VILLAGE OF LONE ROCK
LONE ROCK, WISCONSIN
OFFICE OF CLERK
Minutes of The Lone Rock Village Board Meeting held Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 7:00 P.M.
at the Village Office Conference Room, 314 E Forest St, Lone Rock, WI
Board Members: Dan Quinn, President; Corey Ewers; Verne Dosch Jr.; Mary Litviak; Dan McGuire; Tootie Pulvermacher; Harry Pulvermacher
Call to Order -- The meeting was called to order by President Dan Quinn at 7:00 PM.
Roll Call –Roll call was taken with all members present except Verne Dosch, who had work conflicts.
Agenda – Motion by Corey to approve the Agenda. Second by Harry, all yes, motion carried.
Minutes – Motion by Corey to approve the Minutes. Second by Harry, all yes, motion carried.
Building Permits – Jodie Christianson, 212 W. Exchange St., Deck;
Adam Reno, 555 W. Richland St., Fence. Board members reviewed the Building Permits. Motion by Harry to approve the Deck Building Permit to Jodie Christianson, and the Fence Building Permit to Adam Reno, second by Tootie, motion carried.
Zoning Ordinances Update & Responsibilities – Millie Rott – Millie Rott, who is the Chairman of the Plan Committee, gave an update on the Zoning Ordinance, which was created with the assistance of Western WI Regional Planning Commission. Millie said each board member should have a copy. If you don’t, contact the person who was the board member before you and get their copy of it. Another thing you should have is the Comprehensive Plan for the Village. It shows how we would like the Village to develop.
Millie said WI Stat. 62.23 describes how the Plan Committee is supposed to function. The Committee is to be made up of four board members and three people from the public. The Zoning Board of Appeals has five members, all of whom are from the public. They deal with appeals and variances. Dan McGuire asked if he is supposed to go off the Zoning Board of Appeals now that he is a board member. Millie said yes. Harry asked Millie if she is still the head of the Plan Committee. She said she has been on there forever, so she guesses she is still on there. Harry asked if he is still a member of that Committee? Millie said yes, you are. The Plan Committee has not met for several years, so we need to see if the current members are willing to stay on, and if not, who would replace them. Discussion on Plan Commission members.
Kampen said we are out of copies of the Zoning Ordinance, and the Western Regional Planning Commission said they no longer maintain an electronic copy of our Ordinance, as it needs to be updated. They are willing to work with our Board of Trustees, or our Plan Committee, to update it. Kampen asked Millie if the Plan Committee would like to do the update, and Millie agreed.
Two issues the board is going to have to deal with, because there were mistakes made. They were not zoned properly many years ago. The Hemp greenhouse at the corner of Hwy 14 and 130. It is zoned industrial, and Millie stated you cannot have greenhouses in industrial. Has to be rezoned, Section 3.10 of the Zoning Ordinance. You can have a greenhouse either as an ag business or in a Highway (Roadside) business, We will contact them and let them know they have to have a zoning change. Dan Quinn spoke up and said we were going by what Pete Giese said, and he said it was legal to leave it zoned industrial, and he is in charge of it all. So if we were led astray … Millie interrupted him and said she just spoke with him this morning and he said the Village just passed it. We should waive the cost for the rezoning, because it was zoned incorrectly to begin with. Kampen asked what the zoning options were again? Corey said Ag and Roadside business. Millie said, no, it doesn’t fit Roadside Business. Corey said, that’s what you just told us it had to be. Millie said it needs to be Agriculture. Harry said, probably if this had gone through Zoning, it would all have been taken care of by now, right, Millie? Millie said well certainly, we would have rezoned it. There is nothing to that. Dan McGuire asked, so what is your recommendation again, Millie? Millie said my recommendation is that we contact them and tell them that they have to have a zoning change, but do not charge them the $250 fee because the Board made the mistake. McGuire said, so it has to go through the Zoning Board? Millie said no, it has to go to the Plan Committee. You have to advertise it in the paper for 2 weeks, Class A Notice; The person to talk to when we make appointment with Hemp place is Mike Bindl.
NOTE: The following is an excerpt from the April 16, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes, at which the Board’s approval of the Driftless Area Extracts, LLC, Building Permits were approved: It was approved based on Pete Giese’s recommendation, and Harry seconded the motion to approve the Permits.
Building Permits – Driftless Extracts, LLC for a Greenhouse and Fence – Mike Bindl said he updated the value to 28,000 for the fence 6 ft chain-link fence fabric, which is galvanized fence. Has e-mail from Pete Giese saying he approved it. Dan Q asked if he is also having three rows barbed wire on top of the fence, which he is. Motion Corey, second Harry to approve the permits. All yes, motion carried.
Mike Bindl of Driftless Extracts, LLC, tried to find out how he can schedule a meeting with the Plan Committee. Millie said they don’t have a regular meeting time, just whenever something comes up. Then she said he needs to contact Karen Kampen to arrange it.
Millie said, the second issue that bothers me, and I am sure was not proper, was the advertisement for the old bank building. I read this over and over and over and over, and I do not know what they wanted. I’ve no idea. To which Kampen replied, then I wrote it well. I couldn’t figure out what they wanted, either, but they were determined to have it rezoned. So I put it before the Zoning Committee to determine what they wanted, and if it is possible. The Zoning Ordinance, which was written in 2008, has it zoned different from the Richland County website, which is what I use to look up properties for people. It is zoned Commercial, which sounded like the way the purchaser seemed to want it zoned. Not until the Public Hearing did it come out that he wanted to have it zoned Residential. The Zoning Committee did not change the zoning, and it remains Commercial.
Following is the Newspaper Notice that Millie thoroughly bashed and degraded during the meeting:
Notice of a Public Hearing of the
Village of Lone Rock Zoning Board of Appeals
Pursuant to Sections 19.81-19.98 of the Wisconsin Statutes, Public Notice is hereby given to the public and news media that the subject matter of the Hearing of the Village of Lone Rock Board of Zoning Appeals to be held on Monday, March 11, 2019, at 7:00 PM at the Lone Rock Village Office Building, 314 E. Forest St., as follows :
Consideration of a request by Jordan Freehill a/k/a Freebird Rentals, LLC, for his properties as follows:
1) Property located at 321 S. Oak St. (a warehouse) cold/ dry storage building Legal description: the south half of lots #5 and #6 of block 18 of the original plat of lone rock city and unplanted lands lying south of block 18 and 50’ northerly of the main railroad track, being located in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 12 town 8 north, range 2 east, village of Lone Rock, Richland County, Wisconsin Parcel# 146-0018-0600.
2) Property located at 225 S. Oak St. (aka the old bank building) described as Lot #3 in block 11 of the Village of Lone Rock, Richland County, Wisconsin Parcel # 146-0011-0400
3) Property located behind the old bank building, described as the West half of lots #4, #5 and #6 in Block 11 in the Village of Lone Rock, Richland County, Wisconsin. Alternate Parcel # 52-146-0011-0400
The Board of Zoning Appeals will meet at the property at 6:45 PM to view the area where the building is to be constructed, then convening in a Public Hearing at the Village Office at 7:00 PM.
Karen J. Kampen, Clerk
Village of Lone Rock
Dan McGuire, who served on the Zoning Committee, tried to tell Millie that they turned down his request because he wanted to have it rezoned Residential, but Millie cut him off, saying I understand that, but he needs to be refund the $250 fee because it was not an appropriate advertisement, and no action was taken by the board.
Dan Quinn said if you look at how it’s listed in the Zoning Ordinance, it is listed as multi-family residential, which is different than how it is listed at the County website as commercial. The Zoning Ordinance is way out of date, and needs to be updated. It was last printed in 2008. We need to take one of the remaining books and have copies made to get us through until the update can be completed.
Date for next Plan Committee meeting: Donna Gorman said she would like to be on it. Dan McGuire volunteered. Karen call Arden to see if he still wants to be on, Need two more public members. Tuesday, June 4th is the meeting date 7:00 PM.
Last update of Zoning Ordinance was to add outdoor furnaces. Kampen said there was a change made since she has been here, and that was on the distance the signs on the side of the building have to be from the structure itself. That was changed when Dollar General was built.
It should have gone before the Plan Commission first, so it could be taken care of.
Mike Haight – Update on Plans for Elementary School Property – Mike said he is dropping a packet off Mike DeBars used to be a professor at Taliesin, he is taking over the projects. We are looking at a housing study. Still flexible in thinking and approach. Has completed interior demo of the building. No point in getting down to architectural renderings until the basics are worked out. The brown area along Pearl St. is where they are looking at potential for putting some housing units in there. They will be free-standing. Would like to open up the roof and adding some windows to bring in light into the gym area. Housing shortage in Lone Rock. He will need to staff it, and would like to provide places for them to live. Two-bedroom, two-story townhouse units, with two bedrooms and a bath on the upper level, and another bath on the main level, with a one-car attached garage. He thought there may be people who no longer want to maintain their houses and would like a smaller place to live, which would be a good option for them, and would then free up their homes for others to move into Lone Rock.
As he is cleaning out and getting rid of leftover items, there is a lot of stuff in there. It looks like maybe they did a “Class dismissed,” and walked out. There are kid chairs and desks and things that could be made available to people who would like to have a souvenir. Mike thinks that within a couple of weeks he would have it so we could walk through and get an idea of what he’s planning. Harry asked for a copy for Millie that there are a lot of areas that will need different zoning.
Mary asked if the Food Pantry is still there? Yes, it is. They were there yesterday (Monday.) Tootie said Meals on Wheels is definitely interested. Mike said they were supposed to send him some information, but he has not received it. It is not set up for it in its current state, but that could be remedied, and they are welcome. In a couple of weeks, come in and walk through the space. If the board gives their blessing to go ahead, then Mike would start meeting with the Plan Commission. There will be a lot of licensing that we will have to talk about. The Thirsty Goat in Madison would like to expand their tap room facilities herewith a brew pub similar to what Lake Louie is doing in Arena, but with a tap room attached. The Tuscany in Madison is another one owned by this same person.
Corey asked about a timeline. Mike said some portions of it are ready to come in and get open now. The coffeehouse, mini golf course, brew pub, etc. Resale shop, The brew pub he would like to have open by this time next year. The kitchen is pretty good over there already, just installing the brewing equipment, etc.
Economic Development Limited Term Exploratory Committee – Mary Litviak – While we are in the Economic Development mood, Mary brought copies of the key goals of the committee, to attract new business and residents to our community. One board member who would facilitate the meetings, and report back to the board. Dan McGuire said he is all for it, and thinks we should vote it in right now. He made a motion to establish this Committee. Second Tootie. All yes, motion carried. Mary will report every meeting until she is ready with a presentation.
Lone Rock Fire Dept. – Use of Tables & Chairs for the Fly-In, Drive-In Breakfast. Motion Harry, second Tootie to approve letting the Fire Dept use the tables and chairs. All yes, motion carried.
Purchase of Village Property – Marvin Joles, III Marvin was at our last meeting and said he is interested in purchasing what used to be the old Kast property. The Board said we need to look up what we have put into the property to know how much to sell it for. Kampen looked up the Quit Claim Deed on it. He said when he was here last that he would like to pay what the Village has into it, and understands it could be a little bit more because of all the work you have done on it. Dan Q said we paid $2,000 for the property, spent $600 for the asbestos abatement, and the rest of it was done by the village employees and the fire dept., so what we have into it is $2,600. Marvin said that is okay by us. Marvin said he would like to get it done as soon as possible, as he would like to prepare the property for the building he wants to put on it. He would like to put up a shop for his business, approximately 45’ X 40’. Dan Q said it would need to be rezoned, so Marvin will need to set up a meeting with Millie. Millie said it will need to be advertised two times, and all the contiguous properties notified, (and a public hearing.) Dan asked the board members for their thoughts, shall we sell it for that?
Dan McGuire brought up that he thinks we should have a discussion on railroad tracks, there is a rail spur there, and if we only build a garage, he heard that Lycon is wanting to build near the spur. Dan Q already talked to them, they are not sure they are coming to Lone Rock, and they are only interested in the Crop Production property, are not interested in the property that Marvin wants. They still do not know if Cardinal Glass is buying them out, and even then, may not want to come to Lone Rock. Dan M said it’s still a rail spur. Dan Q said on a corner, which they wouldn’t want. Dan M said it still would take away our control over it if a different investor wants to come into Lone Rock. Dan Q said that spur sat vacant for how long? And now we’ve got someone interested in buying the property next to it that wasn’t even available before?
Corey said when we tried “giving” Crop Production away, that was one of the main reasons that company lost interest, was because of the cost involved in fixing the tracks. Harry said it was going to cost them up to $50,000 just to get the tracks up-to-date. Corey said that was the deal-breaker for them, they were not interested because of the cost involved in fixing up the rails.
Pat Alt asked if she could say something, and Dan Q recognized her. She said with all the dust and stuff involved with a concrete plant, why would you want to put it there? Aren’t there better places across the highway, or somewhere that is (not as residential?)
Corey said he would like to see us move the land the Village has, and be put to use and put back on the tax roll. We can deny him, and then let that land set there for another 30 years without being productive. Harry agreed. He said I agree with the $2,600, plus any paperwork to be paid by Marvin. Dan Q said we are getting back the money we put into it, now we should get it back into use. We have land that has been sitting for how long? We keep passing people up who are interested in it, and nothing gets done. That Crop Production property, we’ve tried to give it away twice, and never got it moved. It would be different if they were here with a proposal, but they are not.
Corey motion to sell Marvin Joles, III of WisCoat LLC the property formerly known as the Kast property, Dan M interrupted Corey’s motion by asking Marvin if he has a written property use document? If we are going to sell village property, we have to have a written property use document. Dan Q said we just talked with the Planning and Zoning, and we already know that it was listed as Residential, but its neighbors by two properties are both Commercial, or maybe Industrial, so changing it back to Commercial would not be a problem. Putting a Residential lot in between two Industrial lots would be worse than making it Commercial. Changing it back to Commercial would not be a big deal. The Zoning Ordinance shows the area as wholesale and service district. Marvin looked at the Quit Claim Deed, and it says it is residential.
Dan Q asked Karen to read back the motion Corey had begun. Corey motion to sell Marvin Joles, III of WisCoat LLC the property formerly known as the Kast property, Lot 146-0020-0500 … McGuire again interrupted Corey’s motion, claiming that we were leaving the board members out of the conversation … Corey continued, for the amount of $2,600. Kampen again read the motion back: Corey motion to sell Marvin Joles, III of WisCoat LLC the property formerly known as the Kast property, Lot 146-0020-0500 for the amount of $2,600. All closing costs go to the purchaser. Second by Tootie. All voted yes except Dan McGuire, who voted no. Motion carried.
Temporary Class “B” Retailer’s Licenses – One for the Splash Pad Duck Race, June 8 - 9, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 AM; One for The Annual 4th of July Celebration, July 3 - 5, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 AM. Motion by Harry to approve Temporary Class “B” Retailer’s Licenses, One for the Splash Pad Duck Race, June 8 - 9, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 AM; One for The Annual 4th of July Celebration, July 3 - 5, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 AM., second by Tootie. All yes, motion carried.
Lone Rock Youth Sports – Dan McGuire – he was approached by the new River Valley baseball/softball consortium, Darby Blakely, if Lone Rock would have space for a batting cage, would have posts in the ground and nets, It is at no cost to our community. Dan Q said we need to have it on paper to see where it’s going to go, how much space it’s going to take up. We have no dimensions. We have a Parks Plan, that says where everything is supposed to go, and the Splash Pad had to go through all that to plan out the space for that. Marian Copus asked if the Consortium has asked us to join the Consortium? Adam said yes, they have. Sue Question if it is going to affect our insurance liability. We do have coverage. Adam said he thinks it is doable, but we have to find the right space for it. McGuire and Adam Reno are to go ahead with measuring where it will go. Get it drawn up.
Board Committees – We discussed this at the Ordinance Committee, and they recommended consolidating a bunch of them, because they said we have too many committees. McGuire asked who made that recommendation. Dan Q said the two attorneys, Ed Leineweber and Alan Harvey. McGuire said well, that’s just a suggestion by Alan, Dan Q said and I think it’s a pretty good suggestion. McGuire said, he’s not on this board! Okay? He’s going to do our rezoning, but he’s not on this board to tell us how to run this board. Dan Q said the thing is, he kind of is. When he tells us about what villages need, and what they don’t need … McGuire raised his voice and said I disagree, Dan! He does not! Dan Q continued, if he wants to make suggestions … McGuire broke in, He has nothing to do with these committees! This should have been done in April! Dan Q said no. Not until l have spoken with the lawyers, and see what they propose about eliminating some of the committees, or combining them. McGuire said I don’t agree. I think we need more committees. What’s your idea? What’s Alan’s idea? Dan Q said when we have our Ordinance Committee meeting, and Alan is here, we will be discussing it. McGuire said, so in the meantime, we have no committees? Dan Q said we still have our committees, they still have chairs, they can continue to function as they have been. McGuire: Would you mind verbalizing what they are, and who is on these committees? Quinn: I do not have my paperwork with me. I think you have a list of those committees. McGuire: I see those committees, I see they have two people on them, some of them don’t have a chairman. Kampen said that’s not true. McGuire: well, then, where are they? Are they on the website? I didn’t see them on there. I make a motion that we have at least three people on each of these committees, and that each of these committee assignments be disbursed equally. Second by Tootie. McGuire, Tootie and Mary Litviak voted yes. The rest did not vote. Corey said, that’s what they are already. Dan Q said I will put new board members in them, and then we will change them again.
Public Input – Children Playing Sign – Alice Hatfield – Alice said traffic is coming up and down her road too fast, and she is very concerned that the many small children that are playing back and forth that someone is going to be hit. Discussion on what could be done, and Adam said he will take care of it.
We do have a new traffic sign, that we are still working on getting it working right. Don Brander said he would like to see the police job posted, and that we need to have a response time much faster.
Doris Mernack said since I have lived here in Sept. 2016, my sewer has backed up three times. They said it is not anything I am doing wrong. Doris said she had a number of different companies out, they ran lines through and said the problem is at the main. Adam said we can get a camera to take pictures in there, and you can see the root ball in the lateral. Dan Quinn said the main has been relined, and going into your lateral has been sealed, so for it to be in our main line is really going to be difficult. We have the capability of running a camera through to find where the problem is. Adam and Dan will do that.
Police – Dan Q is working with Chad Kanable now on options we would have working through the County, and will bring it to the board to decide what we want to do. Several other villages and towns are working with the County, where they will come in, use our squad car, use our ordinances, and work the number of hours we decide, and maintain a presence. Not all officers live in Richland Center. Some live a lot closer to Lone Rock, so the response time is not an issue. He was supposed to be here tonight, but he was waiting for one more county to come in. By next board meeting, or we will have a special meeting on it.
Resident who has problems with a neighbor kid who runs his ATV like a racetrack too close to his house. Harry said when Ryan talked to them, they were supposed to clean up that mess they have back there, and that is our street. It started again about 2 weeks ago. (Randy)
Harry suggested sending a letter from the board that he needs to come to our meeting and address the board. Dan said he will have Adam go down and take pictures of the damage he’s doing to property.
Mary said an 8 year old was at the splash pad and there was a man there swearing at him and gesturing. Called the County, but they said they would not come out.
Parks – Security Camera System – Garrison Park -- Adam said we had issues with kids lighting the toilet paper on fire and causing damage to the restrooms. He thinks we should have a camera there, now that we have the Veteran’s Memorial. Motion Harry, second Tootie to get the cameras. Carried. Adam said we are also getting work done on the Fireman’s Park camera as well. Dan Q said Social Services has to tell us what can be done. Arson and damage to property. Since putting the cameras at Fireman’s Park, there has been a lot less vandalism.
The Splash Pad should be open by Memorial weekend, if it doesn’t snow.
Streets – Will put up banners next week. Mary will bring some. We have five banners right now. Adam said there is a problem with people pumping their basement water on the streets. They have destroyed the street at Chestnut and Pearl Streets. It has destroyed the intersection.
Check Zoning Ordinance to see if there is something regulating running water to the street. People should be letting it run onto their lawns. Check into making an ordinance against it if we don’t already have one.
Corey said May 31st is a meeting on the bridge. People are encouraged to attend to stand up for keeping our bridges.
Water & Sewer – Dan said he found a company that will pump the lagoons, which has been hard to find. Preliminary cost estimate is 60,000 to 80,000 to pump the lagoons. Having issues with ground water, People are pumping their basements into the sewer system, and it is making problems for the sewers. Union St. north, Highway West. The lift station by the firehouse is running way more than it should be. The other lift station is working normal.
Check with League of Municipalities to see if there is anything we can do to prevent that. DNR and PSC would be good. To tell us if we can legally check the houses we suspect are violating.
Adam said we have had a sewer machine sitting around for years. Can we put it on WI Surplus? Motion Tootie, second Harry to put it out there and sell it.
Library – Cleaning & Maintenance Checklist – Stacy said over the past year they have been revising and reviewing policies, and they put together a checklist for maintenance and cleaning. John Heasley will give a presentation. June 4th will be senior program. Stacy is leaving. She is going to Richland Center Library.
Review Bills – The bills were distributed for the Board’s review.
Upcoming Meetings:
Public Hearing on Phase II Water Line Replacement Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 5:30 PM;
Ordinance Committee Meeting Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at 7:00 P.M.
Adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Kampen, Clerk
Posting of Notices – Per 2015 Senate Bill 137, 2015 Wisconsin Act 79 Section 2. 985.02 (02) (a) All Village Notices must be posted in at least one public place likely to give notice to persons affected and placed electronically on an Internet site maintained by the municipality. Therefore, in lieu of newspaper ads and notices, the Village of Lone Rock posts on the Village of Lone Rock website, www.villageoflonerock.com, at the Village Post Office, and at both the inside and outside bulletin boards at the Lone Rock Village Office, 314 E Forest St. This more than meets the criteria required per this legislation. (Approved by the Village Board at its meeting on February 9, 2016.)