Minutes

Town of Whitewater Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

 

Lowell called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM

In attendance: Lowell, Bob, Norm, Jorja, Carl

Norm made motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Bob; the motion carried.

Norm made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 11, 2023 Board Meeting, seconded by Bob; the motion carried

Treasurer report:  tax collections are closed. Read balances

Clerk Report: Early voting is scheduled for Saturday 9-noon along with the public testing for the voting machine which will be at noon. Second day for in-person early voting is Tuesday 2/14 noon – 3.    Election is 2/21/2023.

Supervisors’ reports:

Norm: WE energies crew hit large rock underground on Reliance Road. They need to remove the pipe due to several feet of pipe that were damaged.

Bob: Jan Hincapie reported that her neighbor has blocked her entrance to a shared driveway. Bob counseled her to contact an attorney to clarify the lot lines and how to handle a shared driveway.

Lowell: no report

Sheriff’s Department incident report: 212 calls; some crashes that were alcohol induced. There have been several accidents on Hwy 12 where WE Energies is working. Even with the flaggers present, accidents still occur.

Stephanie Hicks is a candidate for Whitewater School Board. She has lived in the area for 23 years, her two children attend the Whitewater school and she is a Special Ed teacher in the Milton district. Her concerns: Wants to renew positive relationships within the community. There are about 200 families each year who leave the Whitewater School district. Teacher retention is an issue and there needs to be more effort in bringing students to grade level efficiency. She feels that life skills need to take priority in the classroom and better fiscal decisions at the Board level.

Discussion/Decision 2023 Safety Patrol contract: there is no change from the 2022 contract. Norm made a motion to accept the new contract,  Bob seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Discussion/Decision new launch signs at boat landings – Lowell does not feel that the Town should be paying for the signs. He feels that if Lake Management wants to replace the existing signage, they should pay for them. No one knows if the new signs are reflecting new state guidelines. It was noted that there is a question if the State grant might cover some of the cost and/or if Lake Management has already agreed to sharing some of the cost. Someone suggested that perhaps residents might offer donations. To date the cost for the signage has been quoted by Lange Enterprises at an approximate cost of $240.00 per sign.

Norm made a motion to approve new signs, Bob seconded, the motion carried with a 2/3 majority.

Discussion/Decision ATV/UTV usage on Town roads. The County has approved opening County roads to ATV/UTV usage. They will not pay for any signage on their roads. Lowell made a motion to allow road access to ATV/UTV on Township roads, except near the lake. Bob seconded the motion and the motion carried with a 2/3 majority.

Discussion/Decision : Pat Romenesko suggested transferring the current designated funds from the low interest money markets to CD’s that are currently paying higher rates. A resident indicated that Associated Bank is offering a 4% interest on savings accounts. Without a motion, it was agreed that research is needed to determine the best option for switching the funds to generate higher interest.

There was no formal public input.

The Board reviewed the bills and signed checks.

Bob made a motion for final adjournment, seconded by Lowell; the motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 7:45.

Respectively submitted by Jorja Boiley, Clerk/Treasurer