HomeMy WebLinkAboutHighway Committee Minutes July 9 2015HIGHWAY COMMITTEE MEETING
July 9, 2015
The regular monthly meeting of the Grant County Highway Committee was held
on Thursday, July 9, 2015 at the Highway Office in Lancaster, Wisconsin. Chairman
Donald Splinter called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M..
Members present besides the Chairman were John Patcle, Mark Stead, Grant Loy,
Vern Lewison, and Highway Commissioner David Lambert. Also present was County
Board Chairman Robert Keeney. Joining the Committee later in the meeting were
Travis Kramer and Rick Satterlee.
Notice of the meeting was sent to the newspaper and radio station and the
agenda was posted at the Administration Building and Highway Office.
John Patcle, seconded by Grant Loy, moved to approve the revised agenda as
printed. Motion carried.
Vern Lewison, seconded by John Patcle, moved to approve the minutes of the
June 11, 2015 meeting as printed. Motion carried.
Mark Stead, seconded by Donald Splinter, moved to pay Vouchers #389 thru
#444 and #416A thru 465A. Motion carried.
John Patcle, seconded by Mark Stead, moved to transfer $500,000.00 from
FAS Account to Buildings Account, to cover the cost of the Platteville
Maintenance Building. Motion carried.
For the first five months of 2015, Grant County is under budget $73,177.00
for the maintenance work that we provide on the State Highway System.
David reported that mowing along State Highways is almost complete.
Materials for the PBM Bridge Project have been received and concrete repairs
to Hwy 151 have been completed.
David updated the Committee on County Highway System Projects. Pipes are
in on CTH "P" between River Ridge High School and Bagley, with the largest 84"
pipe installed last week. The second lift of asphalt will be completed today
on CTH "C" (Hwy 18 south to the Dew Drop Inn). Pulverizing CTH "P" will begin
at the end of August with the binder asphalt to be placed at the beginning of
September.
David is looking at a 36 month lease agreement w/buyout option for a new
Caterpillar D6T Track -Type Tractor with VPAT Dozer from FABCO Equipment in
Madison. Brad DeVault, Compact Construction Equipment Sales Specialist with
Fabco, plans on attending the August Committee meeting.
The Highway Department is accepting applications for an Operator Position
that was vacated when Doug Shaw left and went '-Crawford County.
Travis joined the Committee for an update on the Platteville Outshop. We
have satisfied the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services and
have received our "Conditional Approval" for our maintenance building plan. This
process is usually referred to as our State Plan Review. At issue was the number
of vehicles that would be in the building that would weigh more than 26,000
pounds. Five or more vehicles would require a sprinkler system.
John Patcle, seconded by Grant Loy, moved to approve the Memorandum of
Understanding between the Grant County Highway Department and the Town of
Platteville whereby Grant County agrees to sell a one acre parcel to the Town
of Platteville for $75,000.00 to relocate the Town of Platteville Shop and Town
Hall. Motion carried.
David was asked by the Department Heads to look at three methods of increasing
revenue for Wisconsin Counties. These three methods were the "tools" provided by
the State to help Counties that are experiencing increasing costs and decreasing
State Aid on highways. The three methods of increasing revenue were the room tax,
sales tax, and wheel tax. The room tax would not produce much additional revenue
in Grant County. The sales tax would be an additional 2% applied to everything.
The money collected would be divided with the Towns/Villages and Cities with Grant
County getting about 30% of what is collected. The wheel tax is an additional fee
added to vehicle registration for vehicles under 8000 pounds. It would be added
to the yearly registration fee of $75.00. The amount could be anywhere from ten
to twenty dollars. The State collects the fee along with their regular registration
fee. The State keeps $.10 and sends the balance back to the County. Iowa County
currently adds $20.00 to vehicles registered in the County. The County gets back
over $400,000.00 per year. Based on the number of cars and trucks registered in
Grant County, David estimates an additional $350,000. to $700,000. could be
generated per year. This additional revenue must be justified be dedicating the
funds to highway work. One disadvantage to this additional revenue source is that
blame for the fee increase would be directed to the Highway Department. The
Committee decided to take a "wait and see" approach similar to Crawford County
before proposing a recommendation for either the sales tax or wheel tax.
David addressed the Committee on his opinion as to how Health Insurance
Changes on the agenda for next weeks Executive Committee, would impact certain
employees at the Highway Department. There was no discussion or action by the
Committee on this subject as it was not an agenda item.
County Board Chairman Robert Keeney thanked the Highway Department for the
work they did at O'Leary's Landing.
Rick Satterlee from Ayres Associates thanked the Committee for their
consideration of his firm in the last go round of selecting Consulting Engineering
Firms for Bridge Project Designs. He appreciates the opportunity to come to
Grant County.
Mark Stead, seconded by Vern Lewison, moved to adjourn at 10:55 A.M. to
Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 9:00 A.M.. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark A. Stead, Secretary