Regular Board Meeting

6 April 2009

 

     The regular Board meeting of the Town of Sampson was called to order on Monday, 6 April at 7:00 P.M. Meeting notices were posted in the three designated areas, the town web site and the Bloomer Advance. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Butterfield.  Supervisors Haller and Gutsch were present. Clerk Reed and Attorney Singleton were also present.  There were 8 guests in attendance.

     Chairman Butterfield led the meeting attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.

     Board members have received copies of the board minutes of the regular board meeting on 2 March 2009.  A Motion was made by Supervisor Haller to approve the minutes.  Supervisor Gutsch seconded the motion and all present voted Aye.  Motion carried.    

     Treasurer’s report was given by Clerk Reed and made available to Board members.   

     There was no public comment.

      Chairman Butterfield gave a report on his meeting with the Bloomer Ambulance Board on Monday, Mar 25th.  There will not be a need to purchase a new ambulance as they had previously decided. The current ambulance is still operative. The 911 dispatch will probably be switched to the main Chippewa County dispatch as a way to cut costs and to enable a faster response time. 

OLD BUSINESS:

     Revision of Ordinance #2-2003 was discussed.  The only change to the ordinance was to include the verbiage “all stop signs in the township”.  Chairman Butterfield requested a roll call vote to adopt the revision.  The roll call vote went as follows:  Supervisor Haller-Aye, Supervisor Gutsch-Aye and Chairman Butterfield-Aye.  Motion carried.  Board members then signed the Amended Ordinance.

     The possibility of a town mining ordinance was then discussed. Chairman Butterfield had requested the town lawyer, Norm Singleton, present information he had received.  Mr. Singleton stated that Cooks Valley had passed a non-metallic ordinance and is now in the process of being sued.  The issue is if the ordinance is a land use/zoning ordinance or if it is a regulatory ordinance.  No action in the court system has been done up to this point. 

     In the Town of Howard a Canadian mining company has taken the position that the Town’s non-metallic Ordinance is illegal and is ignoring such. Mr. Singleton could not find any official court action that is being taken on the. 

     Board members made their opinions on this issue.  Chairman Butterfield stated that he is neither for or against such an ordinance as long as if a mining company comes into the Township that the local roads are not damaged and environmental issues are complied with. He stated that they would probably provide work in the area also. Supervisor Haller stated that NR 35 Administrative codes cover the environmental issues and is very detailed in the issues governing the environment.  Supervisor Gutsch stated that he would be very concerned about ground water contamination.  He also is concerned about the long term effects of continued mining of 40-50 years and “eye sores” such as burms.  Supervisor Gutsch is also concerned about the company itself and there is very little know about this company and could be a foreign subsidy and it would be very difficult to bring this to the court system.  He also stated that they would be mining frac rock which is very prevalent in the south western part of the County and then shipping that material to Canada.  Supervisor Haller stated that there is very little of this type of material in the Town according to the geological maps.  He also went on to describe factors involved in the contamination of the ground water.  He also stated that satellite pictures must be taken to determine the conditions of the mines and the effects of the mining.  He stated that Chippewa County Reclamation Ordinance covers a lot of the above issues, except for the local road issues.  He recommends that an annual fee be considered in any type of ordinance to cover expenses from damaged roads.  Chairman Butterfield recommended that the Board table any further discussion and take a “wait and see position” with the Cooks Valley law suit.                       

NEW BUSINESS:

     Resolution #1-2009 Election Day Emergency Plan.  Chairman Butterfield asked  Clerk Reed to explain this plan. She stated that this is a Resolution required by the Wisconsin State Election Board/Government Accountability Office.  It covers actions that would need to be taken by the Election Officials in case of a power outage, fire and or inclement weather situations that would disrupt the Election Day process.  In the unlikely case that the Town Hall could not be used as a polling place on Election Day, arrangements would then be made to switch the venue/polling place to the Ice Age Center located at 13394 County Highway M in the Township. Brenda Rederer, the Ice Age Center Director, had discussed this with her DNR legal council and she told Clerk Reed that there appears to be no problem with this if the need should arise to change venues. Chairman Butterfield requested a roll call vote to adopt the Resolution.  The roll call vote went as follows:  Supervisor Haller-Aye, Supervisor Gutsch-Aye and Chairman Butterfield-Aye.  Motion carried.  Board members then signed Resolution #1-2009.

     Ordinance #1-2009-establishing special or seasonal weight limits were then discussed.  Chairman Butterfield stated that the Wisconsin Towns Association (W.T.A.) recommends that such an Ordinance be adopted by the Town board.  All town Class “B” roads are required to be signed as they are now.  Chairman Butterfield requested a roll call vote to adopt Ordinance #1-2009. The roll call vote went as follows:  Supervisor Haller-Aye, Supervisor Gutsch-Aye and Chairman Butterfield-Aye.  Motion carried.  Board members then signed the Ordinance.

     Ordinance #2-2009-Notice of Records access and applicable charges was then discussed.  Chairman Butterfield stated that this Ordinance is also recommended by the W.T.A.  The main purpose of the ordinance is to designate the Clerk/Treasurer as the legal custodian of all town records and the applicable charges for record requests by the public. Chairman Butterfield requested a roll call vote to adopt Ordinance #2-2009. The roll call vote went as follows:  Supervisor Haller-Aye, Supervisor Gutsch-Aye and Chairman Butterfield-Aye.  Motion carried.  Board members then signed the Ordinance.

     The next Board meeting will be on Monday May 4th.                      

     Vouchers were then presented and audited.  Supervisor Haller made a motion to approve vouchers 16483-16504 plus five electronic transfers. Supervisor Gutsch seconded the motion and all present voted Aye.  Motion carried.   

    There being no further business, Supervisor Gutsch made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Supervisor Haller seconded the motion and all present voted aye.  Motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 7:45 P.M.

   

Veda Reed, Clerk

 

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