Town Board accepts county’s proposal for road repair

The Sheboygan Falls Town Board voted to accept a road-repair proposal from the Sheboygan County Highway Department, during its regular monthly meeting Monday, Aug. 3, at the Sheboygan Falls Town Hall.

Sheboygan County Highway Commissioner Greg Schnell appeared at the July Town Board meeting to discuss the possibility of repairing uneven patches of roadway on Meadowlark Road, near the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport.

The Sheboygan County Highway Commission served as the contractor for the road-paving project. However, shortly after the county completed the project, cracking became an issue in several portions of the road.

In a letter submitted to the town, the county agreed to provide a 1½-inch overlay on 1,800 feet of Meadowlark Road, as a remedy to the cracking problem on the roadway.

“This is a suitable solution to the problem, providing that the airport does not bring in more heavy equipment on Meadowlark Road,” Town Chairman Steve Bauer said.

In a further discussion of town roads, Scott Theobald of C&S Construction said he patched holes in Woodland Road, Playbird Road and a bridge along Highland Road.

The board also discussed a hole at the intersection of Highland Road and County J, before agreeing that the county should be consulted to address the problem area.

Supervisor Skip Theobald said the town should arrange for lines to be painted on portions of Bridgewood and Hillside roads, where slurry seal has recently been put into place.

In other business, the board approved a rezoning request, submitted by town resident Ken Meinnert, who plans to build a ranch-style house on a 4.269-acre parcel of land located on County J.

“This is a little strip of land that is not conducive to a big farming operation,” Theobald said.

The board granted Meinnert’s request to rezone the land parcel from A-1 to A-2 agricultural zoning classification.

The board approved Resolution 3-2009, designating public depository and authorizing withdrawal of town moneys.

“This authorizes the town clerk to deposit, withdraw and transfer money for the township,” Bauer said.

A recycling compliance assurance plan also met board approval.

“We need to adopt this in order to keep our recycling grant,” Clerk-Treasurer Jenny Meyer said. “It sets guidelines for the town in compliance with our own ordinance.”

Meyer also discussed plans for the town’s new Web site.

She said Paul Hanson volunteered to design the Web site free of charge, with the town required to pay a $100 annual fee for server use.

The board agreed to assign the town’s new Web site address as www.townofsheboyganfalls.com.

The board gave Meyer permission to go ahead with setting up the Web site.

In a review of correspondence, the board ruled that a proposed firewood business on a five-acre parcel of land with A-2 zoning must be rezoned to B-1 commercial zoning in order to earn approval.

After a brief discussion, the board tabled a complaint submitted by town resident Robert Wettstein.

The complaint involved water flow through the backyard of Wettstein’s property, located on County C, near Prairie Crossing Assisting Living Center.

“I took a look at this area, and I can’t figure out where the water is coming from,” Bauer said. “To address the problem, we need to pinpoint the origin of the water flow.”

After submitting a request to draw water from the town’s fire department training area, Bauer said Vinton Construction has withdrawn its request in favor of another location.

Bauer added that town currently has an exclusive contract with Vinton, which is doing construction work at a hangar located at the county airport.

The board voted to table a request from Rotary West to obtain a temporary beer license for a microbrew beer fest event at the county airport’s Aviation Heritage Center Saturday, Sept. 26.

With no representative from Rotary West in attendance at the meeting, the board agreed to table a decision on the request until its next monthly meeting Monday, Sept. 14.

In the supervisor’s report portion of the meeting, Skip Theobald announced the fire department is now utilizing its newly acquired fire truck.

During the county supervisor’s report, County Board Supervisor Peggy Feider discussed the 50-year lease agreement between Morgan Aircraft and Sheboygan County.

“This is a tremendous development for Sheboygan County and the surrounding area,” Feider said. “The possible economic impact and number of jobs that are expected to be created is huge.”

Feider noted that work on the first phase of the multi-phase project is scheduled to begin this fall, with the first rental payment to the county due Aug. 1, 2010.

She said the second phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2014.

“This agreement will have a significant impact on the tax base in Sheboygan County, as well as the town of Sheboygan Falls,” Feider said.

After announcing the county is expected to increase taxes 2.9 percent in 2010, she said the valuation for the county rose 3 percent to $9,133,089,615.

Feider also spoke about a new drug discount program available to county residents, who are not covered by insurance.

Information on the program will be available at the Sheboygan Falls Town Hall.

After hearing an inquiry from Wayne Sargent, the board voted to move the county supervisor’s report from the bottom of the meeting agenda to the top of the agenda, following the treasurer’s report.

The next Sheboygan Falls Town Board meeting is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at the Sheboygan Falls Town Hall.