Town of Richmond

Board of Supervisor’s Meeting October 24, 2023 7:00pm Minutes

Chairman Jeff Karbash called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. Present: Karbash, Supervisors Dave Overbeek, Steven Wade, Tom Kraus. Absent: Supervisor Susan Miller, Treasurer Ann Seaver.

The pledge of allegiance was recited.

Motion by Overbeek to approve the agenda, seconded by Wade, approved unanimously.

Motion by Overbeek to approve the minutes of the September 21, 2023 board meeting, seconded by Kraus, approved unanimously.

Motion by Kraus to approve the minutes of the October 7, 2023 special meeting with Charter Communications, seconded by Wade, approved unanimously.

Motion by Karbash to approve the Treasurer’s report contingent upon a review of the fund balances total with Treasurer, seconded by Overbeek, approved unanimously.

Board Reports

Karbash reports that the Board met with Charter Communications on October 7th, 2023 and discussed conditions for moving forward with cable installation throughout the Township. Roadman McManaway will coordinate this activity with Charter representatives. Following the meeting the Board performed a road tour to review priority locations for road improvements in the spring of 2024. Karbash advises that a town resident, Margaret Pulera has filed a law suit against certain members of the Richmond Town Board. Approximately three years ago, she approached the Board asking the Board to appeal to Rock County to NOT remove a short roadway at the intersection of County Line Road and Highway M. In an attempt to appease Ms. Pulera, the Board sent a letter to Rock County asking them to reconsider their plans to remove the roadway. Rock County proceeded to tear the roadway out. The Board then met with Rock County representatives and asked for a letter of apology. The Board ultimately decided to not insert ourselves in determining what road configuration was the safest at that intersection and so we aligned ourselves with the Dept. of Transportation’s view that removal of the small roadway was the safest and most practical. We had a joint meeting with Johnstown Township to retire the road legally. Ms. Pulera has now elevated the suit to a federal court level asking that the roadway be reinstalled and she has asked for a jury trial. Her original action was thrown out at the County and State

Court level. Parties (defendants) listed in the action are Jeffrey Karbash, Carol Behrens, Tom Kraus, Dave Overbeek.

Clerk Hayes reports that he has had discussions with Gladfelter Claims management, the Town insurance company. Coverage will automatically be reinstated for this claim and will pick up where it ended prior. The insurance company has determined that since this claim originates from the same set of facts, it will be considered part of the original claim. Hayes reports that there is no deductible, the coverage limit for this type of claim is $50,000. The amount used to date is $27,211 with a balance available of $22,789 to be used for legal fees. Hayes asked the insurance if they would like to appoint their own counsel, and they advised they did not have a desire to do that in this case but asked us to forward any legal bills to them and they would pay those bills up to the $50,000 limit. Hayes advises that her action requests the named defendants and the County to reinstall the roadway. Karbash mentions that he has asked the Town counsel to consider a counter action for coverage of our legal fees as he believes this is a frivolous action wherein the basis for her action is that she knows more than the Dept. of Transportation on what is the safest road configuration at that intersection.

Overbeek reports that Roadman McManaway has met with Charter Communications to coordinate the cable installation. They haven’t begun yet as we are still waiting for their insurance bond. Overbeek mentions the Town will probably be getting a new Sheriff’s dept. liaison officer as Deputy Hintz has been promoted to a new position. Board discussion identifies two Deputy Sheriff candidates that live in the Township and Karbash says he’ll contact a representative from the County and express the Board’s desire to have a local deputy as liaison.

Wade – On Agenda

Kraus – On Agenda

Whitewater unified school district

Caroline Pate Hefty reports that they have completed their child count and this year’s enrollment is down slightly but when you consider the last three year’s average enrollment is up. Lakeview school has the highest reported enrollment of the schools in the district. A new math curriculum was adopted last year entitled “back to basics”.

Scores indicating progress are as follows;

	2021	2 0 22	State Average
3rd Grade	38	46	49
4th Grade	34.7	38	46
5th Grade	30.5	53.8	48

This year they have instituted a program entitled “the science of reading” which consists basically of teaching phonics and both teachers and students are learning to implement this approach.

Operator License Application Andrew LaFrenier – The Duck Inn Karbash recuses himself from voting.

Motion by Overbeek to approve the license, seconded by Kraus, approved unanimously by three Board members as a forum.

Budget Calendar review

Following discussion the following dates were identified as budget planning;

November 14, 2023 – Budget Planning Meeting 6:30pm

November 29, 2023 – Budget Hearing followed by special meeting of the electors 6:30pm

Farm Separation – Tax Parcel CR 300005 (Bembenek Trust) W8479 R&W Townline RD A Certified Survey Map was reviewed for the above parcel in addition to the driveway location. Mr. Stanton addresses the board as a representative of the property advising that it separates 4 acres with buildings from the farmland. He advises of approval from the County for the separation.

Motion by Overbeek to approve the Certified Survey Map and driveway location, seconded by Kraus, approved unanimously.

James Imaging proposal to upgrade Toshiba copier

Hayes advises that we have leased the machine long enough that we now own it.

He advises that James Imaging believes the copier is obsolete and if something goes wrong, they may not be able to get parts for it. They have proposed the following;

Option #1) -Keep the printer and take our chances of it going down.

Option #2) – Replace the printer with a like model for costing $1640 per year

($227 per year increase in cost for the Town)

Option #3) – Upgrade to a color printer for a cost of $2574 per year

($1161 per year increase in cost to the Town)

Hayes advises that the printer is seldom used, and that he believes it is a “nice to have”

1. a “have to have”. It is used basically once per month in preparing the Board packets.

Motion by Karbash to NOT renew our lease agreement with James Imaging, seconded by Overbeek, approved unanimously.

Proposal to Change Website provider

Hayes advises the Board that we currently use Town Web as our website provider. In 2022 it cost the Town $515 for their service. 2023 costs for their service have been $734. They are proposing 2024 cost will be $950 largely due to changing their email service to a google platform. Hayes has found their website very complex. We have documents on our site that are outdated and has not been able to get a representative from their service to contact him to train him in how to navigate the site to update these notices and documents. Hayes attended the annual Clerk’s conference and networked with local clerks to find an alternative supplier of website service called Superior Lighthouse, currently used by the Town of Walworth. Their annual cost is $320 per year representing a third of the cost we would pay with Town Web and providing the opportunity to better manage and control our web content.

Following discussion, a motion is made by Overbeek to approve a transfer of website provider, seconded by Wade, approved unanimously.

Public Comment

Karbash has encouraged Clerk Hayes to advertise for a Deputy Clerk. Karbash asks the audience if there are suggestions on where to advertise.

Overbeek suggests perhaps the local radio station

Wade suggests perhaps the Banner or local face book groups. It is suggested perhaps local Church Bulletin Boards

Another suggestion would be the Lake Groups, Whitewater Lake, Turtle Lake, Lake

Lorraine

Payment of Bills

Motion by Kraus to approve the bills, seconded by Wade, approved unanimously.

Adjournment

Motion by Kraus to adjourn, seconded by Wade, approved unanimously.

 

 

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted, Brian Hayes

Clerk, Town of Richm

 

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