Town of Arena

October 12, 2009

PRESENT: Dave Lucey, Minnie Gauger, Dick Lockman, Mary Lockman, Dave Meudt, Bob Murphy, Dean Swenson, Marti, Rand Schott, Connie McVay

- The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Roll call was taken. Gauger moved to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2009 meeting. Denruiter seconded, motion passed.

Marti, Town of Village representative- Jim Muchali from USDA as long as the FEMA ditch is on private property he has no problem with it. The ditch sole purpose is to alleviate water from the Village of Arena and the surrounding area. He doesn't consider it an infringement on anything. Dave Lucey has to call the contractor tomorrow to let him know what we want to do. There is an easement on either side of the FEMA ditch. The ditch has not been professionally engineered. There is one land owner that is convinced this is going to create a problem. How do we assure them it is okay? Frank Fretter from DNR talked with Bob Murphy and he didn't see any problem with it. In Marti's opinion if it gets water out of the area more quickly then it is a good thing. How do we proceed? Marti doesn't have an answer. If the ditch gets too full then the water needs to go back across the field. The natural ground is higher to the West. The field itself is over a foot higher. How much water can the ditch handle? That is why Marti thinks a professional engineer should look at it. If Frank Fretter says it is not going to be a problem does the Village have a problem with it? Marti says probably so, but he can't speak for the whole board. He doesn't know the legalities of it. Dave will get a hold of the land owner and tell him to wait until we find out more answers.

Rand Schott - Gave the Board a copy of all of the land owners and a map of the shared driveway. Denruiter motioned to approve the driveway permit and the changes in the map. Gauger seconded, motion passed.

Connie McVay - Connie got a memo from Scott Godfrey. Dave doesn't feel that we need a surveyors description of the property. They need an ordinance from the Town of Arena saying that the Town of Arena doesn't want any responsibility for this. Connie McVay will write up the ordinance saying what the plan is. Connie wrote up a public notice for the Town to publish in the paper. The meeting will be Dec. 14 at 6:30pm.

Bob Murphy - rezone of 7.5 to 8 acres instead of 10 acres. Rezone from A1 to AR1. Gauger motioned to rezone 7.5 or 8 acres and rezone from A1 to AR1. Denruiter seconded, motion passed. Bob paid $500.

Dean Swenson - wanted to ask what's happening with the Farmland Preservation with the County. Dave said we want to be excluded from any County zoning. There will be a huge conversion fee of over $900 per acre. Our density will have to change from 1/30 to 1/20. All the zoning will have to be done through a conditional use as of Jan. 1, 2010. The Township does have a comprehensive plan and that is all the State requires so we will follow that. Those in the Farmland Preservation can still be in the Working Lands Initiative, asked Dean? Dave said no, the land owners will not receive any compensation from that program on land zoned A1. Are we loosing the purpose of the Farmland Preservation program? Dean said the program is based on a 40 acre farm and the program is also based on income. There is a meeting at the County on Oct. 21.

Operators Licenses - Steven Layton motioned to approve the operator's license. Gauger seconded, motion passed. The board wants Travis Rasmussen to fill out a new operator's license application with proof that he held an operators license in the past two years.

Patrolmen discussion - Dick ordered some more signs. Dave said make sure to document everything when we change the signs. What is the required height? We have salt and chips for winter. Dick doesn't know if he can get the truck through on River Road right now. It looks narrow.

Gauger motioned to approve the bills as presented. Denruiter seconded, motion passed.

Dick Lockman will pick up a heater for Jim Wirtz to use on Saturday's when doing recycling.

Gauger motioned to adjourn. Denruiter seconded, motion passed.