $1,500; motion seconded and passed.
Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Brandt, to postpone mower issue; all ayes, motion passed.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Surface Transportation Program (STP) application is being processed for the bridge on West Bloomingdale Road.
The board members toured town roads with Kevin Schmitz from Scott’s Construction. Mr. Leis made a motion, 2nd by Mr. Hemmersbach, to approve sealcoating the following roads: Alderman ( 2784’ with 3/8” chips: $12,109), Carlson Ridge (288’ with 3/8”: $1,758), Knapp Valley ( 3172’ with 3/8”: $17,126), Dell at S628 (110’ patch for $861), East Bloomingdale (2300’ with 7/16” chips: $14,284), Kelbel (380’ bar patching with 7/16: $1,242), Kelbel (1175’ with 7/16”: $6,634), Kelbel (2826’ with 7/16”: $9,230), Knapp Valley (55’ double seal with 7/16” over culvert: $1,207), Shortcut ( 3100’ with 7/16”: $10,126) and Wang Ridge ( 8250’ with 7/16”: $48,078) for a total of $122,655; all ayes, motion carried.
Mr. Leis explained the Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) process. Originally applied for in 2019 for Irish Ridge Road, the LRIP-S (supplemental) grant from last November was approved for $1,249,700. This project was part of the 10-year plan. A TRIP grant was also awarded for Irish Ridge, but will be re-directed as two grants may not be used on the same road. After collection 150 signatures, members of the Amish community read a statement of appreciation thanking the board members and patrolmen for all their efforts. Appreciation was also expressed for improvements made to Weister Creek. Mr. Sanders described the grant as “free money” which would not result in higher taxes, noting how much patch mix had been used over the years.
Mr. Hewitt noted that although a million dollars is a lot to spend on two miles of road, with the grant the town’s portion is much less. He emphasized the need for an adequate base and future maintenance while declining the grant may not be advantageous. The LRIP-S is a 70/30 split with the town’s share totaling $382,408.20; the actual costs may be less. Project will follow standard bidding process. Final project will result in 22’ wide surface with 4’ shoulders on each side. Mr. Leis made a motion to accept the LRIP-S grant, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Leis made a motion to seek a 2-year line of credit for $1,249,700, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Leis moved to contract engineering through Central State Construction of Tomah at a cost of $81,300; Mr. Hemmersbach made a motion to approve, 2nd by Mr. Brandt, all ayes, motion carried. Mr. Leis made a motion to request a transfer of the TRIP funds to Clinton Ridge Road, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried.
As for the Evenstad bridge, Mr. Hewitt has an accepted application for this project which is an 80/20 split with the county covering half of the 20. He does not have any concerns with emergency vehicles crossing this structure at this time and continues inspections every three months.
At 7:57 pm, Mr. Leis made a motion to adjourn, 2nd by Mr. Brandt; all ayes, motion carried.