PlanComMinutes

Minutes of Oct. 20, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission October 20, 2009
Town Hall
1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other members present were: Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs, Tom Kersten, Ben Neiman.
2. Approval of the agenda passed with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny.
3. Approval of minutes of the last meeting passed with a motion by Denny and a second by Pat.
4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleba, Paul Picchietti, Sue Neiman.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Ben provided copies of four articles: one on Ecological Esthetic, one on property rights (private versus public), one on Ojibwe history including the Horse Fly battle and burial grounds, and one on the Wisconsin "Smart Growth" law. Pat provided a Wisconsin map from a Natural Resources magazine.
6. There are several changes to be made to maps. Ben, and Bill Czeskleba will meet with NWRPC.
7. All narratives have been edited by a technical writer. Kay will incorporate recommended changes and forward to Sheldon Johnson by October 23 for publication - we will review on November 5.
8. We discussed the draft of an Introduction to the Plan. Bob and Kay will make changes and Kay will include with narratives.
9. Moved by Denny and seconded by Ben to adjourn at 8:15 PM. The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 5, 2009.
Submitted by Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Sept.30, 2009 September 30, 2009
Town Hall
1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other members present were: Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs, Tom Kersten, Ben Neiman.
2. Approval of the agenda passed with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat.
3. Approval of minutes of the last meeting (as amended to show correct dates for this meeting and the next meetings on October 20 and November 5) passed with a motion by Pat and a second by Ben.
4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleda
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: None
6. The narratives for two elements, Land Use and Implementation, were discussed. Kay will incorporate recommended changes.
7. We discussed the draft of an Introduction to the Plan. Bob will make changes.
8. Moved by Denny and seconded by Ben to adjourn at 8:30 PM. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 20, 2009.
Submitted by Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Sept. 23, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
September 23, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were: Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs, Ben Neiman.
2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Bob and a second by Pat.
3. Approval of minutes of the last meeting was passed with a motion by Pat and a second by Ben. Approval of the minutes of the public hearing meeting on August 19, 2009 was passed with a motion by Ben and a second by Bob.
4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleba
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: None
6. Discussed requests by two gravel pit operators, Monarch and Hirschfield, to show entire permitted area on the Future Land Use map. Both operators have proper conditional-use agreements and reclamation plans in place so the entire permitted areas will be shown for both.
7. The narratives for two elements, Economic Development and Intergovernmental Cooperation, were discussed. Kay will incorporate recommended changes.
8. Kay and Ben will be visiting NWRPC about mapping issues.
9. The regular meeting in October is tentatively rescheduled for October 20, 2009. An additional meeting is tentatively scheduled for November 5, 2009.
10. Moved by Bob and seconded by Ben to adjourn at 8:15 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 30, 2008.
Submitted by Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Aug. 26, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
August 26, 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other members present were: Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Tom Kersten, Ben Niemann.

2. Kay amended the agenda to remove the minutes of the public hearing and add the proposed zoning, conditional use, and variance rules created by Pat.

3. Agenda Approval - amended agenda approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried.

4. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Tom. Carried.

5. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleda

6. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none

7. Discussion of the public hearing: A. Hirshfield letter will be read into the official record. Kay will talk to Bill Christman about the conditional use permit for this property and the reclamation plan.
B. Candy Anderson will be consulted about other areas in the town that might be classified as a good future site for excavation. C. Kay called and left a message with Tom Koehler to let him know of the source of the future land use map. Ben discussed noting the metadata on the map with Chad. D. A discussion of bike maps and signage is covered in the goals and objectives. Connecting the path on Co. Rd B would be desirable in the future.

8. We continued a review of the narratives in the final draft - finished through section 5. Ben, Denny, and Kay will check on specific areas to be included in the edit.

9. Discussion of maps - Subcommittee will work on changes and present to the commission at the next meeting.

11. The next regular meeting will be on September 29, 2009

12. Moved by Tom, seconded by Pat to adjourn at 8:45 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson

--> Minutes of July 29, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
July 29 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM. Other members present were Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Ben Niemann, Tom Kersten

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Denny and a second by Tom. Carried.

4. Public recognition: none

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none

6. Discussed the public information meeting-thanks to the MLIA for getting the word out about the date change. With that and the information in the paper, we felt there was a good turn out of interested residents. We decided to prepare a report on the Plan Commission-what is required of those who need review for conditional use, rezone, or variance and how the decisions would relate to the Comprehensive Plan. Kay and Pat will work on this for the next meeting. We will have a separate meeting for reviewing maps. Ben felt we need an introduction to the plan. We voted to have Bob write something. Kay will check with Kathy and Sheldon on the procedures for the Public Hearing. We will hire someone for a final edit of the plan.

7. Updating and editing of the Plan was completed through element 4.

8. Updating and editing of maps 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 7.1

9. The next meeting will be the Public Hearing on August 19, 2009

10. The next regular meeting will be on August 26, 2009.

11. Moved by Sandy, seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:30 PM. Submitted by Kay Wilson

--> Minutes of July 22, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
July 22 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:37 PM. Other members present were: Denny Picchietti, Pat Feldner, Tom Kersten, Bob Higgs.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Denny and a second by Tom. Carried.

4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleda

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none

6. Discussion and update of Future Land Use and other maps - we identified several items to be included and/or recoded - Kay will forward to NWRPC.

7. We finished reviewing the Future Land Use map for consistency with the goals and objectives.

8. We began a review of the narratives in the final draft - finished through section 3.

9. We discussed the public information meeting on July 27, 2009 - Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC will moderate. We will go through the final draft sections, one section at a time from the beginning.

10. The next meeting will be our informational meeting on July 27, 2009 at 6:30 PM.

11. The next regular meeting will be on July 29, 2009 at 6:30 PM.

12. Moved by Denny, seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:45 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of July 8, 2009 P>Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
July 8 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM. Other members present were Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Ben Niemann, Tom Kersten, Bob Higgs.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Ben and a second by Denny. Carried.

4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleda asked if there will be a public information meeting on the proposed Comprehensive Plan. The public information meeting will be held in July, date to be determined. (Note on July 10th: The public information meeting will be held on July 27, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. The public hearing on the Plan will be held on August 19, 2009 at 6:30 P.M.)

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none

6. Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC has provided the complete final draft of the Comprehensive Plan - some details yet to be included are table numbers, some revised maps, and changes from tonight's discussion. It was noted that statements on element coordination are at the end of each element. We should all review this final draft and be prepared to discuss at the meeting on July 29th.

7. We continued reviewing the Future Land Use map for consistency with the goals and objectives.

8. Plan Commission Resolution 01-2009, recommending adoption of the Comprehensive Plan by the Town Board, was passed with the results of a member roll call as follows (for, Yes; against, No):
Sandy Schara, Yes
Pat Feldner, Yes
Denise Picchietti Yes
Thomas Kersten Yes
Ben Niemann Yes
Bob Higgs Yes
Kay Wilson Yes

9. The next meeting will be on July 29, 2009 at 6:30pm.

10. Moved by Tom, seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:30 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of June 29, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
June 29, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs, Tom Kersten, Ben Neimann.
2. Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried
3.Approve minutes of last meeting: The minutes were approved with a motion by Denny and a second by Tom.
4. Public recognition: Public present: Bill Czeskleda
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Ben handed out a summary of changes to shoreland regulations.
6.Reviewed changes to Agriculture, Natural and Cultural Resources. Local lore, e.g., details about the Horsefly Battle and the CCC camp will be included in an appendix. We will add a goal/action to add a sign about the battle near the new bridge.
7. We will include survey results (Round Lake survey and the Round Lake part of the Sawyer County survey) as appendices and put in references in narratives as appropriate.
9.Reviewed the narrative for the Implementation element - Kay will incorporate the changes.
10. Future land use map ---Began a review of consistency of goals and objectives with the map. Ben will discuss some mapping issues with Sheldon Johnson.
11. Moved by Denny and seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:45 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of June 24, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
June 24 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Ben Niemann, Bob Higgs, Tom Kersten.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried.

4. Public recognition: Bill Czeskleba was present and reported on attending the Northwest Wisconsin Lakes Conference.

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Kay went to the Town of Hunter informational meeting on their comprehensive plan and provided a copy of their draft. Denny provided documentation on Round Lake entries in the Wisconsin Architectural and Heritage Inventory (AHI). Tom attended the Callahan Lake Association annual meeting. There was a discussion brought forth by resort owners for a need for no wake zone or entire lake No wake due to shoreline erosion.

6. The narrative for the Economic Development element was discussed - several changes were made - Kay will incorporate into the draft.

7. The changes to the Ag, Natural and Cultural resources narrative were discussed - it was noted that the question of a "definition" of sensitive resources is addressed in the goals and objectives. Ben will finish the table and redefine "sensitive" as per our discussion into the narrative. Kay and Denny will work on Cultural resources and local additions to the narrative.

8. The next meeting will be on June 29 or June 30 depending on availability of the Town Hall. We will discuss the Implementation element.

9. Moved by Sandy, seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:30 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of June 17, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
June 17 2009 Town Hall

1. Chairperson Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Ben Niemann, Bob Higgs.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried.

4. Public recognition: No members of the public were present.

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: article about possible rewrite of shoreland rules as referenced in a letter to the editor.

6. The Ag,Natural and Cultural resources narrative was discussed with several changes made. Still open is a "definition" of sensitive resources and where and how they should fit in the narrative and/or maps. Sheldon has given us maps derived from DNR and DOT sources which may help. Kay will provide changes to Sheldon and ask about the map sources.

7. We will discuss the narrative for the Economic Development element at the next meeting.

8. The next meeting will be on June 24, 2009.

9. Moved by Sandy, seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:45 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of June 10, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
June 10, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Ben Neimann, Tom Kersten.
2. Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried
3.Approve minutes of last meeting: Sandy moved to approve, second by Pat, carried.
4. Public recognition: Public present: Bill Czeskleda;
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none
6. Ag, Natural Resources, cultural narrative reviewed, -maps were consulted for accuracy following Ben's review. Kay will get maps back to Sheldon.
7. Moved by Tom and seconded by Sandy to adjourn at 8:35 PM. We will review Ag, Natural Resources, Cultural and Economic Development Elements at the next meeting.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Submitted by Kay Wilson

--> Minutes of June 3, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
June 3, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Ben Neimann, Tom Kersten.
2. Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried
3.Approve minutes of last meeting: Sandy moved to approve, second by Tom, carried.
4. Public recognition: Public present: Bill Czeskleda;
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: none
6. Land use narrative review continued, future land use map was discussed-maps were consulted for extraction sites -table for future Utilities and Community facilities was completed. Ben will review new set of maps prior to next meeting
7. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Tom to adjourn at 8:35 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. We will review Ag, Natural Resources, Cultural Element.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be June 10, 2009.

Submitted by Kay Wilson

--> Minutes of May27, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
May 27, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Neimann, Tom Kersten. Also present were Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC and Scott Allen of the Sawyer County Development Corporation
2. Agenda Approval: The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried
3.Approve minutes of last meeting: Sandy moved to approve, second by Pat, carried.
4. Public recognition: Public present: Bill Czeskleda;
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Kay will write to representative about the need for repeaters for TV stations going digital.
6.Sheldon handed out current narratives - we have reviewed chapters 1,2,3,4,7 to date. Ben noted that we need a grammar/technical review of all narratives - Kay will check if funds are available for an independent review
7. Scott Allen answered questions about the draft narrative they provided for the Economic Development element - a revised draft will be prepared.
8. Sheldon noted that Chapter 9, the Implementation element, is just a shell now-with minimum requirements included.
9. Land use narrative review was begun - we need more meetings to complete reviews of all elements on schedule. We will meet next Wednesday to continue reviews.
10. Moved by Denny and seconded by Sandy to adjourn at 8:35 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 3, 2009.
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of May18, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
May18, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Neiman,Tom Kersten.
2. Agenda Approval The agenda was passed with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried
3.Approve last minutes. Moved to approve by Sandy, seconded by Pat - carried.
4. Public recognition: No members of the public were present.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: None
6.Update Narratives. Several narratives were discussed : Utilities and Community Facilities - several updates were suggested and Kay will incorporate; Land Use - after discussion some items may be unnecessary and Kay will discuss with Sheldon; Kay will also discuss the Economic Development narrative with Sheldon.
7. Map updates. We will ask NWRPC to research a map showing environmentally sensitive areas.
8. At the next meeting we will discuss the Land Use and Ag narratives as well as the Round Lake part of the county survey
9 . Moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:00 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 27, 2009.
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of April, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
April 29, 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Tom Kersten, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, Ben Niemann, and Bob Higgs. 2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Tom. 3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried. 4. Public recognition: Present were Bill Czeskleba and Paul Picchietti. 5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: 1) An article on Broadband in Wisconsin and the 2) PSC broadband survey. 3) Pat Feldner discussed the concerns of Michelle Koehler of the MLIA(Moose Lake area) about our planning process. She has drafted an email responding to the concerns - we asked Pat to send the email. 6. Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC was present. Three revised narratives (Community Demographics, Housing, and Transportation) were discussed and further revisions were made. Kay will provide changes to Sheldon. In order for Sheldon to finish the narratives by the end of May we need to have an extra meeting in May to finish our reviews and provide input to Sheldon. Sheldon will email the Land Use narrative to Kay this week. 7. The plan maps are on the NWRPC web site in PDF form. There was a brief discussion on a possible need to update them in the future. 8. A special meeting will be on May 18, 2009 to review narratives. The next regular meeting will be on May 27, 2009. 9. Moved by Sandy, seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:30 PM. Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs [return to archive listing]

--> Minutes of March, 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
March 25 2009 Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Tom Kersten, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Pat Feldner, and Bob Higgs.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Kay and a second by Bob. Carried.

4. Public recognition: Present was Bill Czeskleba, Richard Tyrrell, and Tom Koehler. Richard commented on the need for better internet access in the Town. He also commented on the planning efforts by the NFS on trail access in the Forest.

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed. None

6. Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC presented four revised narratives (Community Demographics, Utilities & Community Facilities, Transportation, and Housing). We will review and discuss them next meeting. Tom K. provided information to Sheldon on hunter/walking trails - this will be included in the Transportation narrative.

7. Sheldon presented twenty new/revised copies of maps on the map list. On the Parks and Recreation map we still need to identify scenic resources. It was noted that, on the Land Ownership map, the Elk range property has apparently not yet been officially transferred to the NFS. The maps will be available on the NWRPC web site shortly - we will put a link on the Town web site.

8. The Intergovernmental narrative provided by Sheldon Johnson at the last meeting was discussed and several revisions/corrections were suggested - these will be provided to Sheldon. It was also noted that we include a goal to improve boat landings in the town to make them handicapped accessible. This will be added at the next revision of the appropriate chapter.

9. Sheldon noted that public meetings on the Sawyer County comprehensive planning effort will be held on April 28 in Hayward and on April 30 in Winter.

10. The next meeting will be April 29, 2009.

11. Moved by Denny, seconded by Pat to adjourn at 8:30 PM.

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Feb., 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
February 25 2009 Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Tom Kersten, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs.

2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny.

3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Denny and a second by Tom. Carried.

4. Public recognition: Present was Bill Czeskleba.

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed. Kay reported on FCC attempt to reduce spending on new cellular development. The attempt failed after opposition voiced at a public hearing.

6. After discussion the goals and objectives for the Land Use element were revised and approved as corrected - motion by Bob and second by Sandy, carried.

7. A revised definition of "Northwoods Character" was also approved and will be placed in the Community Demographics section of the Plan.

8. The narratives provided by Sheldon Johnson at the last meeting were discussed and several revisions/corrections were suggested - these will be provided to Sheldon.

9. Two additional narratives, Land Use and Intergovernmental Cooperation, were handed out and will be discussed at the next meeting.

10. The next meeting will be March 25, 2009.

11. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:25 PM

Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Jan., 2009

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
January 28 2009
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Niemann.
2. Agenda Approval - approval with a motion by Ben and a second by Pat.
3. Minutes of the last meeting - approval with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried.
4. Public recognition: Present were Tom Kersten, Paul Picchietti, Bill Czeskleba, and Frank Leuschen. Sheldon Johnson of NWRPC was also present.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed. Kay reported on a letter from Dave Obey on wireless spending. Bob presented a press release from Verizon on their cellular spending in Wisconsin.
6. Sheldon Johnson presented narratives for several plan elements: Community Demographics, Housing, Transportation, Utilities and Community Facilities It was noted that table sources would be added where needed. Sheldon needs written permission from the board to access the road condition database. Kay will give Sheldon the CAMBA map to add to the Transportation narrative. Sheldon needs town input for the future needs table on page 6 of the narrative for the Utilities and Community Facilities element. A discussion of the placement in the plan of the (public-provided) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats resulted in a decision to place them in an appendix/addendum.
7. Sheldon presented a rough draft of the narrative for the Natural, Agricultural and Cultural Resources element. He is waiting for Heritage data. There is a historical marker at the Moose Lake Bridge commemorating an Indian battle -a discussion was held as to whether this marker will be affected by construction of the new bridge.
8. Sheldon noted that the narrative for the Economic Development element will be provided by Scott Allen, the coordinator for Economic Development for Sawyer County,
9. The goals and objectives for Intergovernmental Cooperation will be added to the shell narrative from Sheldon.
10. Sheldon will present narratives for the last two elements at the next meeting.
11. Sheldon presented several maps: Transportation, Land Ownership, Topography and Steep Slope, Hydrography, Utilities and Community Facilities, Zoning, Land Cover, Prime Farmland, and Watersheds. There was a brief discussion of each map. Some additional information, e.g., sites of old landfills and demolition sites will be provided to Sheldon. Definitions of some map designations, e.g., zoning , will be provided in narrative form. Sheldon is waiting for some info from the DNR, e.g., rice beds.
12. Target plan dates were discussed in light of the January 1, 2010 deadline - the draft plan should be completed by the Plan Commission by May; a public information meeting to be held in June or July; the draft plan to be accepted by the Town Board in July; a formal (required) Public Hearing will be scheduled in August (maybe the 19th) so seasonal residents will be able to attend - then input from the hearing can be folded into the plan by the Plan Commission with a target date in October for formal approval by the Town Board.
13. Homework for the next meeting includes review of all the narratives and maps; completion of the who/when portion of the Land Use Element Goals and Objectives - each section to be provided by the members who developed that section.
14. The next meeting will be February 25, 2009.
15. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:45 PM
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Dec., 2008 - no meeting [return to archive listing]

--> Minutes of Nov., 2008

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
November 27 2008
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Niemann.
2. Agenda Approval The agenda was passed with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried
3. Minutes of the last meeting - passed with a motion by Sandy and a second by Ben. Carried.
4. Public recognition: No members of the public were present.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed. Kay and Ben reported on several topics from the Sawyer County Plan meeting of November 26.
6. The three proposed Land Use Element goals were presented, discussed, and modified - Kay will consolidate changes and send out to members.
7. No further narratives have been provided by NWRPC. Ben will continue to meet with NWRPC on maps which have not yet been provided. There was a discussion of NWRPC status and what our response should be.
8. Kay handed out the Round Lake responses from the Sawyer County survey. Homework is to review the survey, the Land Use goals and objectives, and the narratives already provided before the next meeting.
9. The next meeting will be January 28, 2009.
10. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:30 PM
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Oct., 2008

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
October 29, 2008
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Neiman.
2. Agenda Approval: The agenda was passed with a motion by Ben and a second by Sandy. Carried
3. Approve last minutes. The minutes of the September 24, 2008 was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried
4. Public recognition: Gerry Hansen, a prospective member of the Plan Commission, introduced himself. He was invited to attend more meetings and to participate in discussions.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Pat submitted an article from the Record about "next generation" owners of forest property. Kay submitted an article about possible FCC funding cuts which could adversely affect expansion of cell phone service in rural Wisconsin. A web site on this and related subjects is www.connectingruralamerica.org. Kay will write letter asking our Congressional members for support for continued funding for rural cellular service.
6. There was a discussion of the Land Use goals submitted by commission members. One item was whether the goals should be general rather then repeating goals from other elements. There was a consensus supporting three goals: the one from the original Town Land Use plan, one about balancing rights and one about incompatible land uses. Assignments were made for refining these goals and adding objectives: Kay and Denny will work on the first goal, Ben and Pat will work on the second and Sandy and Bob will work on the last one. We should have drafts to Kay by Nov 13.
There was also a discussion of the definition of "Northwoods Character" which was prepared by Pat.- it was suggested that her "bulleted" version should be included in the Issues and Opportunities element and that the prose version prepared earlier by Mary Ann Churchill should be included in the history and background narrative which will be part of the plan document.
7. Discussion of narratives is now scheduled for the next meeting. Kay will contact Sheldon Johnson and ask for more completed narratives for our review.
8. Results of the Sawyer County survey are not yet available.
9. Ben presented the latest version of the Existing Land Use Map prepared by NWRPC. It has all the known corrections and includes an updated legend. This will be left on the office wall for viewing/corrections by the Town Board. It will also be available for viewing by the public during the election and after. Ben will contact the NWRPC to discuss the preparation of the maps on the list presented by Sheldon Johnson at an earlier meeting.
10. There was a short discussion of the interaction between zoning and land use.
11. Moved by Ben and seconded by Sandy to adjourn at 8:15 PM. The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 20 assuming no conflicts of office use. There will be no meeting in December.
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Sep., 2008

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
September 24, 2008
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:30 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Neiman.
2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried
3. Approval of minutes of the last meeting was passed with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat.
4. Public recognition: No members of the public were present.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed: Denny reported back on Jump River triple phase electrical service on Cty Rd A. This information was filed in our records for use on the future land use map. Kay obtained the Planning for Natural Resources Handbook which is also available as a PDF download.
6. Discussed existing land use map provided by NWRPC - It will not be presented to the Town Board until some issues are resolved with NWRPC : Are all of our changes included? The definitions of the color scheme items need to be included with the map; Are conservancies on the map properly? Kay and/or Ben will discuss with NWRPC - maybe the map will be ready to go to the Board in December.
7. We have received some narratives form NWRPC - Transportation, Issues and Opportunities - these should be reviewed before the next meeting so they can be discussed then. The Issues and Opportunities narrative still contains the raw results from the Issues and SWOT exercises - Kay will discuss with Sheldon. Ben reminded us that the reference to the definition of "Northwoods character" should be replaced with our definition. We have some pieces of this definition including the text by Mary Ann Churchill - Pat will consolidate these and research similar definitions in other Plans. Bob suggested that photos of the Round Lake environment might be included with the definition.
8. There was a discussion of the process of approving/modifying narratives and reconciling them with goals and objectives - this will be group-editing sessions starting with the Transportation and Demographics narratives at the next meeting.
9. Results of the Sawyer County survey will be available next meeting - they can be compared then to the results of our Issues and SWOT exercises.
10. There was a discussion of how to determine goals and objectives for the Land Use element - each member was asked to bring suggested goals to the next meeting for discussion - after arriving at a consensus list of goals, assignments will be made for writing objectives for each goal. Kay requested that we each send to her our draft list of Land Use goals by October 13.
11. There was a discussion of how we should show links between elements.
12. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny to adjourn at 8:00 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
Submitted by Kay Wilson and Bob Higgs

--> Minutes of Aug, 2008

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
August 27, 2008
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Neiman. Public present: Bill Czeskleda and Carol Bacon.
2. The Agenda was approved after amending the agenda to add a discussion item about new member ideas to replace Mary Ann Churchill who recently resigned. The amended agenda was passed with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried
3. The motion by Pat and a second by Denny approved minutes of the July 30, 2008 meeting. Carried
4. Public recognition: Carol Bacon requested the board encourage DSL and Cellular Service providers to increase coverage in the area. Ben suggested she contact the Public Service Commission. Kay said she would ask the Town Board for permission to write a letter to the appropriate companies as improved communication throughout the town is encouraged in the Economic and Utilities and Community Facilities goals and objectives.
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed:
a. Bill presented an article from St. Paul Pioneer Press on preserving landscapes.
b. Denny presented a plat map from 1915 of the Town of Round Lake. c. Kay presented an article about Myths and Facts about "Smart Growth" law given to her by Paul Picchietti.
6. Recap of informational meeting of August 7, 2008 was discussed. Sheldon Johnson thought the meeting went well and we were able to answer many questions from the public. Many felt the Moose Lake issues and grant were confused with the Plan Commission agenda. We discussed adding a page about the Plan Commission to the annual Town letter. We will all keep a journal of any public contact concerning the Plan Commission.
7. Discussion of the opening on the plan commission: Pat contacted a property owner to ask if he knew of any prospective candidates. Kay will ask Kathy to put an ad in the paper. Kay and Bob will share the duties of taking the minutes.
8. Discussion of the goals and objectives: Kay will send to Kathy McCoy all the drafts of the goals and objectives to be posted on the website
9. Discussion of the existing and future land use maps: We did not receive an update of maps from NWRPC. We discussed looking at separating commercial and resorts on the existing map. It has been suggested to increase light industry on Co Rd A. Denny will check with Jump River on the electrical supply on the road.
10. We did not receive any narratives draft NWRPC .
11. Discussion on the Land Use Element: We need to get updated maps from NWRPC. Plan Commission members will do research on land use elements from other towns for discussion at the next meeting. We need to make sure that seasonal residential impact is included in statistics and projections.
12. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:00 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 24, 2008.
Submitted by Kay Wilson

--> Minutes of July, 2008

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 6:30 P.M.
Town Hall

1.) The meeting was called to order at 6:35 P.M. by the chairperson
Kay Wilson. Others in attendance were Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti,
Ben Niemann, Bob Higgs, and Mary Ann Churchill. Sandy Schara was
absent.

2.) Pat moved that the agenda be approved with the amendment that we
will accommodate Sheldon Johnson, Northwest Regional Plan Commission,
when he arrives. Ben seconded the motion. Carried

3. The minutes of the June 25, 2008 meeting were approved with a
motion by Bob and a second by Pat. Carried.

4. Public Recognition - No members of the public were present.

5. Public Communications - Ben had articles about alternative fuels
shoreland lighting, and roadside bill boards. Bob mentioned the
article in the Sawyer County Record concerning trails for motorized
and non- motorized vehicles and walking trails. The U. S. Forest
Service is asking for comments.

6:45 P.M. Sheldon arrived. Agenda item # 8, Informational Meeting is
included here.

An agenda for the Plan Commission Informational Meeting, August
7, 2008 at 6:30 P.M. was discussed. The goal of this first meeting
will be to give a progress report and to ask for feedback. It was
proposed that Kay begin with a formal introduction of the
Comprehensive Plan and a brief history of what we have done so far
and the reasons for doing so. Kay should address the issue of whether
the completion of a Comprehensive Plan is a state mandate.
There would then be a break of about 10 minutes so people could pick
up draft copies of the Goals and Objectives that are completed so far
and look at the current Land Use Map.
Then Sheldon will lead a question and answer session.
It will be important to explain the need for the plan. Sheldon will
prepare a sign that shows the five areas where town decisions must be
consistent with its comprehensive plan.
Sheldon displayed the current land use map. There were questions
about the areas listed as condos. Kay will call Marv Nordquist, town
assessor, for the latest information about condos in the town.
Forestry should be broken down to National, State, County and Forest
Crop land. Tribal land will be added, also.
The Future Land Use Map does not have the correct categories on it
now but will be useful for study.

15,000.00 questionnaires have been sent out to all county
residential, forestry and agricultural property owners. The deadline
for returning them is August 8th. Results will be available in mid
September.

6.) Goals and Objectives - There was a discussion about whether each
Action Statement had to have a Primary Responsible Party. It was
decided that it was needed only when there are two Responsible entities.

A. Intergovernmental
The Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Intergovernmental
Cooperation element was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by
Denny. The motion was carried unanimously.
B. Transportation
  It was moved by Pat that the TRLPC, as a separate activity from our
work on the Elements of the comprehensive plan, pursue designating
County Road "S" from State Highway # 77 to County Road "B",
Moose Lake Road from County Road "S" to County Road "GG", and
Forest Road #174 from Moose Lake Road to County Road "B" as Rustic
Roads in accordance with our plan. This proposal will be included in
our master plan. Seconded by Ben. The motion was passed
unanimously. This must be applied for immediately. Pat will contact
Bruce Meyers about how to apply for a Rustic Road
The Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Transportation
element with the addition of dates and designation for Rustic Roads
was approved with a motion by Pat with a second by Ben. The motion
was carried unanimously.

C. Natural Resources.
Cultural Resources has already been approved but the dates need to be
added. Pat will do this.
The Goals and Objectives for the Mineral Resources section of the
Natural Resources element was approved with a motion by Ben and a
second by Mary Ann. Nonmetallic Mineral Resources and Metallic
Mineral Resources is Included in this section. The motion was passed
unanimously.

D. Utilities
The Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Utilities
element was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Ben. The
motion was passed unanimously.

E. Natural Resources
We need to add a sentence about supporting a well abandonment program.
Pat moved that the Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the
Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources element be approved. It
was seconded by Denny. The motion passed unanimously.

Pat will coordinate these final drafts and send them out to us.
Copies of these will be available at the Public Hearing on August 7.

7. Existing and Future land use maps. Discussion of the maps will be
tabled until a later meeting.

8. Informational Meeting - This was included in the section with
Sheldon.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 P.M. with a motion by Pat and a
second Denny. Carried. The next meeting will be on August 27, 2008.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

--> Minutes of June, 2008

Meeting Minutes

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 6:30 P.M.
Town Hall

1. The Meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:32 P.M. Others present were Bob Higgs, Sandy Schara, Ben Niemann, Pat Feldner, and Denny Picchietti. Mary Ann Churchill was absent.

2. The Agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried.

3. The Minutes of the May, 28, 2008 meeting were accepted with a motion by Sandy and a second by Bob. Carried.

4. Public Recognition - No one was present.

5. For Information Only - Conditional Use Permit (1) for Jerome Johnson for a motorcycle and scooter repair sales shop by owner, (2) Thompson & Sons Inc. for a three year renewal of permit for continued use of a non-metallic mineral extraction. (See Agenda for details.)

6. For Information Only - Variance Application for Peter Maina for construction of an addition. (See Agenda for details.)

7. For Information Only - Proposed Amendments to the Sawyer County Zoning Ordinance, "Wilderness Development" Lake Classification. A public meeting will be held on July 18, 2008 at the Court House. There is contention about the proposed 5 acre requirement. Kay came across references to supporting a lake classification system. The
county already has three classes of lakes. This new classification would protect the smaller lakes.
8. Public Communications to be filed for future use. Pat had newspaper articles about (1) the Thousand Acres that were protected near Moose Lake. (2) A forest user group with new trails (3) New Camba trails.

9. Goals and Objectives Updates NATURAL RESOURCES GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - Ben
There was a discussion of MOU's (Memorandum of Understanding) concerning removing property from tax rolls. Does the town have any MOU's on its rolls? (This needs to be answered)

Kay asked about Environmental Corridors. Ben explained that it is an indication of how one would indicate environmentally sensitive areas on a map. We did not use this term with Sheldon. Previously we used Sensitive Resources as a term for vulnerable areas. Vulnerable Area Environmental Corridors are identified when you find water, wetlands
and steep slopes together. Here in this glaciated part of the state there are a lot of these sensitive areas. A Flood Plain would be larger than an Environmental Corridor. Vulnerable Areas could be explained as Environmental Corridors and Flood plains for now.

Natural Beauty could address cell towers and wind generators and unsightly properties; but the latter is difficult to define. The county has a new wind generator ordinance ready.

MOTION Kay moved that we accept this document as our final draft of the Natural Resources Goals and Objectives with the additions and corrections that we brought up tonight. Second by Pat. The motion was carried unanimously.

Mining - Bob
This will be a sub-section to the Natural Resources section. There was a question about state reclamation laws when a mine is abandoned. Some laws refer to mining areas adjacent to navigable waters. Bob will make changes in this for the next meeting.

Ground and Surface Water - Kay this will be part of the Natural Resources element. Much of this section is repeated from other elements but needs to be worked in.
Denny suggested that we should include a requirement for developers to ensure that new developments or subdivisions will have adequate quality and quantity of drinking water available without harm to the aquifer. This could someday be part of an environmental impact study. Pat said that very deep wells could draw water from other areas of the town where there would then be less available water. Who is watching this water problem? Ben said it is a department at the Univ. of Wisconsin which uses geological surveys. Kay will ask Dave Berard who has statutory authority over ground water here in the county. Pat said the town does not have the money to do this study of water. This could be part of our intergovernmental element.
Goal and Objectives- Identify mapped major stream corridors and
wetlands.
-Require maintenance of natural buffers along shore lands and wetlands. This is already a part of the WDNR regulations.

The Mining and Ground and Surface Water information needs to be incorporated into the Natural Resources section that was just approved as a final draft. A motion to rescind was made so these changes could be added.

MOTION Sandy moved that we rescind the approval of the Natural Resources final draft that Ben proposed until we can make further additions. Pat seconded the motion. It carried unanimously. In the future there may be times that we need to make similar changes to the Final Draft of other elements.

Ben will add goals for Parks and Recreation and Community Design to be included in Natural Resources.

HOUSING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Ben had made changes to the final draft of the Housing Element. He will include the Who? (Responsible Party) and the When? (Date or Timeline) with the action statements.

AUGUST 7, 2008 PUBLIC MEETING At the public meeting we will have drafts of those elements we have finished and maps.

It was decided to use the less formal format for the WHO? and WHEN? because it will be easier for people to read.

TRANSPORTATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES -
Kay moved that we accept the Transportation element as written with changes consistent with other elements in the numbering and format. Sandy seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously. Bob will then add the WHO? And the WHEN?

Pat felt that the following statement should be included in the Transportation element; we should use the future land use plan as a guide to prevent the location of roadways through environmentally sensitive lands in the town.

RESPONSIBLE PARTY - This could some time be just one person or a lead person could be stated with others who will cooperate with the stated Action Statement. Kay will find a definition of Responsible Party.

10. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary
Prepared based on Recording of Meeting provided by Chairperson Kay Wilson.

--> Minutes of May, 2008

Meeting Minutes

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Town Hall

1.The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by the chairperson Kay Wilson. Others present were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs, Ben Niemann, Pat Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill.

2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried

3. The minutes were approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried

4. Public Recognition - Bill Czeskleba and Don Cole were present but had not comments.

5. Public Communication - Kay reported that she had given a report on the progress of the Plan Commission at the Clear Lake Annual Meeting.

6. Sheldon Johnson, NWRPC - maps, goals and objectives and narrative progress
There was a discussion about the categories and terms that will be used on our maps. There was a question about how to show the ôuseö of the land as opposed to the ôzoningö. The Existing Land Use Map needs to be brought up to date.
The categories that need to be added to it and defined are;
1. Woodland/Residential - houses that are on wooded land 2. Forestry - Forest Crop Management, 3. Recreational/ hunting, 4. Conservancy, 5. Include resorts in the Commercial category and color so they will stand out from Residential, 6. Expand the dots that represent residential buildings.

Other uses to be added are campgrounds, parks, and trails - hiking, biking, walking, skiing, ATV, snow mobile, etc. They can be indicated on this map or on an overlay.

Our final plan and land use map must be amended or updated at least every 10 years, but this could be done more often.

7. Goals and Objectives
Each objective needs to have an action statement which will include the name of the responsible party and when the objective is to be met. When we write an action statement we should understand, at least in our own mind, what the measurement is going to be in terms of whether it was accomplished. Some will be ongoing. The responsible party will include the Town Board and other groups.

There was a discussion of the format for all the action statements. Sheldon said that NWRPC will reformat the numbering of the action statements. We decided to use the format that uses the words Responsible Party and When.

Commission members will need to oversee the plan after approval and go through the action statements annually to see if the deadlines are being met. The scope of the plan is 20 years.

Where are we going to put all of the visions statements? They could be at the head of each chapter or in the beginning under Issues and Opportunities.

We will study the final drafts for the following elements or sections at the next meeting;
Utilities & Community Facilities and Natural Resources. Two new sections for Natural Resources, Water and Non- Metallic Mining will be done by Kay and Bob.

Transportation is finished and will be approved at the next meeting along with Natural Resources which will include Water, Non- Metallic Mining, Forestry, Agricultural, and Cultural.

An open meeting is set for Thursday, August 7th at 6:30 P.M. We will present a status report on our progress and will display our maps. This will be an opportunity to gather information from the public. A representative from the NWRPC will moderate the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried The next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 6:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann Churchill

--> Minutes of April, 2008

Meeting Minutes April 30, 2008
Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P. M. by Chairperson, Kay Wilson. Other members present were Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, Bob Higgs, Ben Niemann and Mary Ann Churchill.

2. The Agenda was changed to add discussion of the county Subdivision Ordinance. It will be agenda number 5.5. It was then approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried.

3. The Minutes of the March 26, 2008 meeting were approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny. Carried.

4. Public Recognition. No one present.

5. Public Communications. Sandy had a report about ground water from the Wis. Towns Association, April Report. Denny had an article from the same source concerning setting moratoriums on development and a letter from Laura Berlage describing farming in our area.

5.5 Subdivision Control Ordinance. The County Board has asked the towns for ideas about updating the Subdivision Control Ordinance. How should the town supervisors assess a request for a subdivision?
Ben moved that the Plan Commission would like any proposed Subdivision Plan to include an Environmental Impact Assessment prior to approval. Pat amended the motion to read "the Plan Commission would like any proposed Subdivision Plan to address natural resource issues prior to approval. These would include potential impacts to water quality
 (may also add quantity), habitat and reproduction, ecosystems, movement corridors, endangered and threatened species, and aesthetic values."
The amended motion was seconded by Bob and was carried unanimously. This information will be sent to the town supervisors.

6. Goals and Objectives.
We will ask the NWRPC to cross reference certain terms in all of the elements so they will not have to be repeated.
Pat agreed to update the following elements and send out copies of the approved Final Drafts.
Element # 7. Pat moved that we adopt the Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Intergovernmental element. Sandy seconded. It was passed unanimously.
Element # 1 Sandy moved that we adopt the Final Draft of the Goal Statement for the Issues and Opportunities element. Mary Ann seconded. It passed unanimously. We will include in this element the combined responses of the Issues Identification Exercise, the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Exercise, and the main issues from the 2003 Land Use summary.
Element # 5 Agricultural, Natural & Cultural Resources Pat moved to adopt the Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Cultural Resources section of this element. Ben seconded. It passed unanimously.
Ben moved to adopt the Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Forestry section of this element. Pat seconded. It passed unanimously.
Sandy moved to adopt the Final Draft of the Goals and Objectives for the Agricultural section of this element. Bob seconded. It passed unanimously.
We will next study the Natural Resources segment.

7. Finalize the Current Land Use Map. Kay reported that Marv Nordquist had helped her identify most of the commercial and industrial properties in the town. We will finish and approve this map at our next meeting.

8. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 28 at 6:30 P.M. at the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

--> Minutes of March, 2008

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kay Wilson at 6:30 P.M. Others in attendance were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Bob Higgs and Mary Ann Churchill.

The agenda was approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried.

The minutes of the TRLPC February 27, 2008 meeting were approved with a motion by Denny and a second by Bob. Carried.

Public Communications -
Kay presented 3 articles - a. how to set up a moratorium on zoning, b. the importance of ground water in each element, c. zoning and wind energy in relation to state regulations. She said that the countywide survey about comprehensive planning will have questions about wind generation on shorelines.
Pat had a chart that shows who exactly is responsible for implementing each goal and objective. This could be helpful for completing the Implementation Element. She suggested that we incorporate responsibility as we finish our objectives. These would be broad areas. We could also add a section called "action plan". Bob said that we need to decide on the correct vocabulary. We should return to this idea later. We could add policies from this point on but must confer with the Board of Supervisors about how implementation will be carried out.

Public Recognition -

Scott Allen Executive Director of the Hayward Development Corporation and Liz Metcalf came to tell us about that organization.
The HDC is responsible for the Economic Development Element for the county Comprehensive Plan and those of the towns. He will study all of the plans and sort out conflicts. He suggested that our plan should reflect Round Lake's interests and designate what we want and do not want to have developed

Update of Goals and Objectives -
Since Scott Allen was there, Kay presented our draft of the Economic Development Goals and Objectives along with a summary page from our Land Use Plan Survey of 2003 that shows what type of development people wanted to have.
Kay said that owners of home based businesses are asking for cell phone access and DSL. We could designate in the Land Use Element where we want a cell tower to go and where we would not want it. We could stress that we do not want certain areas developed. Property owners would have to view the maps if we are proposing a zoning change.

NOTE WELL Draft # 1 of the Economic Development Goals and Objectives was discussed. Denny moved that the Plan Commission approve Draft #1 of the Economic Development Element Goals and Objectives as presented. Sandy seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. A copy was given to Scott.

Future and Existing Land Use Maps.
We will be presenting these maps at the Town of Round Lake Annual meeting on April 8, 2008. This will be for a public introduction for them.
At the Annual meeting when the maps are presented we will;
1. define the categories to be drawn on the maps
2. Emphasize that this is just the beginning of the mapping process
3. state that the maps are not accurate to the smallest wetlands, those under 5 acres
People will be asked to work in groups of 3 or 4 and deal with one category at a time.
 Each group will work with a small map and their will be a copy for everyone.

Kay will also plan to go to all of the lake association annual meetings to present these maps and then have an open house before all of the summer people leave.
The lake associations to be contacted will be
Moose, Lovejoy, Clear, Callahan, Round, and, Tigercat.

At 7:35 we began to work with the Future Land Use maps to prepare them for the Annual Meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

--> Minutes of Feb, 2008

Meeting Minutes

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
February 27, 2008
Town Hall
1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were, Pat Feldner, Denny Picchietti, Sandy Schara, and invited guest Bob Higgs.
2. The Agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried
3. The motion by Sandy and a second by Denny approved minutes of the January 30, 2008. Carried
4. Public recognition: none
5. Public Communications and Information to be filed:
a. Kay had a brochure on economic impact, newsletter and contact information from the Environmental Law and Policy Center
b Ben sent a letter and article about cognitive mapping in the town of Clover for our review. c. Denny presented an article from Lake Connection about groundwater in the town of Richfield. They have a 12-month moratorium on all new development until the UW Milwaukee does a study on their groundwater quality.6. Chad Kostner-NWRPC-GIS Specialist presented maps for our review and lead a discussion on what our duties would be with these maps. Existing Land Use Map: Chad presented other land use maps and how ours might look i.e.: what is identified on the map. We are to decide on categories to identify land use on the map (Federal, State, Ag, Forest, etc), plus identify businesses, industrial, substation/communications, government, parks and rec. Kay will contact Marv Norquist, town assessor, and Hayward Lakes VCB for help with this information. We asked NWRPC to designate bordering towns' land use on our map. We decided that each residential unit should be represented by a dot and not lumped together as it separates open land from housing units. Base Map-general representation from which all maps revolve. We are to identify fire halls, town hall, recycle center, parks, public landings, campground, check for typos, and change nicknames to correct name if any. Transportation and Utilities Map: Identify correct utility lines and boundaries. Denny will take this map to Jump River Electric Coop for their impute. 7. Transportation Element: Draft #2 review from NWRPC. Pat brought to our attention that table on page 2 was missing a source, rename of the transit system on page 8, and she thought each transportation plan should have detail and any effect on the Town of Round Lake. Bob thought Al Flora's limousine service should be added to transit service. Pat also presented from the Town of Buffalo how they had listed how the elements were coordinated with each element. We gave a copy to Chad to bring back to NWRPC as a suggestion for the Town of Round Lake Plan.
8. Denny presented Agriculture goals and objectives. Kay had talked with Marv Norquist about the listed types of agricultural land in our township. UWSP had a worksheet she copied for all to review as guidelines for goals and objectives for agriculture. Pat thought we were missing goals for the objectives. Bob asked what type of agriculture should be listed. A discussion followed about forestry and agriculture and which element would forest interests be under-agriculture or forestry. Discussion on Agricultural goals and objectives will be continued at the next meeting. 9. We asked NWRPC to supply maps of wetlands, private roads, and environmentally sensitive areas (protected and endangered species, legacy lands and waters, national heritage lands, etc.).
10. Discussed date and suggestions for presentation of maps to the Town of Round Lake Supervisors on March 20 at 6:30 PM. We discussed which would be the best method of Future Land Use Planning for our town board. Chad said that some receive a blank map and others prefer an existing land use map to work from. Sandy preferred the latter. Pat thought that it more practical to see how the town was being used now and most realistic to use that map as a basis to project to future land use planning. Both types of maps will be provided for visioning the Future Land Use in the Town of Round Lake. 11. Moved by Sandy and seconded by Bob to adjourn at 8:30 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
Submitted by Kay Wilson,
Acting secretary during Mary Ann Churchill's absence

--> Minutes of Jan, 2008

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION

JANUARY 2, 2008

TOWN HALL

1. The meeting was called to order by chairperson Kay Wilson at 6:35 PM. Other members present were Mary Ann Churchill, Ben Niemann, Pat  Feldner, Denny Picchietti, and Sandy Schara.

2. The Agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Denny.  Carried.

3. The Minutes of the November 28, 2007 meeting were approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat.  Carried  

4.Public Recognition - no visitors were present.

5. Public Communications and Information to be filed.-  This is information  for future use. Two articles about the proposed Wilderness Lakes Classification were added.

6.)  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) and Issues Identification documents received from NWRPC.

Pat said that the collation of the answers to the Issues questionnaire would be helpful with setting the goals and objectives for each element.

Kay said we could use the Community Strengths to work on the Northwoods Character statement.

Ben suggested that we assign people to compare the Issues Identification information with the completed goals and objectives. 

The Utilities Element will be studied by Kay, Housing by Denny, Transportation by Pat, Intergovernmental by Sandy, and Cultural Resources by Mary Ann.

Also, each set of the completed goals and objectives should be compared with the Comprehensive Plan Checklist

For the Agricultural, Natural, and Cultural Resources Element Ben will work on Natural Resources, Kay on Forestry, and Mary Ann on  Cultural Resources.  They will also use the information from the Issues survey in formatting the goals and objectives. The NWRPC will be asked to do the goals for Groundwater Resources, and Metallic and nonmetallic Resources.

Issues and Opportunities  Element- Pat will work on that using the Issues Identification data.

7. Public Participation in 2008.  

It was decided that we will have a monthly article in the Sawyer County Record that will be about the upcoming meeting of the committee.  Kay reported that the town board gave her permission to do press releases as she saw fit.  She would like to have everyone take a turn. We could advertise the town web site and our section on it to encourage people to look there to see what we are working on. In the series of articles the web site could be emphasized.  Kay will do the next article and will talk about the web page, how to email us and what we will talk about at the next meeting.  

Pat will write about Issues and Opportunities for the next article.

We could also ask to have our plan meetings listed in the Date Book of the Sawyer County Record.  Denny will take care of this.

Kay will attend annual meetings for local lake associations to talk about the plan because that is where the people are. Also lake associations could be asked to put a notice in their spring our summer newsletters about the web site. That would help with exposure.  We could use the paragraph from the town annual letter in this publicity.

According to the Proposed Project Schedule our first public information meeting will be in August, 2008 and the second one in April of 2009.  We could ask Dave Berard  of the County Extension Office and Sheldon Johnson from NWRPC for ideas about our first visioning session. 

Kay said that the contract with NWRPC has them coming to a certain number of meetings and anything else would cost more.  Ben said that the budget called for the use of $34,000.00 for the county for public participation. $1600.00 for Town of Round Lake and $1600.00 in kind from the county staff. The budget shows that NWRPC will do the news releases, conduct meetings with other organizations, web hosting, open houses, and focus sessions.  When will they be doing these things? The county and Sheldon have committed 48 hours to Round Lake.  These are resources that we can tap into. The Proposed Project Plan shows two public information sessions.

We should all have a copy of the budget.

Pat said that we need the narratives, or written text, before we invite the public since that will be the basis for discussion

Sandy said that the Land Use element is the most important element and we should concentrate our resources for public involvement there.  This will require more than one public session. August might be too late to begin. We should have these sessions during June, July and August while most people will be in the area. The current Future Land Use Map from the 2003 Land Use Plan should be available on our web site and maybe the Record would do a special issue on land use maps.  People could bring their own copy of a map and tell how they want it changed.  

Ben said that NWRPC should focus on the Land Use Element. .

8. Progress on Elements.  This was covered. in # 7.

9. Not discussed

10. Adjournment - It was moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny that the meeting be adjourned at 8:35 PM.  The next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

FYI

Information distributed at the meeting.

From Sheldon, by Kay - Summary of the issues Identification Exercise

''       "        "      "       "     Summary of the Community Issues Identification  



Exercise  

"                 "           "        Using Visioning in a Comprehensive Planning    Process ( This was emailed to some members)

"                  "          "        Potential Public Involvement Measures

Kay - Content of Local Comprehensive Plan : A Checklist

Ben-  Two articles,  From Oilfields to Energy Farms and - Black and White - and Green all Over.

--> Minutes of Dec, 2007

No meeting [return to archive listing]

--> Minutes of Nov, 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
November 28, 2007
Regular Meeting at the Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by chairperson Kay Wilson. Other members attending were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Ben Niemann, Pat Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill and Sheldon Johnson from the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. Kim Rummler has sent word that he has resigned from the committee.
2. AGENDA. The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Sandy. Carried.
3. MINUTES. The minutes of the October 24, 2007 meeting were approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried. Mary Ann reported that a letter was sent to Hal Helwig, James Bassett, and Gary Karns to point out that comments by Mike Kelsey concerning the Plan Commission's approval of a rezone application for the Nielsen/Curtis property on highway # 77 were not completely accurate.
4. PUBLIC RECOGNITION. There were no other visitors present.
5. SHELDON JOHNSON. The following topics were covered in this discussion.

Public Participation Plan. Our plan is adequate and meets the requirements of the grant. We will take more effort in the future to invite focus groups. Members asked for suggestions for engaging the public in this process and when should we begin. Dave Berard from the U-W Extension will be facilitating the public sessions. These sessions should be held after the commission has had time to review the draft text of each element.
Several ways to engage the public were suggested. They were:
Have a column in the paper once a week. People could be encouraged to respond to questions in each newspaper article. Sheldon would be glad to have people respond to his email address, and he could tabulate the results. Ben will call Paul Mitchel of the Record to explore having this column in the paper.
Talk with each group in the town, i.e. lake associations, nature organizations and others.
Ask to be on a radio program.
Encourage people to go to the Town web site that has our minutes and agendas on it.
Include a message in the tax notice to tell people that if they are interested in our progress they should send their email or mailing address to one person who could compile a mailing (e-mailing) base to send out information.
This public input will be important for the success of this project.

The Written Text of the Elements which NRPC is writing for the Town. How current will the data be? Some of the grant money can be used to fill data vacuums, especially seasonal resident information. We hope our plan will show how our town is different from others.

Countywide Survey. The results of the survey will help people identify the strengths and weakness in the town and county. It will be sent out this spring and will go to all people on the county tax roll after eliminating duplicate addresses. We would like to help with publicity to warn people that the questionnaire will be coming in the mail. People will be able to respond by mail or email.

Visioning Process. Sheldon will send us information about what is being done in Douglas County. According to the grant, Sheldon and Dave Berard of the U. W. Extension will discuss with us those things that specifically identify our community in relation to others.

The Proposed Project Schedule for Finishing the Plan, 11/07 to 10/ 09. This timeline shows when Sheldon will be attending our meetings and dates for finishing certain projects.
 5. SHELDON JOHNSON continued

Flowchart. This corresponds to the Proposed Project Schedule and highlights certain deadlines.

Town Base Map. This is a complete map of the Town that shows all roads and other information. It is not a parcel map. This will be ready for the December meeting.

Exercise Sheets. Sheldon gave out two exercises, and it was agreed that we would each fill out the sheets and email our responses to him by December 19th so he can compile and interpret the responses. The exercises are (1.) Community SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Exercise and (2.) Community Issues Identification Exercise. We are being asked to complete these since they might provide us with more background information about the positive and negative issues of our town. Sheldon would be glad to come to any local organization and talk with the members about identifying community issues.

Goals and Objectives to Date. He will use our completed goals and objectives in preparing the text for the elements.

Comprehensive Planning Process Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding This is an agreement that the Town supervisors must sign. It states that if the plan is not finished and adopted by the deadline of December 31, 2009, then the Town will have to pay for the whole project which will be $24,000.00 and the Town will not receive the $12,000.00 in grant money. We should make sure that the Town Board receives a copy and know that it must be returned to Sheldon.

6. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION to be filed. Information was added for use in the future. Mary Ann had an article about public transportation that had been in the Record and told of her "letter to the editor" that had been printed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the selling of Lake Michigan water. Denny had an article about the development taking place on farm land. Pat had the explanation for the communal response for fires among the DNR, National Forest, and the Town. If there is a grass fire with no structure involved the DNR responds. If there is a structure then the Town Fire Department is the principal fighter and the DNR helps. If it is a forest fire in the Chequamegon The Forest Service will be the principal fighter. This should be added to the Goals and Objectives for the Utilities and Community Facilities.

7. ELEMENT PROGRESS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS

Draft Work Plan presented by Ben. This was an alternative schedule of work that needs to be done and offered a way to share out responsibility for each remaining element. One item was the establishment of the variables for a map of vulnerable and sensitive areas in the town.

New Sociological Study of Attitudes and Behaviors of Seasonal People and Residents About Land Planning in the Pine Barrens of Wisconsin. Ben said that this study suggests that the residents have to make a living off the place and the seasonal people bring their own money. In spite of this difference the study shows that they all have the same values. How one reconciles the tension between these two groups is the basis of the study. It is based on responses from 1000 people. Ben will share this with members on the committee and gave Sheldon a copy for study.

Vulnerability Map In the Housing Goals. Ben recognized that we need to have a map that shows the vulnerable or sensitive areas. We need to identify the variables that define vulnerability. This would also be useful for the Land Use Element. Sheldon said that there will be a Constraints Map that will address this issue. We would like to discuss what goes into this map.

Northwoods Character. We need to have a statement to define this so we can defend our plan in court if necessary. Sheldon said that community members need to come together and hammer out this definition. It should be specific enough to be of use in zoning decisions after 2010.

Inter jurisdictional Issues. We need to talk with adjacent communities to make sure that we all recognize the importance of the watersheds and exceptional waters as well as the wildlife that pass through our Town. We should begin talks with those municipalities around us and get copies of their Comprehensive Plans. Sheldon suggested that he would be glad to attend these sessions with us.

Adopted Elements
It was decided that the secretary will keep the final copies of our adopted elements. They will be sent to her on the computer and she is to store them in a separate file. She will use a "footer" that contains the date and draft number so it will be clear which is the final copy.

Sheldon will provide us with the Forest Service 10 Year Plan and the County's Land and Water Conversation Plan.

Kay and Sandy distributed a draft of the goals and objectives for the Intergovernmental element. Mary Ann gave out copies of the Cultural Resources. We will discuss these at the next meeting as well as Ben's Work Plan (Draft).

8. REZONE APPLICATION FYI Osprey Lake proposal

9. CONDITIONAL USE APPLICATION. FYI Thompson's Sand and Gravel.

10. SPREADSHEET OF PAST ZONING, CONDITIONAL USE, AND VARIANCE DECISIONS Kay gave members an updated version.

11. NEXT MEETING . There will be no December meeting. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

12. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 P.M. with a motion by Ben and a second by Denny. Carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary.

N.B. Answers to worksheets are due by December 19th and should be emailed to Sheldon.

Minutes of Oct., 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
October 24, 2007
Regular Meeting at the Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:40 P.M. by chairperson Kay
Wilson. Other members attending were Sandy Schara, Kim Rumler, Denny
Pichiette, Ben Niemann, Pat Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill.

2. Agenda. Kay added an Excel Spreadsheet which will be #5 on the
agenda. The agenda was approved as changed with a motion by Mary Ann
and a second by Pat. Carried.

3. Minutes. The minutes were approved with a motion by Pat and a
second by Kay. Carried.

4. Public Recognition. There were no visitors present.

5. Public Communications. Information to be filed in the proper folder.
- an article in the Record concerning bus transportation in the
county. Mary Ann will get a copy .
- Kay submitted an article about state funding for replacement of
POWTS and how people can apply.
-Denny had an article about a zoning issue - the Nielsen/Curtis
rezone on Hwy. 77 from RR1 to Commercial. There was a question
about which plan commission Mike Kelsey was referring to in his
statement to the Sawyer County Board at its October meeting. Denny
will follow up on this beginning with the writer of the article.
Mary Ann will send a copy of our minutes to Kathy Mc Coy, our town
clerk and member of the county zoning committee and the county board,
which show that our Plan Commission had passed this application with
conditions.
-Kay shared an article about a rezoning issue in the Town of Lenroot
concerning a change from Ag 1 and Forestry 1 to RR1. A woman wrote
that the County Board should extend the same protections to hobby
farmers as are given to lake shore owners. Just like shoreland
property, agricultural land is a finite resource in the county.

6. Excel Spreadsheet. Kay explained that the spreadsheet she had
prepared was a possible way to track the zoning issues that originate
in our town. It was suggested that other criteria be added in
addition to the date and type of request. The additions would be;
location and the outcomes at the town, county zoning, and the county
board level and a legend to explain abbreviations. We do not know
who in the county tracks these things. This could be very helpful in
the future.

1
7. Housing Goals and Objectives. Pat moved that the committee
accept Draft # 7 of the Housing Goals and Objectives as a
preliminary draft. Sandy seconded the motion. The motion passed with
a unanimous vote. Pat will send the Transportation Element and the
Housing Goals and Objectives to Bruce Meyers so he can put them on
the town web site. They are to be listed only as DRAFT forms. It
is important to state that. Ben asked if there are other ways that we
are getting our information out to the people other than the web
site. The Public Participation Plan which has already been approved
by the town board should also be sent to Bruce

8. Utilities and Community Facilities
Kay and Mary Ann presented the Goals and Objectives that they had
prepared for this element. Kay said that she had checked to make
sure that we had covered the criteria included in the "Contents of a
Local Comprehensive Plan: A Checklist" for this element. Several
people had not received Kay's emails about the Town of Buffalo
Comprehensive Plan or the draft set of goals and objectives. Ben
questioned how can we be sure in the future that we all receive the
same information for study before meetings. Ben brought up right of
ways and how the utilities affect the beauty of the town. He
distributed a letter received from Jump River about the spraying of
pesticides on electric line right of ways. He said that in the U.S.
Forest Service Plan the utility companies are held to a higher
standard than land in the rest of the town. The electric companies
cannot use pesticides in the National Forest. Utilities are asked to
place new lines underground. Our town should request the same
standards. Additions were made to the goals and objectives to
reflect this.

A map of sensitive areas is called for and the Northwest Regional
Plan Commission will need to add this map. How are we to define the
variables that would create this map? Maybe this can be determined
in the county comprehensive plan when definitions are explained. In
our Housing Element we used the word "vulnerable". We will resolve
the use of these words later.

Pat asked if we need to name LCO in the section about Police
Protection? The Forest Service has jurisdiction in the forest. Mary
Ann will find out the proper name for the enforcement person. Pat
will find out how the town fire department is paged out for forest
fires.

Kay explained that the NRPC will be writing the text for each element
of our Comprehensive Plan, and we are responsible for writing the
goals and objectives for each one.

2
#9. Plan for Future Goals and Objectives -
We will ask Sheldon Johnson from the NRPC to prepare a work schedule
and a time table that we can follow. Kay will send him all of the
work we have done so far including our proposal for the Utilities
element. He will attend our November meeting. After we have the
work plan we can all be working on different elements at the same time.

We will begin the goals and objectives for the Agricultural, Natural
Resources, and Cultural Resources element. Ben will do Natural
Resources, Denny will do the Agricultural and Mary Ann will do the
Cultural Resources. Kay will look into the Inter Governmental
element. Everyone else is to study the rest of the elements and
decide which ones they would like to work on.

There was discussion about when we will have our public sessions and
who will be invited. We will wait for the text of each element to be
sent from NRPC before doing that.

How much time do we need for posting a pubic meeting? Thirty days?

Ben presented a new draft for the explanation of North Woods
character which is as follows:

In the Town of Round Lake the "northwoods legacy initiative" offers a
unique opportunity to ensure the protection and enhancement of the
Town's indigenous flora, fauna, forest, public trust waters,
shorelands, wetlands, and the town's dark skies, historical and
cultural heritage and inherent natural beauty. The initiative
promotes participation in a variety of active and passive out-door
recreational and natural resource gathering activities. The
initiative invites and supports facilities and housing locations,
design, and densities that are in concert with the town's northwoods
legacy. It is an endeavor that benefits public and private
landowners, visitors, nature and the northwoods."

10. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 P.M. with a motion by Ben and a
second by Denny. Carried. The next meeting will be on Wednesday,
November 28th, 2007, at 6:30 P. M. here at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

Minutes of Sep., 2007

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
6:30 P.M. Round Lake Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson. The other commission members present were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Ben Niemann, and Mary Ann Churchill. Kim Rumler and Pat Feldner were absent.
It was suggested that if some one is going to miss a meeting they should call Kay and if time allows send an email to the whole committee.

2. The agenda was changed to show that Sheldon Johnson would not be attending the meeting. It was then approved with a motion by Denny and a second by Sandy, Carried.

3. The minutes of the August 29, 2007 Meeting were approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny. Carried

4. There were no members of the public present.

Mary Ann reported on the outcome of 3 zoning issues that the Plan Commission had previously discussed. The County Zoning Committee on September 21st:
(1) Approved the Osprey Shores development. The Tribal Council spoke in favor of it, and the owner of the property had reduced the number of homes from 25 to 19 and the number of boat slips from 27 to 19.
(2) Denied the Nielsen, Curtis request to change property located near the Spider Lake Town Hall from R/R/ One to Commercial.
(3) Denied the Ann Watt request to change from RR/One to R/R/ Two in order to create a seasonal RV campground.
Since the Osprey Shores and Curtis/Nielson issues concern land that abuts neighboring towns we need the Land Use Plans from all of the neighboring townships, and Ashland County, so we can see how our plans coincide with theirs. The townships would be Hayward, Spider Lake, Hunter, and Lenroot.

Kay said that she had a conversation with the Town Assessor, Marv Norquist, concerning zoning issues.

5. Variance Application - Walter G. Dwyer and Jan E. Stapleton on Moose Lake wish to build a new dwelling which would be closer than 75 feet from the OHM at some points.

6. Conditional Use Permits -
(1) Jeffrey M. Farnsworth who is not engaged in agricultural activities desires a permit to move a dwelling onto property that measures 1.98 acres that is currently zoned Agricultural One.
(2) Allan D. Loveland desires a permit to have a part time upholstery business and seasonal archery sales and repair shop in an area zoned Agricultural Two.

The information for agenda items # 5 and #6 was studied but the commission no longer offers opinions on zoning issues because of time constraints.
It would be helpful to have a method of tracking the results of zoning requests as they move from the town to the county level. They could be categorized as to type of zoning required. Mary Ann will try to develop a spreadsheet that will do this.

7. Public Communication - Western Wisconsin Land Trust information. A representative will help us write a housing objective for people putting their property into a trust which could lower the real estate taxes which would help lower and moderate income people.

8. Housing Goals and Objectives
Draft 5 of the Goals and Objectives dated 9/07 was re-worked. Kay will get the changes to Pat.

A definition of the Northwood's Character was adopted temporarily until it can be changed to be specific to Round Lake. It is printed below;
A combination of natural and manmade features that portray the traditional form and preserve the traditional function of the north woods landscape. In the Town of (Round Lake), north woods character is manifested in a backdrop of forests and fields, natural features such as creeks, lakes and wetlands, and structures such as churches, cabins, and homes. These physical features support traditional north woods activities such as farming, logging, and outdoor recreation that have been practiced for generations in the Town. Homes in the north woods are either scattered at low densities or clustered together in small communities surrounded by open space.
From the Town of Barnes Comprehensive Land Use Plan. When we consider modifying this we need to remember the National Forest and its affects on the town.

Questions and Comments that came up during the discussion included;
Does the census include our summer population? If not, how would those numbers change our comprehensive plan projections? If it is taken in April the projections for the Housing Element should be adjusted to reflect the social composition, income levels and social needs that exist in summer time.

Concerning mobile homes, what is the difference between modular construction, double -wides, and manufactured homes? Who inspects these to make sure they are anchored correctly and that they meet design standards that protect the dwellers? Mary Ann will check with Steve Boss the Town of Round Lake building inspector.

What is the correct term the county uses to refer to septic systems? We could require monitoring of systems more often than the county does which is every 3 years.

Kay will send these revisions to Pat.

For future work it was suggested that we all take different elements and present them to the group. One person would be a stake holder for each element and we could schedule when each would be discussed. In many cases we are taking the best of other plans that we find and tailoring them to our town. It would help us individually to schedule our work load.

Mary Ann and Kay will be ready to present information about the Utilities element for the next time but everyone is to study that element.
Ben and Kay will meet will meet to work out a strategy and schedule for creating a draft of goals and objectives for the other elements.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. with a motion by Sandy and a second by Ben, carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 31, 2007. This date may change since that is the date of Halloween.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill

Minutes of Aug., 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Round Lake Town Hall 6:30 PM

1. The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairperson Sandy Schara.
Other members present were Denny Picchietti, Ben Niemann, Pat
Feldner, Mary Ann Churchill and new member to the commission, Kim
Rumler who is taking the place of Liz Metcalf. Kay Wilson was absent.
2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Pat and a second by
Denny. Carried
3. The minutes of the July 25, 2007 meeting were approved with a
motion by Denny and a second by Pat. Carried.
4. There was no one present for Public Recognition. Sandy recognized
Kim, our new member, and thanked him for joining the commission. He
is the owner of Hanson Tire and the President of the Hayward School
Board.
5. The Rezone Application for Casimer Wardenga, Jr. from Agricultural
Two to Residential/Recreation One was discussed. There was a question
of how many lots would exist at that location if the rezone is approved.
The commission no longer offers opinions on this issue.
6. There was no public communication to add to the file folder.
7. Goals and Objectives for the Housing Element of the Comprehensive
Plan. Drafts # 4 and #5.
Pat made sure that we all had copies of Draft # 4 that she had
prepared after the last meeting. She also had the beginning of Draft
#5 - 5 goals that Kay had prepared.
Most of the discussion concerned using material from Draft # 4 and
putting it in proper order with the goals stated in Draft #5.

Goal # 1 " Encourage housing development consistent with the rural
northwoods character" reflected citizens' concerns with how to
maintain shorelines, water quality and wild life habitat found in the
results of the citizens' survey in the Town of Round Lake Land Use
Plan in 2003.
Goals # 2 through #5 reflect requirements from the Wis. Statutes for
Smart Growth Comprehensive Plans.

Some of the questions and comments that came up were;
How will the information contained in our goals, objectives, actions
and policies be presented to people applying for housing permits.
Will this come from the county or the town level?
How much land would we have to set aside for low or moderate income
housing in Goal #3 and could this be addressed in goal # 2?
How would mobile home parks be restricted? Discussion on mobile home
parks will be tabled until later.
We are being encouraged to provide the availability of land for low
income housing. Habitat for Humanity is one way of doing this.
How does the town make land available for affordable housing? It
could be beyond our capability to provide this type of land. Smaller
lots that could be more affordable would still need the same amount
of water as larger lots.
We will need help from the Northwest Regional Planning Commission to
complete Goals # 2 and # 3.
We should finish this Draft # 5 as well as we can and then come back
after we have finished other elements to see how Draft # 5
coordinates with them.
We need to define the meaning of "northwoods character".

Pat will reformat the goals and objectives that we have discussed
tonight and will send this Draft #5 to us along with the suggestions
that Kay had prepared.

Before adjournment, Ben expressed interest in going to the county
wide comprehensive plan meetings.

8. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM with a motion by Denny and a
second by Pat. Carried.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 6:30 PM
at the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

Minutes of Jul., 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
6:30 P.M. Round Lake Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Kay Wilson. The other commission members present were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Pat Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill. Ben Niemann was absent. Liz Metcalf has sent word that she has resigned from the committee.

2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried.
3. The minutes of the June 27, 2007 meeting were approved with a motion by Sandy and a second by Denny.
Carried.
4. Public Recognition Marco T. Digiorgio and Keith Miller were present to discuss the zoning issue in # 5.

5. Variance Application for Marco T. Digiorgio concerning setbacks from navigable waters. The commission was impressed by the complete information that Mr. .Digiorgio presented with the application including a photo, house plan, and a hand drawn map that clearly showed the proposed additions and set backs.
 Kay explained that the commission would offer no opinion on this issue and will not be commenting on zoning issues in the future. Instead it will concentrate its efforts on completing the long range comprehensive plan.

6. Public Communication and information to be filed into appropriate folder.
Denny submitted an article about the city of Bayfield. The secondary housing market has priced the local citizens out of town and they must live elsewhere.

7. Housing goals and objectives. There was discussion of the Goals and Objectives Draft #3 and Denny's separate comments that were prepared by Pat. Reference was made to other sources such as (1) the Wisconsin Planning Goals from the 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, (2) Smart Forestry for Smart Growth Planner's Toolbox, and (3) Housing Wisconsin: A Guide to Preparing the Housing Element of a Local Comprehensive Plan Based on this additional information it was decided to reword Goals # 1 and # 2.
 Pat will send out copies of these two goals and all of the other objectives that are left over. We will bring our reworked housing goals and objectives to the August meeting. There will be no need to send anything back to Pat.

8. Community utilities and Community facilities element vision will be discussed later.

9. It was moved by Denny and seconded by Sandy that we adjourn the meeting at 8:35 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 6:30 P.M.

Respectfully submitted

Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

Minutes of Jun., 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Round Lake Town Hall

1.) The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by Chairperson Kay Wilson. The other commission members present were Sandy Schara, Denny Piccietti, Pat Feldner, Mary Ann Churchill, Liz Metcalf, and Ben Niemann, the new member on the commission. He is taking the place of Scott Hanson who resigned last month.

2.) The agenda was changed by moving item # 5, Rezone Application to come after # 7, the Northwest Regional Planning Commission presentation. It was then approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Kay. Carried.

3.) The following addition was made to the minutes from the May 30, 2007 meeting, item # 6; The total planning grant for Sawyer County was $120.00.00. The county received $60,000.00 as their portion for developing a county plan and the towns got the balance for their plans. The minutes were approved as amended with a motion by Pat and a second by Liz. Carried.

4.) Public Recognition. Kathy Mc Coy was present to hear about how the NRPC presentation.

5.) Public Communication. Items that will be used in preparing other elements will be filed. Ben had an article from Land and People magazine that described ways in which The Trust for Public Lands protects the North Woods.

6.)Sheldon Johnson from the Northwest Regional Planning Commission was present to explain how the planning grant would be administered for the county and the towns. NRPC will work with us as we wish. They are prepared to do the narrative writing for the elements and will hope that we offer suggestions and changes when it is presented to us.

A. Round Lake will receive $12,000.00 from the grant and will have to match those funds. In order to ensure that the grant money will be paid we must meet all of the obligations of the Grant Agreement. Our plan must be finished and adopted by the Town Board before January, 2010. Sheldon suggested we should plan to finish in 18 to 24 months to have extra time at the end if needed. Also, the grant application has 14 goals and they must be identified somewhere in our plan. These will be given to us later. Our plan will not be graded on how well it is written but on whether it meets all of these obligations.

B. The NRPC will be the consultant for the 7 towns that are are preparing plans in the county and for the plan for the county. Four of the towns are doing Brochure Plans, a short form, two, including Town of Round Lake. are doing new, complete plans, and one is revising their current plan. Towns will not contract with other consultants. There will be a better flow of information among the towns and the county with one organization doing the work. There are still details to be worked out with the county before payments can be made.

C. The town will not have a contract with NRPC but will have one with the county. Invoices for work done will go to the county not to the town but the town will receive copies. If the work is not finished on time the Town of Round Lake will be responsible for all of the $24,000.00 which has to be repaid, not just the $12,000.00 received from the grant. NRPC will send quarterly progress reports that will be shared with everyone.

D. The only in kind payment will be for U. W. Extension for Dave Berard who will be involved with facilitating public hearings and gathering information.

E. There was discussion on identifying inconsistencies among the towns' comprehensive plans, the county comprehensive plan and county zoning and how this will work out in applying zoning regulations. [ Kathy McCoy said that the county will rely on the town plans when making decisions.
She pointed out that the narrative section of the plan is opened to interpretation where as the maps are concrete and not opened to interpretation. The maps are very important.]

[Question. Once the plan is adopted by the Town does the Town then have to follow that plan?] Sheldon said It depends on several factors, especially, how limiting and specific the comprehensive plan is.

F. The other staff members from NRPC who will be working with us are Jason Laumann, Senior Planner, Mike Kinnick who will concentrate on the narrative, and Chad Costner will do the mapping. Sheldon can be reached by phone or email. Phone, 1 800-891-3042, or 715-635-2197,
Email, sjohnson@nwrpc.com Web site, nwrpc.com.
He can share information with us through our individual email addresses, and we can funnel any communications to him through Kay Wilson.

G. NRPC will meet with us at least 8 times and when they come will need about 1 1/2 hours of our time. The narrative will be written in one block and will be given to us all at once. Then we can rewrite it as necessary.
He handed out the Proposed Plan for Distribution List - who will receive copies of the completed plan. Some will be paper and others will be on CDs.

H. The county will be putting together a survey that will be sent to all land parcel owners in the county, probably in the next 4 months. There are currently 38,000 land parcels and 71% belong to non residents. At this time the plan is for a paper copy of the survey to be sent to the address of each land parcel owned by a resident. A post card with a web site for completing the survey will be sent to non resident addresses. A resident is a person who votes here. We might be able to add some topics to the survey that we feel are important. There was concern that renters will not be reached and a special effort would be needed to reach them. The purpose of the survey will be to identify the issues that property owners feel are important for now and in the future.

I. It is important that the Town Board receive updates about our progress so they are aware of what is going on. A report could be included each month in the Town Board agenda. The board should be familiar with all parts of the plan when it comes time to vote. Sheldon's quarterly reports will also update them of what is going on.

J. Sheldon told us about resource guides for preparing each element that are available from CLUE at Stevens Point. He will send us a CD of all of that material.

K. Sheldon will return next on August 29th to set some schedules with s. When we come across significant issues that we think might not be included in the narrative we should alert him so it could be included.

7.) Rezone Application - Ann M. Watts. It was moved by Liz and seconded by Pat to table this application pending receipt of a detailed plot map to scale that should include all RV site locations and will show the number of units, roads, frontages, set backs, and sanitation plan. The motion was
passed unanimously.

We should have a form that shows the criteria that we would require to be submitted with a rezone or conditional use application. One criteria would be a detailed, scaled map. Also, once a decision is made here there should be a folder of the information that we used to make our decision which would be passed along to the Town Board. In this way the board can see exactly what information we had in hand when we made our decision in case the applicant presents different information at the town level. Also, there is a concern that applicants and neighbors, in general, do not yet know that they need to present their ideas or complaints to us before the Town Board hears the application.

We should have a form that we fill out to send to the board when we make a zoning decision. Mary Ann will make up a form to use for this time and it may be changed if needed.

8.) Readdressing zoning issues. Some members said that they would like to briefly discuss each zoning issue, but the reality is that these discussions cannot be hurried. Others said that we do not have time for this since we need to work on the comprehensive plan.
It was moved by Pat and seconded by Ben to discontinue active review of rezone and conditional use applications until we finish the comprehensive plan. However, we will continue to receive the application information so we may follow the trends.

9.) This month we are to finish our Goals and Objectives for the Housing Element and email them to Pat by July 18th. Since Sheldon had suggested that we concentrate on goals and objectives at this time, for the next meeting we will bring examples of goals and objectives for the Utilities and community facilities element for discussion.

10. It was moved by Sandy and seconded by Denny that we adjourn the meeting at 8:35 P.M. Carried. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 6:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission Zoning Information

The June 27, 2007 Monthly Meeting

Decision on Application for Rezone and Conditional Use for Ann M. Watts.
Change from RR 1 to RR 2 and request for a seasonal RV campground.

It was moved by Liz Metcalf and seconded by Pat Feldner to table this application pending receipt of a detailed plot map to scale that should include all RV site locations and will show the number of units, roads, frontages, set backs, and sanitation plan. The motion was
passed unanimously.

Reason; Lack of information.

Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

Minutes of May, 2007

Meeting Minutes

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
Minutes for the May 30, 2007 Regular Session
Round Lake Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairperson Kay Wilson. Other
members in attendance were Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Pat Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill. Those absent were Scott Hanson and Liz Metcalf. The meeting had
    been properly posted.
2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Denny and a second by Pat. Carried.
3. The minutes of the April 25, 2007 meeting were approved with a motion by Pat and a
second by Denny.
4. There were no visitors present.
5. Public Communications and Information. Denny had an article about Forest Lodge\
near Cable which was filed for future use.
6. Grant Information. Kay had attended a meeting of the County Economic Development
Board. The county will be receiving a planning grant of $60,000.00. It will be shared by several towns. Round Lake and Hunter which are working on full, comprehensive grants will each have $12,000.00. Hayward will receive $18,000.00 to update its plan.
Draper, Meteor, Radisson and Winter will share the rest as they each prepare a brochure plan. The $12,000 is a matching grant so Round Lake will contribute
$12,000.00 for a total of $24,000.00. The county has hired The Northwest Regional Planning Commission, and they will be our consultant. Sheldon Johnson from the NRPC will be at our June meeting to find out how the NRPC can help us. Our time line for finishing should be 18 to 24 months and that includes time for public
participation meetings. If the plan does not have town board approval by the deadline we will lose the grant money. The primary way that the NRPC can help us would be with the narrative or research aspects, or compiling the completed plan into an
acceptable form. It was decided to make a decision after we talk with Sheldon. He suggested to Kay that we begin our work on the Housing Element with the goals and objectives. That way the narrative will be easier to produce.
7. Housing Element. - Goals and Objectives. The goals and objectives that had been
forwarded to Pat were studied. She will put together a draft copy based on our
discussion and will email it to the members with a request for responses before the
next meeting. Two towns that were suggested for our study were those of Barnes and
Crescent.
8. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM with a motion by Sandy and second by Denny.
Carried. Our next meeting will be on June 27, 2007 at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Apr., 2007

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Minutes for the April 25, 2007 Regular Session
Round Lake Town Hall

1.The meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by Chairperson Kay Wilson. Other members in attendance were Sandy Schara, Denny Pichietti, Liz Metcalf, Scott Hanson, Pat Feldner and Mary Ann Churchill. The agenda for the meeting had been properly posted in three places.
2. The agenda was approved with a motion by Liz and a second by Denny. Carried
3. The minutes of the March 28, 2007 meeting were approved with a motion by Pat and a second by Liz. Carried
4. There was no public commentary. Bill Czeskleba and Attorney Mike Kelsey were present.
5. Rezone Application
A. Karen Nielsen and Richard Curtis from Residential/Recreational One to Commercial.
B. Karen Nielsen and Richard Curtis from Residential/ Recreational One to Commercial.
Attorney Kelsey was present to represent Nielsen and Curtis. They wish to put up small retail shops or office spaces with a remote possibility of a service station if there is space. Town of Spider Lake has concerns about parking on the town roads at this location that might interfere with emergency vehicles. Members questioned the maps that had been included with our information. It was pointed out that most of the uses requested here could be done with a conditional use permit under RR One zoning with the exception of the gas station. Lights and hours of operation could be a problem. Any new construction would have to meet the requirements for impervious surfaces. We have had no information from nearby property owners except the Town of Spider Lake. Scott moved that we approve the rezone application from RR 1 to Commercial for parcels A and B with the following recommendations taken from the Town of Round Lake Land Use Plan, September, 2003, Chapter 5, Page 5-2 Recommendations " Commercial Light Industrial";
1.Encourage commercial development consistent with rural character discouraging large "chain" run corporations.
2. Allow light industrial operations that have little environmental impact or waste.
3. Encourage new businesses to apply vegetative screening and landscaping to help keep the town's vision of rural character and to provide a buffer from any adjacent residential properties.
Liz seconded the motion. This small piece of land and its placement is good for commercial use. It is a different piece of property because of what is already there. The motion passed with Pat, Liz, Kay and Scott voting in favor. Mary Ann and Denny, opposed and Sandy abstained.
Reason for approval - this is a unique piece of property not suitable for residential use. Incidentally it is on Highway 77. Reason for refusal - this could be spot zoning, no definite plan was presented to us.
6. Public Communication and Info - none
Kay said that at the Annual Town Board Meeting she had discussed the difficulty we are having getting our comprehensive planning done. She suggested that we discontinue hearing applications for rezoning and conditional use since that takes so much time. If we drop that function we would hope that the Town Board would closely follow the Land Use Plan that is now in place in its considerations of such applications, Perhaps in the future our deliberations on applications would go more quickly if the applicants furnished us with the graphic information we need. The types of information will be determined later. It was moved by Mary Ann with a second by Liz that the Plan Commission discontinue hearing applications for rezoning and conditional use permits in order to concentrate its efforts on finishing the Comprehensive Plan. The Plan Commission requests that the Town Board continue to provide us with copies of the rezone and conditional use applications for information purposes only. The motion passed unanimously.

Sawyer County has been awarded grant money for comprehensive planning. We will find out how much we will receive at a later date.

Mary Ann will email all of the minutes of our meetings to Bruce Meyers so he can place then on the town web site.

We will try to have our new town maps framed for hanging on the wall so we can refer to them during meetings.

7. The Transportation Element was reviewed.
8. The Transportation Element Goals and Objectives were reviewed. Liz moved and Scott seconded the motion to approve them. The motion passed unanimously.
9. The Housing Element will be studied next. Pat agreed to combine all information that we email to her. The deadline for getting information to her will be May 16, 2007.

10. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat. Carried The next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 6:30 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Mar., 2007

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Round Lake Town Hall

1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairperson Kay Wilson.Other members present were Denny Picheitti, Liz Metcalf, Pat Feldner, Mary Ann Churchill, and Sandy Schara.  Scott Hansen was absent.
2. A motion was made by Liz and seconded by Denny to approve the agenda.The motion passed
3. A motion was made by Pat and seconded by Liz to approve the February 28, 2007 minutes. The motion passed.
4. Public Recognition - Dan Tyrolt of the LCO Conservation Department wanted to hear more about the Rezone Application concerning Osprey Lake.  Gary Karns, Stan Strainis, and David Swan of the Legacy Land Group representing Ted Thompson were also present.
5.. Rezone Applications:
A. and B. Karen Nielsen and Richard Curtis.  
Most of their requests excluding the service station could be met with a conditional use application. We would need an architectural drawing of what they are planning.  It was moved by Pat and seconded by Kay that we  table this application and request that the Town Board table it also until the owners can present further information for Plan CommissionÕs review. The motion was passed unanimously.
C.Ted Thompson Osprey Lake Development Rezone Application and Conditional Use  and Variance Applications.
Mr. Swan, president of the Legacy Land Group, who was representing Ted Thompson  presented an overview of the plan.He has designed a proposal that uses conservation measures. This would require a rezone to Residential /Recreation/One from Forestry One, and will include a conditional use permit and a variance.  He first presented a map showing how the land could be divided if the Forestry One zoning was retained with 19 lots and then showed how he proposed to situate 25 homes with his plan. Some of the cabins will be a quarter of a mile away from the water because of the lake bed.in between. The plan calls for clusters of piers in three areas. A lengthy presentation and discussion followed.Shore land protection would be achieved through strict condominum covenants.Homes would be grouped for the use of a type of community septic system. Environmentally, this type of plan could have less adverse environmental impact on the land than a traditional division of the land.
The commission  members wanted to see a more detailed map of how the houses, roads and piers would fit on the lots and a more detailed summary of the proposed covenants.  There were questions about how the addition of 25 houses would affect the lake.
Kay moved that we approve this  rezone application with this type of development plan and conditional uses  and variance but let the Town Board decide on the density and the environmental impact.Pat seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.
6. Scott Hansen and Denny Picchietti will be recommended at the April town board meeting for reappointment to the Plan Commission for a three year term beginning on April 30, 2007.
7. No Public Communication to report.
8 & 9. Pat moved that we table discussion of the Transportation Element and Goals and Objectives.Kay seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
10. Kay moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:40 PM. Sandy seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Feb. 2007

Meeting Minutes

Round Lake Plan Commission
Minutes for February 28, 2007

Meeting was called to order at 6:40 PM by chairperson Kay Wilson, Other members present were Liz Metcalf, Denny Piccheitti, Pat Feldner, Mary Ann Churchill, Sandy Schara, and Scott Hansen were absent.
A motion was made by Pat and seconded by Denny to approve the agenda
A motion was made by Pat and seconded by Liz to approve the minutes from January 31, 2007.
Public recognition- no speakers
Discussion of Commission member public communications:
Kay talked with Dave Berard and he thought the total plan must be updated every 10 years. He felt that the plan would stay current in the interim if all tables were sited for a source.
Kay spoke with Bruce Meyers about the website and how to update it with minutes and agendas. Kathy McCoy now has a program to easily convert to HTML for posting. He is available to help at any time and enjoyed the project. He is looking for any feedback. Pat expressed that she was very impressed with the website.
Denny asked how emails would be directed. We had decided that Kathy would forward any correspondence to the secretary and she would send to the members.
Denny will check on archiving the minutes and agendas.
Discussion of the Transportation Element:
The Transportation Element Draft was reviewed by all page by page. Kay will check on bike and ski trail information to be included on page 7. The language on the roadway evaluation table on page 6 needs to be updated. Sandy should complete this table and site information source. Scott still needs to get crash site date and accident reports. Pat will correctly label tables. Denny asked about scenic byway vs Rustic Road-discussion followed.
Discussion of Goals and Objectives:
Four different goals and objectives for the transportation element from members were reviewed and assembled into one.
Discussion of next element:
Various opinions were expressed concerning the next element to examine. Some suggestions were housing and land use. All members were encouraged to read and bring ideas to the next meeting as to our next element.
Next meeting is scheduled for March 28, 2007
Motion by Denny and seconded by Liz to adjourn. Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Kay Wilson

Minutes of Jan., 2007

Meeting Minutes

Town of Round Lake Plan Commission
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM by chairperson Kay Wilson, Other members present were Liz Metcalf, Denny Piccheitti, Sandy Schara , Pat Feldner, Scott Hansen. Mary Ann Churchill was absent.
1- Vote to approve the agenda : Scott, approve, seconded by Denny
2- Minutes of the November 29, 2006 amended to read 100 miles of National Forest trails from 10 miles . vote to approve by Pat, seconded by Liz
3- Public recognition- no speakers
4- Rezone of property: Mary Ellen Voight etal. Part of the NE ¼ NE ¼ and the NW ¼ NE ¼, S 14, T 41N, R 7W; Parcels 1102 and 1201. Document #339345. Approximately 35 acres to be rezoned out of the total 41 acres (excepting approximately 5 acres of wetlands). Change from District Agricultural One to District Residential /Recreational One. Mary Ellen Voight presented survey of her property owned jointly with her sister-in-law . Pat asked why she wanted to rezone as Ag 1 permitted 5 acre lots as presented in the survey. What type of development with an RR1 rezone would she be proposing. Scott asked her who advised her to rezone. Kay suggested a conditional use permit with Ag 1. She thought a Class III lake needs the highest protection and this lake may be included in a Wilderness Lake classification in the future. Mary Ellen had a plan for three parcels. Kay was concerned that future owners would not keep the 5 acres lots as her plan presented. The commission spent considerable time explaining Ag 1 with conditional use permit process to Mary Ellen Voight. Kay made a motion to deny the rezone application to RR1, seconded by Liz . Passed unanimously
5- Rezone of property: Roger E. Winters Etal dba Louises Landing Resort/Bar. Part of the SW ¼ SE ¼, S 14, T 41N, R 6W; Part of Parcel 15.1 lying northerly and westerly of Louise's Landing Road. Volume 772 Records page 489. Approximately 12 acres. Change from district Forestry One to district Residential/ Recreational Two. Purpose of request is to conform with present residential / recreational use and the adjourning zone district. Jeff Mulock/Apex Survey presented current survey map of the property in question and of adjacent land. Roger Winters said he wants to come into zoning conformity with his neighbors. Pat noticed adjacent land is also forest land on other side of Moose Lake Rd. Roger thought the rezone of his property had happened 10 years ago. Denny asked what plan he had for the property. Roger said he wants to sell the bar. Kay gave statistics for land development from the survey of Round Lake property owners from 2001. Pat asked for a plan for this property so we could access future development and the effect to the area. She stated it was her understanding the bar was grandfathered into this property and wanting to rezone to match the neighbors was not a reason to approve this rezone application. Jeff described the land in the area and wondered if the town of Round Lake was holding off on development of resorts. Sandy said she had talked with Ray Zubrod and he said we have to look at matching property zoning. Liz wondered why he wanted to change the zoning. Roger again stated he wanted to sell the property. Pat again asked for a plan for the land. Jeff said that it was a problem to present a plan as there are multiple plans for the land at this time and he did not want us to analyze one plan at this time. Kay expressed concern for the future land use if zoned to RR2 and expressed concern for keyholing this property with the shoreline property. Jeff felt we may be spot zoning. Pat felt this was not spot zoning as there was forest land nearby. Roger said that no one could buy the total property. Denny thought he could sell 2 1/2 acres with the bar and 2/five acre parcels as F1. Scott wondered about planned subdivision and maybe they could think about it. Denny spoke with B. Christman and she thought this could be a back lot with a possible three cabins with access to the lake. Kay thought that this would not be a back lot issue as it would be a separate parcel. Pat motioned to deny the rezone due to a lack of a plan for the property and the impact it could have in the area. Kay seconded the motion. Four approved with Scott Hansen and Sandy Schara obstaining.
6- The commission discussed how to handle email received though the website. It was decided that the town clerk will send any correspondence to the plan commission secretary who will send an auto response to the sender. She will send a copy to the commission members. The secretary will present the email correspondence at the next plan commission meeting.
7- Kay presented the website development. She described the website as developed with Bruce Meyers. Discussion included separating minutes that included zoning issues from the Plan Commission. Kay will discuss with Bruce about having agenda posted in two separate areas. Denny wondered about archiving agendas and minutes. Kay will check on this.
8- Public communications: Liz presented newspaper articles. Scott discussed the Lake Land trust. He was requested to gather more information. Pat notified commission members of an upcoming meeting of the shoreland issues subcommittee meeting on February 2, 2007. Scott thought he might be able to attend.
9- Transportation Issue- The Transportation Plan as presented from Pat via email was reviewed. Mary Ann sent information to Pat about possible duplication of private roads in our transportation issue. Denny questioned commuting patterns and wondered if the information was correct. Pat asked about updating information and graphs every three years. Kay will check with Dave Berard on this concern. We decided to update certain information prior to a final copy. Scott is still waiting for crash site information. He asked about roads and description/ratings. Pat asked we clean up the descriptions and make it more official and noticed that the information was only one year out. Sandy said she got the information from the town. Pat wondered about long range plans in the county. Scott wondered who would monitor recommendations for roads-re: bicycle routes/lanes. Kay thought this would be up to the citizens in the town. We discussed Rustic Roads and how to connect with #95 out of Bayfield Co. Kay presented the qualifications for a Rustic Road. Scott discussed the specification of private roads and how this could affect response to fire calls. We discussed looking at Goals and Objectives from other towns and any sending suggestions to Pat by February 17, 2007.
10- Our next meeting will be February 28, 2007
11- Motion by Scott to adjourn, seconded by Sandy. This meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM
Respectfully submitted,

Kay Wilson

Minutes of Dec., 2006

Meeting Minutes

No Meeting
* [return to archive listing]

Minutes of Nov., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2006
TOWN OF ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

1.) Chairman Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:25 PM. Other members present were Mary Ann Churchill, Pat Feldner, Scott Hanson, Liz Metcalf, Denny Piccheitti, and Sandy Schara.

2.) The agenda was approved unanimously with a motion by Denny and a second by Pat.

3.) The minutes of the October 25, 2006 meeting were approved unanimously as emailed with a motion by Pat and a second by Liz.

4.) Public Recognition - No guests were present.

5.) Public Communications and information that need to be filed. Pat presented a newspaper article concerning opposition to the expansion of ATV trails in the Lake Namakagon area. Contact names and phone numbers were included.

6.) The Public Participation Plan must to be approved by the Town Board. After that Kay will talk with Bruce Meyers who will help set up our web site.

7.) Transportation Element

Since some members are not receiving all e-mails it was suggested that Mary Ann send a message to all members and ask for a response to make sure we have correct email addresses. She will change the subject line in all emails she sends from RLPC to TRLPC to reflect the correct name of the commission.

Pat had incorporated the transportation information from the 2003 Town of Round Lake Land Use Plan with similar information from other town and county comprehensive plans so members could compare different content and styles of presentation. She then emailed a copy to each committee member for our use last month. This is referred to as the Reference Paper for the Transportation Element. Pat asked for early feed back on information that she sends out.

Key points of the discussion on the Transportation Element follow:

Kay - add information from surrounding communities for coordination. Town of Hayward has asked about creating a park with Town of Round Lake.

INTRODUCTION - No additions

ROADWAY CHARACTERISTICS - No additions

FUNCTIONAL CLASS
Discussion centered on the chart in the 2003 Town of Round Lake Land Use Plan titled "Functional Class".
Scott - wanted to add Private Roads to the chart. Local roads receive management and up keep while private roads do not. They should be included in case the town wanted to eliminate private roads in the future and take them over or not allow them in future developments.
Pat - we should not change the chart since it is in the same form used in many other comprehensive plans and are state definitions.
Liz - we need our own definition of "private roads" since they
are unique to our area and an important part of our town life.

Kay - the classes of roads need to be named and described in narrative form.
Scott - The term "private road" should be understandable to the public. He will do an internet search on that subject to get a definition.
Pat - Forest roads and their recreational aspects need to be described.
Mary Ann - will do the narrative for the roads in the chart and forest roads.

AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC
Denny - had charts and graphs from 1979 to 04 and she will have projections for future use. The WDOT does traffic counts only when there is road construction. There are two more sites added to the average traffic counts since 2001. A note will be made to explain the low count in 2001 on HWY B because of road construction. She will do the narrative for this section.

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS and ROAD EVALUATIONS
Sandy had two road charts, one, listing the mileage of all the Town Roads and another with road evaluations. She will work with the charts and write up the narrative for these
sections based on the Reference Paper for the Transportation
Element- pages 10 - 14.

AIRPORTS AND AIRFIELDS
Liz - the Seaplane Base located on Round Lake owned by John Frisbe is a registered base and consists of a pier and a fuel tank for seaplanes. Air traffic on lakes can be restricted by action from the town government.

PUBLIC TRANSIT
Mary Ann - had information about the Sawyer County /LCO Transit which has fixed
routes that can accommodate people who are physically handicapped and in some cases those who are developmentally disabled. She will do the narrative on this.

MULTI USE RECREATIONAL TRAILS
Liz - had a map showing all of the snow mobile trails. No new routes are recommended at this time but the ATV trails need some new connectors so roadways can be avoided. Are recreational trails considered transportation?
Scott - people want to use these trails to get to Hayward for fuel, food and lodging so they could be considered transportation.
  Liz - there are no trails in our town that go directly to Hayward because Round Lake blocks traffic that way. Our emphasis goes out into the National Forest. She met with Cheryl Lierman of the Forest Service who said that the new plan for the National Forest includes 10 miles of new trails. Lierman will be glad to come to talk with us. There is a plan to expand the Mukwanago system from just skiing/ walking to perhaps biking and horse trails. This would use the existing parking space.
It was suggested that all road improvements in the future should include a bike lane. In most cases it would mean adding only 3 feet of roadway.
Kay - had a Bike Wisconsin map that showed a trail system for Round Lake. The Town of Round Lake is recognized in this state web site.
Denny - there is more public transit information at the Sawyer County Development Corporation web site.

Goals and Objectives suggestions that came from this meeting:
Show how private roads are managed differently from others.
Projections of future road use. Martin Forbes, transportation planner from Superior could come to talk with us.
State aid for bike trails
State aid for Rustic Roads. Possible choice - Forest Road #174 north from Forest Road #164 to State HIWY # 77. This road crosses the Moose River, the Little Moose River and the West Fork of the Chippewa River and into the Elk area.
Study causes of most accidents and how to prevent them. Scott said that most occur at intersections because of sighting problems. Better warning signs might help.

For the next meeting email all contributions for the Transportation Element to Pat Feldner before January 15th.

Scott - Crash statistics and an explanation of private roads.
Sandy - Road evaluations and update on road Improvements
Denny - Daily traffic study
Liz - Multi use trails and meeting with the Forest Service
Representative
Kay - 2020 plans
Mary Ann -Narrative on Functional Class of roads and forest roads.

8.)Sandy moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:25 PM. Denny seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 6:30 PM .

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Oct., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSIION
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2006
TOWN HALL OF ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

1.)Vice-Chairman Sandy Schara called the meeting to order at 6:40
PM. Others members present were Liz Metcalf, Denny Piccheitti, Pat
Feldner and Mary Ann Churchill. Kay Wilson and Scott Hanson were
absent.

Mary Ann was asked to prepare a paragraph about the Plan Commission
for the Town of Round Lake Annual Letter that will come out in December.

2.) The agenda was approved unanimously with a motion by Pat and a
second by Denny.

3.) The minutes were approved unanimously with a motion by Liz and a
second by Pat.

4.) Public Recognition - there were no guests in attendance.

5.) Special Meeting with Fred C. Scheer - It was moved by Sandy and
seconded by Pat that we have a special meeting with Fred Scheer. The
vote was 0 for and 5 against. We agreed that we should not vary from
our stated schedule of plan meetings, the fourth Wednesday of the
month. If we make this exception for him we would have to do the
same for others.

Sandy showed us a second proposal that Fred has presented with just
12 lots as opposed to the original with 14 lots. She added that the
lake lots which have caused the most controversy do conform to the
frontage requirements of the Lakes Classification zoning. Lovejoy is
a Class 2 Lake needing 150 feet of frontage for each lot. The back
lots are in compliance with current zoning, although they do not
conform with the Residential Expansion suggestions in the 2003 Town
Land Use Plan which would require 3 acres per lot. There was a
question of whether we are looking at a situation of subdivision
zoning, shoreland zoning or a mixture of both. A subdivision plan
would require a topographical map. How much does the Town want to
follow the 2003 Land Use Plan suggestions right now

6. Public Participation Plan. The plan as prepared by Pat was
reviewed. Liz moved to approve the plan and Denny seconded the
motion. It passed unanimously. Sandy will make sure that a copy of
the plan reaches the town supervisors before their next meeting

7.) Public Communications and other information. Information for the
Natural Resources and Transportation elements were added to the file.

8.) Transportation Element
Denny had traffic counts from 1979 to 2004. How far back do we need
to go? 1979 is far enough. Other comprehensive plans do not go back
that far.
State Road Plans to 2011
County highway/utility improvement projections include the West Fork
Chippewa River Bridge

Other information - county routes recommended for bicycling.
Map of county rail routes
Highway construction notices

Other areas to be covered for next time:

Listing of all recreational trails

Sandy - Projection of Town road projects.
How many miles of paved and unpaved roads
PASER Road Evaluation
Any New Town Roads

Mary Ann - Sawyer County Transit Future Plans
Transportation for the disabled

Scott - Crash Statistics - chart of severity and type (deer/auto,
etc.) WIS. DOT source.
  Denny found an example of crash statistics in the Town of
Cloverland, Vilas County, Comp. Land Use Plan

Liz - Rustic Roads, benefit to the area or not?
Snowmobile, ATV and any other sport ordinances
New maps will be out in December
Air ports

 Road Plans and Recreational trails of surrounding towns -
Spider Lake, Lenroot, Hayward, Hunter, Winter, Draper and Ashland County

Pat will organize the Transportation information and use the
information from the Land Use Plan that we already have. Sandy will
try to find the disk that contains the plan so Pat can work from
that. We will update the basic information first then add our new
information. We can check what other towns and counties have done.

Liz - we could invite special guests after we have a rough draft to
help us with details.

Denny - we could discuss the recreational aspects when we do the
Natural Resources/ Recreational Element and just list the number of
miles of trails that we have in the Transportation Element.

9.) Denny moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:10 PM. Pat
seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Sep., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006
TOWN OF ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

1.) Chairman Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30PM. Other members present were Scott Hanson, Denny Picchietti, Liz Metcalf, Pat Feldner, Sandy Schara, and Mary Ann Churchill. .

2.) The agenda was approved unanimously with a motion by Sandy and a second by Pat.

3.) The minutes were approved unanimously as emailed with a motion by Scott and a second by Denny.

4.) There were no guests at the meeting.

5.) There was a discussion about whether the commission members should be spending time on zoning issues instead of getting further along with organizing the plan. Liz felt that she would like more training for making these decisions. Scott and Pat felt that we
should study these issues so we are able to make better decisions about land use planning when we get to that element. Scott said that by not taking any action on this subdivision plan we are making a statement of sorts, a statement of acceptance.

Rezone Application from S&N The Oaks LLC c/o Fred Scheer. Kay moved and Denny seconded the motion to deny the application based on Town of Round Lake Land Use Plan, Chapter 5 - Recommendations. On page 5-2, Residential Expansion Area, #2 states that "Single private lots should be at a three acre minimum." In addition, the
commission would like to have included a set aside of green space. The motion was approved unanimously, it was suggested that an environmental impact study be done, also. Pat added that the rezone from F1 to R1 would have been acceptable, since in the Future Land Use Map from the Land Use Plan this area was designated as becoming
R1. (The proposed lot sizes range from 1.4 to 2.9 acres.)

6.) Conditional Use Application: Alan D. Loveland, etux. Pat said that we should restate our approval of having a business at this location.

7. MSA proposal. - Kay reported a conversation with Sheldon Johnson from Northwest Regional Planning Commission. He said that the Town of Round Lake had decided to go with Sawyer County to submit a grant application for comprehensive planning. If the county's application is approved the money would go to the county which would then
administer the funds that the Town of Round Lake would receive. In this case it would be more cost effective to have the same consultant that the county chooses. We would possibly get $12,000.00 from this grant.

Pat moved that we table any contractual decision concerning hiring a consultant until we get notification from the county as to whether they have received the grant and how much
money we will receive. Liz seconded this motion which passed unanimously.

Kay reported that MSA said that for them to do the total comprehensive plan it would cost them $32,000.00, and if we do much of the work the cost would be $22,000.00.

Even with us doing most of the work Kay felt that we would need about $25,000.00 spread over 2 years to complete the plan. Each member received a copy of he letter from MSA.

8.) Website Development - Kay reported that Bruce Myers has agreed to help us set up our website. Liz had a copy of the home page for the comprehensive plan from the Town of Buffalo in Dane County. Other sites that were mentioned were Barnes, Twin Lakes, and Spooner. Kay will give Bruce a sample of what we would like. This site will
probably be built on the current Town website.

9.) Communications from the public and zoning information - Pat had a file folder for us to file inquiries that come to us about sections of the plan that we have not yet addressed. We will look at them when we get to the appropriate element. We will find out if we can store that file and all of the zoning applications in the Town Hall
office.

10.) We will wait until we know how much money we will have before we contact the Center for Land Use Education to find out their cost of helping us with the Land Use Element.

11.) Public Participation Plan - Pat took comments about the Plan she had put together. We reviewed the whole plan and finished it. Pat will incorporate all of our suggestions and send a draft of it to us. It will be presented for a vote at the next meeting.

12.) The Transportation Element will be discussed at the next meeting.

13.) Sandy moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:40 PM. Pat seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

Minutes of Aug., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2006
TOWN OF ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

Chairman Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other
members present were Scott Hanson, Denny Picchietti, Liz Metcalf, Pat
Feldner, Sandy Schara, and Mary Ann Churchill. Guests were Marcia
and Ray Whaley and David Rasmussen and Chuck Sulik from MSA Planning
Services.

Kay made sure that all members had a 2005 plat book that the Town has
provided us. The Town would like them returned when we are finished.

1.) Kay requested that the Agenda be changed by switching Items 4
and 5 to allow David and Chuck to do their presentation first. The
Agenda, as amended, was approved unanimously with a motion by Pat and
a second by Sandy.

2) The Minutes were approved unanimously, as emailed, with a motion
by Scott and a second by Denny.

3.) David and Chuck began their presentation about MSA Plan
Services with a history of their company. It has been doing
comprehensive strategic planning for 20 years and has 15 offices in 5
states. They both felt it might be difficult for us to get a grant
through the Wisconsin Department of Administration since preference
is given to those applications that combine the interests of
overlapping jurisdictions.

They said that a ball part figure for helping us develop a plan would
be around $15,000.00 with us doing part of the work. They would use
the information in our "Town of Round Lake 2003 Land Use Plan",
and since we are a small group, suggested the use of focus groups to
help us gather information and include the public in the process.
These groups would need representation from all sides of an issue
and from that we would work to build a consensus. We could combine
several elements into one focus group, probably needing just three
focus groups in all. For example, we could have the Land Use,
Transportation, and Natural Resources in one group and the other
elements in the two others. MSA could also act as our facilitator at
public hearings and set up a timeline that we could follow.

They were asked if they had worked with a Plan Commission which was
also dealing with zoning issues at the same time. They said
"yes" but suggested that we have our zoning meeting at a separate
time. They recommended that we try to finish the process in 12 months.

The Plan Commission would need to gather all of the background
information concerning the Town then MSA would do the trends and
objectives. Kay asked for several levels of proposals that would
show different fees. We could be scheduled to pay over two budget
years and pay a flat fee or pay for time and material as we go along.

They will return with examples of the work they have done. Each
member received an MSA notebook. They left at 7:30PM.

5.) Public Recognition. Kay recognized the other guests who had no
comments to make.

Kay read a letter from Sue and Ben Niemann who made several
recommendations;
-Allow the audience more than 2 minutes at the beginning so comments
could be made about the issues under discussion.
  -We should meet with county agencies (Forestry, Highway,
Information Technology, Land and Water Conservation, Land Records,
Surveyors, UW-Extension and the Zoning Department) to find out what
technical help they can give us and what maps they can print.
-For the Transportation element they suggested upgrading snow mobile
trails for hiking and biking in the summer and to create routes for
slower but more energy efficient vehicles such as golf carts.
-They suggested the Town have color tour routes for all seasons.
-Attached to the letter was a copy of the July 26, 2006 Sawyer County
Record article about the "Legacy Places" identified in the
county. (see their letter for more details.)

Pat suggested having manila envelops for each element so letters such
as this can be placed there so we can find them when we get to that
element.
The Niemann's letter will be filed under Transportation and Natural
Resources.

6.) The zoning issue had been canceled.

7.) Grant Application - Scott will check county officials about
their contract with Northwest Regional Plan Comm. for applying for a
comprehensive planning grant. He will ask if certain towns have
access to this money and what restrictions would apply. He will also
talk with Bob Stuchal to see if he knows of other grant money available.
Kay will send a follow up letter to MSA to thank them for coming and
give a summary of our concerns.

Kay then read a letter from Doug Muskowiak, a Geographical
Information System (GIS) Specialist, with the Center for Land Use
Educatiton (CLUE) at U-W Stevens Point telling of the services that
he could offer us in our planning. The mission of CLUE is to "help
local communities make sound land use decisions with confidence". He
can work with a consultant and concentrate on one element or give a
work shop on related topics, i.e. public participation, property
rights, and "What If " hearings to visualize the impacts of
different land use choices.

8.) Change of Meeting Dates - To be more effective in our zoning
suggestions we should meet closer to the time of the Town Board
meetings. That way we could have all the pertinent information, and
those people who wish to speak about an issue could be heard by us.
Denny said she would check with the zoning office to see what the
time line is for the public announcement of an application and when
the decision is made by the County Zoning Committee. Mary Ann
questioned whether we should be trying to do our comprehensive
planning and act as a zoning commission at the same time. She feels
uncomfortable making the zoning decisions with the information that
we have. Liz suggested using the words "Based on the information
we have at this date" with any zoning decision we make.

9.) Public Participation Plan - Pat asked for comments on the plan
she had put together for us. There was discussion about using the
word "will" as opposed to "may" in connection with certain
actions that the commission might perform such as including an update
in the Town Annual Newsletter. This issue will be continued at our
next meeting.

10.) Transportation Element - Mary Ann handed out a Public
Participation Plan Worksheet that we might use with each element.
She had an example of how the Transportation Element might be
approached to assure that the public is included in our decision
making. This issue will be continued at our next meeting.

11.) The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM. The motion to adjourn was
made by Scott with a second by Denny. The motion passed
unanimously. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 27,
2006 at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill

Minutes of Jul., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2006
TOWN OF ROUND LAKE TOWN HALL

Chairman Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Other
members present were Scott Hanson, Denny Picchietti, Liz Metcalf, Pat
Feldner, and Mary Ann Churchill. Guests were Sue Niemann, Ben
Niemann, and Carol and Allan Loveland. Sandy Schara was absent.

The Agenda was approved unanimously with a motion by Pat and a
second by Denny.

The Minutes as emailed of the June 28, 2006 meeting were approved
unanimously with a motion by Kay and a second by Liz.

Public Recognition. There were no comments.

Preparation of the Public Participation Plan

A comparison was made between the plans from the City of Washburn and
the Town of Bass Lake. It was decided to use parts of each plan to
develop our own Public Participation Plan. We went through each plan
page by page and Pat said she would keep the record of which parts
would be used, make up a composite and email it to the members for
study before our next meeting.

Some points of discussion were;

1) Annual Letter - We decided to include a report with the Town's
Annual Letter that goes out with the tax bills in December instead of
a separate commission annual letter.

2) Committee's Response to Comments from the Public by Phone
Calls, E-mails, or Written Notes - We would like most
communication that comes to us to take place through a web site with
an email address so messages could be sent to us in that form. An
automatic acknowledgment should be sent with the receipt of each
email. E-mails, written comments, notes of phone calls or
conversations would be looked at at the next meeting and would be
dealt with or filed away for discussion at the appropriate time.

3) Notice to the Public of the Commission's Activities - Many
notices could be posted at our web site. Mary Ann will contact Bruce
Meyers, who set up the Town's web site, for information about
setting up such a site for the commission either through a link from
the Town site or our own site.
4) Audience Participation at Meetings - Kay will develop a
visitor's form to be filled out by all who attend. It will ask for
some or all of the following information; name, address, phone
number, and a short summary of the topic they wish to address. If the
topic on the form is not on the agenda for that meeting it will be
filed for discussion at the proper time.

5) Email Addresses - We debated whether to ask for email addresses
so we could send copies of notices or minutes to those who are
interested. Perhaps the web site could be used for that purpose,
also. If email addresses are collected, there should be a statement
that they will not be sold, moved, transferred or forwarded.

6) Validity of Comments - Names and addresses should be included
in comments from the public so we can make sure one person is not
generating multiple mailings or e-mails.

Invitation to Another Consultant
Plan members felt that we can access the census for most of the facts that we need to have but would be interested in meeting another consultant. The commission previously met with the Northwest Regional Planning Commission. Scott moved and Denny seconded the motion that we invite MSN to come to our next meeting. MSN, from
Baraboo, WI . helped the Town of Hayward with their Comprehensive
Plan. The motion passed unanimously. Kay might also contact people
from CLUE - the Center for Land Use Education, and Community
Planning Resource for information.

Grant Application Close Out Form
One suggestion was that we begin work on one of the nine "Smart
Growth" elements by dividing up the topics among us and that we
work separately in groups of two. It was decided instead that since
we are a small group that we will work as a group on each element.
Kay moved and Scott seconded the motion that we take the
Transportation Element as our first one. The motion passed
unanimously. We will work on topics at the next meeting. Denny had
a document from the Sawyer County Development Corporation that might
be helpful. The web site is <sawyercountydevelopment.org>. (See the
county official government link

Conditional Use Application Statement to the Board of Supervisors
for Consideration.
Scott moved that the Conditional Use Application for Allan D.
Loveland, etux. be approved. Pat seconded the motion. Discussion: It
is the opinion of the Commission that there is nothing untoward in
this application. This might be appropriate use of this property
since the occupation of upholsterer is similar to the Ag 2 District
Uses Authorized By Conditional Use, # 10. (1) Archery and gun sales
are related to the outdoor interests of the county. The vote was
Scott, Yes; Denny, Yes; Pat, Yes; Mary Ann, Yes; Kay, Yes. Liz
abstained. The motion passed with 5 Yes's, 0 No's, and 1
Abstention.

Adjournment Scott moved and Pat seconded the motion to adjourn. The
motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM. The
next meeting will be on August 30, 2006, at 6:30 PM at the Round Lake
Town Hall.

FOR THE NEXT MEETING:
STUDY THE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN AS PREPARED BY PAT.
STUDY THE TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, secretary

(1) Sawyer County Zoning Ordinance, 17.5 A-2: Agricultural Two
District, section B) #10. Page 75.

Minutes of Jun., 2006

Meeting Minutes

TOWN OF ROUND LAKE PLAN COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2006
TOWN HALL
Chairman Kay Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM.? Other members present were Scott Hanson, Liz Metcalf, Sandy Schara, Denny Picchietti, Mary Ann Churchill and guests Mike Kinnick from the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, Sue and Ben Niemann, Mary Kay and Richard Carlson, and Mike Martin. Absent, Pat Feldner.

The Agenda was approved unanimously with a motion by Liz and a second by Denny.

The Minutes as emailed of the May 17, 2006 meeting and the May 31, 2006 meeting were approved unanimously with a motion by Scott and a second by Kay.

PRESENTATION FROM THE NRPC. Kay introduced Mike Kinnic. Our Commission wants to establish how much it would cost to have the NPRC help with our comprehensive plan. He was asked how our current Land Use Plan could be incorporated in our comprehensive plan for the town. He gave us copies of the State Statutes for Comprehensive Planning, Municipal Law, 66.1001. and the Comprehensive Planning Grant Program Grant Closeout Form.

He said that parts of our 2003 Land Use Plan can be used as is but that others need to be pulled out and inserted into the proper comprehensive plan element. Our 2003 Land Use Plan already contains most of the Issues and Opportunities and Land Use Plan elements.

The price for the NRPC to do a complete plan starting from scratch without much input from us would be about $25,000.00. If we do some or part of most elements the price would drop. He said that some elements would be easier than others. For instance, in the Utilities and? Community Facilities element we already know many of the facts or could find out easily, such as, how many waste drop off sites do we have in the town, or recycling facilities or cemeteries. We can indicate if items are irrelevant to our town. We would need to then write up our information. NRPC could put all of the parts together and fill in with what would be too difficult for us to do.

The most important part of each element is the goals and objectives and he suggested beginning with those each time.

Our first job will be to write a Public Participation Plan which needs to be adopted by the town board. This will describe how people will be notified about meetings, how often, and how they will be able to contribute their ideas to the plan.
This needs to be in place before we can proceed.

He suggested that we then begin with the Intergovernmental Cooperation element which would mean studying the comprehensive plans of adjacent towns if they have been completed. ? Leave the Land Use element for last since it will be the most difficult.

He said that grant money was available from the state but difficult to get Sawyer County was turned down. Larger districts usually receive the grants. Town of Round Lake would have little chance of receiving one. The grants come from the State Department of Administration.? When the plan is finished a copy needs to be sent to the State for the record but the State does not reject or approve it.

We should go through the Grant Closeout Form, study the check list and decide which parts of which elements we feel we could do i.e. gather facts and write them up.

It would be very difficult for us to do the? Future Land Use section, and we would need professional help for that.

We would need to establish a time line to decide when we would have material ready to send to NRPC. Would there be a flat fee established for each element? Mike said, yes, and that the most expensive element would be, The Land Use and then Natural Resources. Least expensive would be the Intergovernmental one. The overall fee for the final draft would include the total cost of each element, number of meetings attended by the NRPC, number of copies requested, and number of color maps. The total would be about $24,000.00

However, if we go through the checklist to see what we can do on our own, the cost could drop to $15,000.00. He said that a 24 month time line is possible.

Mike left at 7:10 PM.

Kay asked our visitors why they had come. Mary Kay Carlson said that she is interested in identifying our natural resources and protecting them. Ben Niemann asked how he could get involved with the process other than at the public meetings. Kay said that we will use people, groups and the resources available to us to help form the plan. The agenda will be posted before each meeting and visitors are welcomed to come when a certain topic is of interest to them. Mike Martin was from the Hayward Lakes Realty and was representing a large realtor association. He wanted to observe our meeting.

Kay said that she had studied several comprehensive plans online and found some that include an interesting sequence of their discussions so that one can see how decisions were made. Perhaps we can post our progress on the town web site.

At the first meeting of each element we shall invite people with knowledge in that area to help us.

MEETING PROTOCOL
In preparing agendas for our regular meetings we have an agenda item for visitor comments. We will try to limit the input of each person to 3 minutes. ?

VARIANCE APPLICATION TO BE CONSIDERED AT THE NEXT TOWN MEETING
We shall try to limit discussions about applications for a variance or zoning change to 5 minutes each, if possible. The Commission offers the vote below only as a consideration for the Board of Supervisors.

Variance Application for Ronald W. Parr etux.
Motion to deny the request was make by Scott and seconded by Kay. The reason was because it is a substandard lot. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

RESEARCH REPORTS
The Town of Hayward wants to sit in on our work on the element which includes Parks and Lakes.

There was a discussion of significant issues found in the comprehensive plans that we had read in preparation for this meeting. Ben Niemann suggested that we look at the plan for the Town of Plover, WI. since it is in a similar situation to that of Round Lake, rural and having seasonal visitors.

TIME LINE
For our next meeting in order to try to determine how much of the plan we can write ourselves we should all study the Grant Close Out Form and indicate by checking off? (A.) which sections us as individuals would be willing to do. (B) which of the sections of each element we think our commission should complete . Also, indicate (C.) those sections that you would dislike doing or (D) feel that the group should not work on (since it would be too difficult.)

Keep a copy of this for yourself and get a copy to Kay by July 20th so she can collate them before the meeting.

Also, at our next meeting we will formulate a Public Participation Element. In preparation we should read the two papers that Kay gave out, City of Washburn? Public Participation Plan and the Public Participation from the Town of Bass Lake.

NEWS PAPER ARTICLE ABOUT THE PLAN COMMISSION

Mary Ann suggested that all members take a turn writing articles for the paper so we reflect different interests and writing styles of the members. ? This might create more public interest in what we are doing.

LEGAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT PERTAIN TO PLAN COMMISSION MEMBERS

When speaking in public we can introduce ourselves as members of the Plan Commission but make it clear that we are stating our personal opinions. Scott asked if we are covered by liability insurance. We should have an answer from Kathy McCoy by the next meeting. Anytime 4 or more of us get together to discuss issues that is considered a meeting and must be posted in advance.
Liz asked if the town would purchase a new plat book for each member of the committee.

ADJOURN

Sandy moved and Kay seconded a motion for adjournment. The vote in favor was unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary
[return to archive listing]

Minutes of May, 2006

Meeting minutes

Land Use Planning Commission for the Town ofRound Lake
Wednesday, May 17, 2006, at 6:30PM Town Hall

The initial meeting of the Land Use Plan Commmission for the Town of Round Lake met at 6:30 PM at the Town Hall. Members present were Town Supervisor Sanday Schara, Scott Hanson, Denny Picchietti, Liz Metcalf, Kay Wilson, Pat Feldner and Mary Ann Churchill.

Officers were chosen with Kay Wilson being Chairman, Sandy Schara, Vice Chairman, and Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary.

The mission of the group will have two parts, 1. Finish the Smart Growth Plan which the State has mandated should be completed by 2010.
2. Advise the Town Board on zoning matters that are presented to it.

Suggestions for how we would progress included checking with other towns which had completed their Smart Growth Plan.
Kay will check with the Town of Hayward.which has finished its plan. She shared with us two state web sites for Smart Growth Plan suggestions that we can refer to;

doa.state.wi.us Comprehensive Planning
legis.state.wi.us Legislative Analysis by Michael Keen

 Sandy had handouts which outlined all nine parts of The Smart Growth Plan and what information was to be included in eadh part. She offered to look into getting copies of the county zoning ordinances and a list of activities that are permitted under each zoning classification.

In order to assist the town supervisors with zoning decisions, the Plan Commission members will need copies of requests for zoning changes in advance of the Town Board meeting at which such requests will be presented.

We need a large map of the Town which shows the current zoning.designations. Mary Ann Will check with the zoning office to see what maps are available.

We will also need a way to study previous zoning decisions.

The date of the next meeting will be Wednesday, May 31. Liz said that George Miller who chaired the Spider Lake Smart Growth planning might be a good resource person for us and will invite him to talk to us about the Spider Lake plan on May 31st.
We will also need a way to study previous zoning decisions.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15PM

N.B. Liz confirmed that George Miller will come to the meeting on May 31st and will arrive at 7PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ann Churchill, Secretary

[return to archive listing]

Created on ... November 24, 2008