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October 28, 2009 Board of Supervisors special meeting
Maine Minutes
October 28, 2009
Special Board of Supervisors Meeting
Maine Town Hall
6111 N. 44th Avenue
Wausau, WI 54401
OFFICIAL NOTICE AND AGENDA
The Board of Supervisors of the Town of Maine will hold a special meeting in the Maine Town Hall on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Agenda
1. Call to order - Betty Hoenisch, Chairperson
2. Discussion and possible action on new Fire Department building.
3. Adjournment
I certify that this agenda was posted at Red Granite Bar, Richard’s Supper Club, Schmidt’s Bar and the Town Hall, 6111 N. 44th Avenue on or before October 23, 2009.
Tammi M. Walter
Town of Maine Clerk
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Special Board of Supervisors Meeting
A Special Meeting of the Board of Supervisors for the Town of Maine was held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in the Town Hall.
Present were Chairperson Betty Hoenisch, Supervisor Tad Schult, Supervisor Wes Schoepke and Treasurer Marilyn Grunenwald. Also present were Chief John Ohrmundt, Assistant Chief Don Voelker, Captain Bob Pound, Lieutenant Paul Anderson, Lieutenant Joe Bozinski and First Responder Captain Jim Sala.
Chair Hoenisch called the Special Meeting to order. She explained the meeting had been called to discuss a proposed new fire department building.
Supervisor Schoepke explained that we need to plan for our storage issues and it seems most feasible to do a new fire department building because there may be state funding available for that type of building.
Chief Ohrmundt explained they use an equipment rotation process and at present time the current building suits all their needs. However they will cooperate in any new plans.
Supervisor Schult said the state will soon demand that we build a storage shed for the winter salt and we are thinking of using the block portion of the town garage for our salt shed. If a new fire department was built, public works could use the current fire department building to store their equipment and trucks. The supervisors have discussed this and believe it makes the most sense to build a new fire department building to solve our storage issues.
Chief Ohrmundt explained the current fire department addition was built to allow for future expansion to the north, but it would close off the north driveway / parking area.
Treasurer Grunenwald asked if the officers had visited the new Pine River Fire Department. Captain Pound said it was a 6,000 square foot building and had cost $49.00 a foot to build.
Lieutenant Anderson said the current location of the Maine Fire Department is good because of access to County Road K and Highway I-39. Discussion followed on other vehicles yielding to emergency vehicles. Chair Hoenisch explained that the Board would talk to Marathon County Highway Department regarding a possible variance for an access driveway and emergency lights on County Road K that alert motorist to out coming emergency vehicles.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Special Board of Supervisors Meeting
Supervisor Schult explained that due to the additional project cost to purchase land the Town Board was going to talk to Maine Lions Club about relocating their facility to the north end of the Town’s property or to a different property. Relocating the shelter would allow room for a fire department building, possible future expansion of hall offices and much needed storage space without land acquisition costs.
Discussion followed on cost of commercial land and the ability to use the hall well and holding tank if the new fire department building could be built north of the hall.
Chief Ohrmundt asked what the next step was.
Supervisor Schoepke said this is off the subject, but what equipment purchases does the fire department expect in the next five to ten years.
Captain Pound said Tanker Two is a 1978 truck and Engine Two is a 1979 truck and both need to be replaced. Lieutenants Bozinski and Sala both commented that planning needs to done to replace both those trucks.
Chair Hoenisch stated that she wanted to clear up a misconception that was out there regarding the Town taking ten years to pay off Tanker One. Engine One was delivered in 2000 and Tanker One was purchased in 2002. When the Town took out the loan for Tanker One there was $75,000.00 remaining on the Engine One loan, consequently People’s Bank encouraged the Town to combine the two loans and take the payments out ten years. The loan will be paid off at the end of 2010 or eight years due to People’s Bank lowering the interest rate approximately five years ago. She said it’s the Town’s policy to not purchase new trucks even for public works unless the current truck is paid for.
Supervisor Schult ask what the officer’s plans were to recruit new personnel. Lieutenant Anderson said that they relied on mutual aid for manpower; therefore it was not necessary to recruit new personnel.
Chief Ohrmundt stated that they were fortunate so far with current manpower. Rib Mountain is progressive for a volunteer department and Maine uses Rib Mountain for mutual aid. Chief Ohrmundt explained that periodically he receives an application and interviews someone interested in joining the department. He explained the interview process and how he asks the prospective personnel to be sure this is something he / she wants to do because it is a real commitment. He tells them this is
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Special Board of Supervisors Meeting
not like joining the Maine Lions due to the training requirements and 9-1-1- calls that interrupt their life all hours of the day and night.
Discussion followed on taking a tour of the Pine River Fire Department and the Fire Department’s wish list if funding could be secured for a new building.
Chair Hoenisch explained that Rib Mountain’s Chief Wirth has spoken to her several times about the possibility of staging an ambulance at Maine Fire Department. She said that Rib Mountain would staff and train the ambulance personnel. If we are building a new building this is something we should consider for the future. Chief Ohrmundt said that he was not supportive of changing ambulance service because Wausau offers the best service at this time.
More discussion followed on recent fire calls and mutual aid. Lieutenant Sala said he disagreed with earlier comments about needing personnel. He said we need to get younger fire fighters with strong bodies that can do the more physical aspects of the job. The average age of Maine’s fire fighters is 58 years old.
Lieutenant Anderson disagreed because it is too hard to recruit good personnel. In the past he said that five people were trained to get one fire fighter that remains on the department. Supervisor Schult asked how the department recruits personnel. Chief Ohrmundt said that recruiting drives are not successful. Maine has great manpower with mutual aid from the Towns of Texas, Pine River, Rib Mountain and the City of Wausau.
Supervisor Schoepke asked how much it costs to train a firefighter. Training is paid by the state Captain Pound said, however the Town spends approximately $3,000.00 in gear and pays for class time based on a per diem amount.
Chief Ohrmundt stated that the Fire Department is willing to help out in any way they can, however he hopes the Town does not plan to build an elaborate type of building which would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. The supervisors said they planned to build a nice but very functional type of building. We want to do some planning and find the most cost effective way to solve all the Town’s storage issues.
Supervisor Schoepke asked the officers to put together a plan for vehicle replacement and a plan to bring younger personnel on board.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Special Board of Supervisors Meeting
Lieutenant Anderson had more comments about replacing Tanker Two. Supervisor Schoepke said he had ridden in all the fire trucks today. He asked if the truck’s problems were physical things or age related. Discussion followed on possible maintenance verses replacement and the possibility of purchasing a five year old trade in model from a City that is upgrading. Captain Pound talked about Tanker Two’s tank corrosion and engine power issues.
Supervisor Schult said this is why we need a plan. If there is no plan the Town Board does not know how to budget. The Fire Department’s budget may need to be increased if new vehicles are needed he said.
Supervisor Schoepke asked the officers to discuss the new building and truck replacement issues with the department and put a plan together for our next meeting.
Supervisor Schult said he thought it was a very productive meeting. We should meet periodically he said so we are all on the same page.
Captain Pound talked about the new Black Bear Way sign on Rainbow Drive. He asked how that name was determined because it is out of the Town’s 9-1-1 numbering sequence. The Board explained the new private way ordinance and problems with old grandfathered shared driveways that are not numbered properly. The Board held special meetings with County Planning regarding the Town’s numbering system, the reasons the Town wants the private ways named and the County’s cooperation in correcting the problems that were discovered when putting up the new signs. The Board also met with residents to find a private way name they mutually agreed on.
Discussion followed on address changes, new private way names and new home address signs. The officers stated it would be easier for them to find a private way if the name followed the letter the private way was off of. The Board agreed to use that naming method for future new private ways.
Motion by Supervisor Schult to adjourn at 9:10 p.m., seconded by Supervisor Schoepke. Motion carried.
Respectively submitted and approved on November 9, 2009.
Betty Hoenisch
Town of Maine Chairperson
Archive:
March 12, 2012 Board of Supervisors
March 6, 2012 Board of Supervisors special meeting
February 13, 2012 Board of Supervisors
January 9, 2012 Board of Supervisors
December 27, 2011 Board of Supervisors special meeting
December 12, 2011 Board of Supervisors
November 16, 2011 Town of Maine Board Budget Public Hearing
November 14, 2011 Board of Supervisors
October 17, 2011 Board of Supervisor Special Meeting 2012 Budget Workshop
October 10, 2011 Board of Supervisors
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