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March 10, 2008 March 10 Regular Meeting Minutes
MARCH 10, 2008
TOWN OF RICHMOND MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bader at 5 p.m. as
published.
Attending were Chairman Bader, Supervisor Ball, Supervisor Volkert,
and Clerk Preece
Other attendees signed in were: Ardell Naser, David Naser, Steven
O’Connell, Ruth Ball, Tom Derrick, Nancy Refsnider, Jim Refsnider,
Roger Van Beek, Susan Moran, Oranzo J. Oevering.
The February minutes were approved as read.
The financial report was read and approved.
Tim Scott, the town attorney, handed out copies of the impact fee
amendment. They essentially bring our impact fee into compliance with
recently passed state law which basically addresses the amount of time
allowed to spend these fees. These amendments will take effect when
the amendments are posted in the 3 public places, as required by law.
Fred moved and Warren seconded the motion to adopt this amendment.
The votes were Fred Ball-Yes, Richard Volkert-Yes, Warren Bader- Yes.
A copy of this amendment and its incorporation into the broader impact
fee ordinance are a part of these minutes and available for viewing at
the clerk’s office.
There was no planning commission report.
At a recent WTA meeting, it was brought up that most townships charge
mileage if they go out of the township. Fred stated it would be too
many additional checks to write. The IRS mileage for 2008 is .50-1/2
cents per mile. Richard moved and Warren seconded the motion to pay
mileage for anything out of the township. Motion carried.
Fred has talked to county zoning and stated that all county roads
have 50’ setbacks from right of way. Fred thinks our setbacks should
be the same as the county. Fred moved to change the setback to 50’
for all roads. This motion died for lack of a second. Warren feels
this would be good for older homes, but not for newer ones. Roger Van
Beek, a KinnicKinnic town board chairman, said their township went
with 50’ to be the same as the county. Fred made motion to allow any
home built before 1973 to be able to add on to the side or rear of
their home, as long as they don’t go any closer to the road.
According to Tim Scott, people who did add on would still need a
building permit, and this change goes into effect immediately, without
need of publication. Motion was seconded by Warren and carried.
Mr. Scott presented the documents from the city in regard to the
rebuilding of 140th St. from GG to Paperjack Creek: 1. Resolution
giving the city permission to impose a special levy on 4 township
property owners. II. Request for approval of special assessment levy
against property in the township of Richmond. III. Cost Allocation
and Assessment Agreement Between Town of Richmond & City of New
Richmond. Copies of these three documents are part of these minutes
and are available in the clerk’s office for anyone who wants to see
them. After lengthy discussion and some input by residents in
attendance, it was decided to have the planning commission look at
this first before we go forward. Bob Barbian attended, representing
the city of New Richmond, and the city would like a response fairly
soon in order to go forward with this project. One of the objections
of the people in attendance was that the city would force annexation.
Bob Barbian and Tim Scott reassured all that annexation would happen
only if the people requested it. The amount of assessment after the
$35,000.00 was applied for each property owner is as follows:
Naser—37,516.30
O’Connell—11,847.27
Powers—99,516.93
VanBeek—23,694.61
In regard to the possibility of condemnation, that is a lengthy
process, and the city has to prove that it has a legitimate public
purpose before that can happen. Tim Scott is concerned that after the
commitment to the city at the last joint meeting, that for the
township to renege now would be a sign of bad faith negotiating.
Greg Bonnes, owner of New Richmond Tree Service, brought the board up
to date on the demands of the county to make changes in his property.
The next meeting is March 27 with county zoning and town board feels
their only help for this is to go to this meeting in Hudson and speak
to board’s approval for this special exception permit.
In order to accommodate attendance at our board meetings by Tim
Scott, Warren moved to schedule our regular meetings to the 2nd
Thursday, beginning with the April meeting, and beginning at 6 p.m.
Seconded by Richard. Motion carried.
Peter Post, township assessor, spoke to changing our building permit
requirements. He did some comparison with other villages, township,
and feels that ours are too lax. He pointed out cases where people
want to refinance, sell their property, etc., it will be a problem if
the work that has been done didn’t have a permit. Especially for
electrical, structural or plumbing changes. It was felt by the board
to keep our permit requirements as they are.
Under announcements, the clerk would like to be able to do checks
that are computer generated. The checks will be at no charge from
Anchor Bank, would be much more professional looking, and less prone
to error. The board has no objection to this. Attention was also
drawn to the essence of the annual report, and the comparison of the
2006 and 2007 recycling amounts.
Fred moved, and Richard seconded to approve all bills as presented.
Motion carried.
Russ Utecht wondered if he can look further into having field
testing in the gravel pit. The board had no objection.
Dumpster cash counted at $770.25.
Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Preece, Clerk