Snow Plowing Complaints Aired At Peshtigo Town Issue Date: February 23, 2022 After going through the formalities of the Town of Peshtigo Board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22, the meeting shifted into Public Comment.
In public comment, resident Dan Meyer of Keller Road stressed his concern about a letter he received from the Town of Peshtigo Constable about pushing snow across the road stating it was illegal and he could be fined. Meyer said, "Per State Statutes 346.94 (5), it is not illegal to push snow across the road if it is done correctly and smoothed out. It clearly states you can't leave or push debris across the road but it does not say anything that pushing snow across road is not legal. It is unlawful for any materials, but it does not say anything about snow. If you have a problem with residents leaving snow in the road and not properly pushing the snow across the road then you address it to them, not to the ones who are doing it properly". Meyer added, The way his house is situated he needs to push the snow across the road in order for the safety of himself and his family or there is a huge blind spot out of his driveway.
Supervisor Jon Drees replied, "There was some problems with residents pushing snow across the road and not cleaning it off properly, but if it was perfectly cleaned off and done correctly then that shouldn't be a problem". Chairperson Cindy Boyle said she will follow up with the Constable and reply back to Meyer.
Another resident commented, "I would like to put out there you need to make sure where you are pushing the snow. We have seen cars go in the ditch by hitting ruts. The snow needs to be pushed across the road properly way past the road line and smoothed out so as not to cause ruts in the road".
In his report Fire Chief Mike Folgert announced there were six calls since the last meeting including three structure fires, one chimney fire, one vehicle crash and one commercial fire alarm. There was one thermal imaging camera that burnt out and needed to be replaced. The Department formed a truck committee to start working on strategy for replacement of Engine 205 and to look at what our needs are and start gathering information. We will be getting input from the fire commission and the town supervisors within the next year or so. There has been a lot of training going on and more trainings are scheduled.
Boyle then read Town Constable Ed Dory's report that stated he sent letters to residents on Radar Road, Krause Road and Keller Road about pushing snow across town roads being unlawful and will result in them receiving a citation. Residents on other town roads are also included. If residents call in a complaint of this happening on other roads, other citations will follow. He also reported that there was no evidence of tire tracks or snowmobile tracks on the Kowalski Trail. This enforcement will be reviewed after comments received earlier in the public comment portion of the meeting.
Annually one Supervisor is required to attend a Board of Review Training. Supervisor Kayla Furton has done the training in the past and she is willing to go through the training process again. Clerk Clarence Coble will submit Furton's name for the training. As a backup, Boyle said she will step up and take the training and a motion was made for Furton and Boyle to receive Board of Revue training.
The board asked for approval to sell the emergency fire number signs for $25 each including post and bolts starting immediately through April 5, 2022. After a brief discussion it was approved to allow the signs to be sold at a discount for the length of time requested. Coble added, "We have been doing this every year and it is a way to give the residents an opportunity to update the signs which have numbers that are larger and are much more reflective, making it easier to see for emergency situations. The signs will be sold basically at the cost the town pays for them for that brief period of time".
The Deputy Clerk and Treasurer will be a attending a training in summer and a request was made for approval of additional funding of up to $250 for the trainings if they are not awarded the grant for the trainings that they applied for. They have the option of five days virtual or four days virtual with one day in person. A motion was made to approve the additional $250 if they are not awarded the grant.
In Buildings and Grounds, Coble requested approval of three eight foot tables at a cost of $140 each for the community room to be used for elections and other purposes. The funds could come from the hall rental fees that are charged. Supervisor Kristin Edgar interjected stating that the funds could come from the ARPA funding program. It was approved to go forward with purchasing of the tables.
Drees reported that the light fixtures in the hallway were updated to LED lighting and some of the other bad fixtures were converted into LEDs also. Drees said, "Going forward we will be replacing the old fixtures with LEDs as needed".
The agenda item of needed repairs or replacement for the town hall water conditioner was tabled for discussion at the next town meeting to be able to secure more information and cost estimates.
Drees discussed the authorization of road weight limits to coordinate with Marinette County that way we would be right in line with what the County is doing and it makes a lot of sense to coordinate with the rest of County. It was decided to correlate with the county limits.
In regards to the Spitzmacher Road project, Drees stated, "We receive $2,600 per year per mile for road projects. We bid out the Spitzmacher road project and bids came in over the $48,000 that was allowed by the DNR, with the lowest bid at $55,600, leaving a balance of $7,600". Drees touched base with the DNR and they will not move on the allotted $48,000. Drees said, "It is common sense to me that we should go forward with the project if the state is allowing $48,000 and we only have to pay the difference of the $7,600. It was approved to go forward with the project at the lowest bid.
Drees also indicated there are Infrastructure Grant Opportunities that can be applied for to update hard surfaces, roads and bridges, etc. That being said, Drees is looking at other roads that are in poor condition including Hale School Road, Harbor Road, County T by the Shell gas station, the road south of Koehne Chevrolet, parts of Roosevelt Road from County B to the city limits and Old Peshtigo Road from Flame Road to Schacht Road along with other roads that are in deteriorated or poor condition.
Drees commented, "That is five roads that could get fixed if we would be awarded the grant. This is a very rare opportunity and it is not very often we would have this chance again. Just for example as a reference, the cost of repairing a road for a one mile stretch is $140,000".
Boyle announced in water news, the TOP drafted letters to the DNR and the Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting they respectively hold JCI accountable for well sampling and water provision in the fully expanded site investigation area. The DNR put the responsibility on the responsible party and JCI declined. The TOP is not ok with that response. It was approved for the letters to be sent
Boyle also pointed out that the Public Listening Session power point presentation, the updated water matrix and the Strand engineering report are all online at the TOP website: townofpeshtigo.org (then go to the home page and click on the water icon). Also the fourth water summit discussion took place on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Those present at the summit included the Facilitator of the meeting, the DNR, City of Peshtigo and Town of Peshtigo. A report of the Summit will be provided in the middle of March.
The next Water Committee meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on March 3 at the Town Hall. All residents are urged to attend the Water Committee meeting to ask questions of what is going on in the town concerning the options, costs, what the town is responsible for, what JCI is responsible for, how is it going to financially affect those in the plume and how it is going to affect those outside of the plume and any other questions that may be concerning to the public.
Edgar announced that the CDGB grant is all ready to be sent and once submitted we should here back within 20 to 30 days. She also mentioned that there is a grant for Broadband that is coming due within a month or so. Due to the TOP being what is called 'underserved' the town would qualify for internet and Broadband funds with non match funding. Underserved means that there is a lot of people in the area where there is no internet or poor internet service. "We may have to have a special meeting to jump on this", Edgar said. Coble added, "Even though work has been done, two years ago they were four to five years behind on installing Broadband.
Coble also added, "I talked to an IT Tech and I have a lot of stuff on the computer that goes back many years. The IT Tech mentioned we can get an external hard drive to make it easier to keep track of versus storing on jump drives". Boyle interjected stating there may be better options than an external hard drive. Edgar advised to put on the next months agenda to explore computer storage options.
The next meeting of the Town of Peshtigo will be held on Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m.
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