Town of Bayview

November 14, 2023

Meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. by Chair.

Roll call:  Chair Don Jenicek, present; Supervisor Bill Bodin, present; Clerk Kim Suske, present; Treasurer Kelly Warren, present; Supervisor Mike Garnich, present via phone.

Others in attendance:  Mike Yonan, Butch Warren, Cindy Dillenschneider, and Paul Johnson.

Town Board Meeting Minutes from October 17, 2023:  Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve as written; seconded by Don Jenicek.  Motion carried.

Closed Session Meeting Minutes from October 17, 2023:  Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve as written; seconded by Don Jenicek.  Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report by Kelly Warren:  Checking $23688.83; Equipment $1895.81; Room Tax $18,099.97; Contingency Fund $26,701.75, and Tax Levy Savings $57,315.16.

Clerk’s Report:

• Clerk reported that Emmer Shields feels that the LRIP money from the Big Rock Road project will come through but we don’t know when. Emmer put in the change document to DOT and after that is accepted they will send back an adjusted State Maintenance Agreement.
• Clerk received a request to reactivate our account at SAM.gov so that the USDA Forest Service (FS) can update our Master Agreement with them. We are awaiting the FS completion of the Master Agreement which will need to be signed by the Chair before the FS can put some rock on a road.
• Clerk worked extensively with the WI Dept. of Revenue, Don Jenicek, and Wanda Hyde to try and get the Town’s $8400 tax penalty reversed. The penalty will not be reversed and because of this we did not get our Shared Revenue money in July and won’t get our money in November.  The penalty will carry forward to next year—we will lose $2632.22 of our shared revenue next year.
• Clerk filled out and submitted Form MF-001 for the diesel tax refund.
• Clerk worked with Mike Yonan and Jason Bodine and billed for/received reimbursement for county forest roads work and calcium chloride in the amount of $5500.
• Clerk continues to try to spend an hour or so each month working on the website with good support from Superior Lighthouse. Clerk is open to design or content suggestions for the website.
• Clerk continued to work on Budget and to work with Chair and Treasurer regarding cash flow issue as we await LRIP reimbursement.
• Clerk continues to keep up with all updates from Bayfield County and DOR and to work on tax levy/mill rate forms and calculations for the state and county.
• Clerk continues to experience problems with the Quick Books software necessitating lengthy phone calls to Intuit and worked with Treasurer on reconciling the bank accounts.
• Town hall is being rented December 9 for a dinner party.
• Clerk outlined her hours for the Board as each month they are significantly over the number of hours that she is paid for. The above list is an accounting of additional duties and does not reflect regular weekly/monthly/quarterly duties that the clerk performs—those were outlined separately in writing to the Board so that the Board can be aware of the tasks that are performed regularly by the Clerk.

Town Board Email System:  Clerk reported that Mike Cariveau from Bayfield Wireless informed her that the federal government is changing its system for fulfilling .gov domain requests and that the system is temporarily shut down until January of 2024.  Mike is waiting to hear back from Microsoft regarding our new email addresses.

Citizen’s Concerns and Comments:  Cindy Dillenschneider expressed concern that the new gravel shoulders on Bodin Road are very soft and that a car could pull onto the shoulder and get pulled into the ditch.  She expressed appreciation that Mike Garnich was able to be present for the meeting by phone and for the work that the Board does.  Paul Johnson suggested that the Town could put up low shoulder signs.  Paul also expressed his gratitude for the great working relationship that the Bayview History Committee has enjoyed with the Town over the Depot relocation and restoration.  The Depot is complete with the exception of a few small projects and has been enjoyed by school children on field trips.  Paul asked for input on any additional information that anyone thinks could be added to the informational signage at the park.

Town of Bayview
November 14, 2023
Page 2

HFNP:  An appeal was drafted by John Carlson but has not yet been filed.

Northwoods Paving for Bodin Road:  Paving is complete and looks good.

Roads Report:  Mike Yonan reports that he shouldered Bodin Road; crew has been dragging/grading roads—Friendly Valley/Frostman/Singer/Johnson Leino; they changed the blades on the mower and put the buzz saw on; helped the clerk get reimbursement for calcium chloride by working with Jason Bodine; got two new front tires on the loader; next year they’ll need new tires on the brush mower; finished salt/sand pile for winter and it is covered; Butch has started brushing Smith Fire Land and forest roads; crew has worked on Whiting Road—cut trees to the end and pulled rocks out of road before snow comes to save blades on grader; crew has already had to snow plow roads this year; they are keeping up with maintenance—changed oil/greased backhoe/gave it a bath.

Discussion and Possible Action for Budget Adjustments:  Board discussed finances at length. Garage door repairs will come out of equipment fund.

Don Jenicek made a motion to take $6800 out of the Contingency Account to pay for the repairs that were done on the International Dump Truck; seconded by Bill Bodin.  Motion carried.

Don Jenicek made a motion to take $14,167.62 out of the Room Tax Account to pay for expenses that have been incurred for parks; seconded by Bill Bodin.  Motion carried.

Discussion and Possible Action for Short-Term Loan:  Board continued the discussion regarding finances and budget adjustments and information presented by Treasurer on taking out a short-term loan.

Bill Bodin made a motion to borrow a short-term loan in the amount of $50,000 from Bremer Bank to cover the Town’s projected expenses to the end of the year; seconded by Don Jenicek.  Motion carried.

It was also mentioned that the Town will repay the money as quickly as possible and that the LRIP money should be able to be used toward that purpose when it is received.

Finalize Budget for 2024:  Board finalized projected budget for next year amended to account for $50,000 short-term loan.  This will be presented at the December meetings.

Payment of Bills:  Motion made by Don Jenicek to approve payment of Town bills from October 17, 2023 to November 14, 2023 in the amount of $52,085.41 which includes payment of room taxes; seconded by Bill Bodin.  Motion carried.

Correspondence:

Reviewed correspondence from Bayfield County informing the Town that Bayfield County Amendatory Ordinances 2023-14 and 2023-15 were adopted by the Bayfield County Board of Supervisors at their October 31, 2023 meeting.

Both Chair and Clerk received a First Notice of Non-Compliance letter from WI DOR.  Clerk informed the Board that she had called the assessor and the reason for the notice was because due to this being a reassessment year, paperwork was filed later than in a non-reassessment year.  This should not be a concern for the Town as the paperwork was filed and we should be in compliance next year.

Reviewed maps provided by X-cel Energy for where work will be done on infrastructure along Washington Avenue near Maki Road and along State Hwy. 13 near Bodin Road.

Next Town of Bayview Board meeting is set for December 12, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.

Public Budget Hearing was set for December 12, 2023, at 7 p.m. to be followed by Special Town Meeting of Electors and Special Town Board Meeting.  If necessary, the Board will return to the regular Town meeting after the Special meetings.

Moton to adjourn was made by Bill Bodin, seconded by Don Jenicek.  Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Submitted by:

Kim Suske, Clerk

Vol.16 page 64                                                                                                                     Approved 12/12/2023