Mercer to consider trails with road repair

By TOM LAVENTURE

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MERCER, Wis. — Several members of the Sno-Goers snowmobile club attended the town of Mercer Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday, to advocate for improvements to a road that will allow a new trail segment.

Residents had complained that snowmobilers were using a portion of Lake Shore Drive that linked trails, leaving snow that eventually created poor driving conditions and damage to the road surface, said John Sendra, board chair. The water also pools in the spring, he said.

“There is reluctance from the neighbors to have snowmobiles on the road and driving frost into the ground and the water,” Sendra said.

There is a sizable grant that will allow us to widen the road, he said. The hope is that the setback will also create enough room for silent sports trails as well, he said.

The solution with the grant is that the road surface could be raised and the shoulder widened to allow for a snowmobile trail, said Tom Ziegler, vice president of the Sno-Goers after the meeting.

“So this year, we’re going to work together and keep the snowmobile trail where it’s been existing (the road shoulder) and next year we’ll try to get the grant money to raise the road up and create a snowmobile path,” he said.

The other solution is if all the property owners along the stretch of road allow a trail to be built on their property so the road is no longer an issue, Ziegler said. If the property owners do not agree then the club would need to re-route the trail, he said.

The Sno-Goers agreed to assist in pushing back the snowbanks in the spring, said Eric Snow, township supervisor.

“I think everything is pretty well covered,” he said.

The board approved 3-2 to amend the sign and billboard ordinance to require billboards to be “freestanding” and not affixed to a building within the township. The section on billboards now reads: “Any freestanding sign, advertisement or billboard greater than 32 square feet in size or surface area, or greater than 10 feet in height but not exceeding 128 square feet, or 20 feet as measured from the ground, including its base or other means of elevating the structure.”

The action also amended the definition on wall signs to add language regarding billboards. The ordinance now reads: “Signs attached flat against the exterior wall(s) of a building and do not extend more than six inches outside the building’s surface, or directly on the surface of the wall. No sign deemed to be a billboard may be attached to an exterior wall of a building.”

Snow said that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation right-of-way would make it impossible for a business to post a free-standing billboard if their building is the only means to fix a billboard. He voted against the amendment along with supervisor Michael Lambert.

Planning Committee members Bonnie Banaszak and Kathy Tutt, who attended the meeting, said the DOT requires highway billboards to be moved back from the road as a detriment to traffic. The amendment is attempting to do the same with the township to avoid a driving distraction.

Lambert asked if exterior wall murals would be allowed with the ordinance. Tutt said that commercial or advertisement murals would not be allowed but that art projects would be allowed as determined by the township.

The board approved a conditional use permit application for a tourist rooming house at 2716 W. Oestreich Road. The board postponed approving a second tourist rooming house permit application at 3434 Tutts Ave., until the application reflects that it is a four-bedroom dwelling to be compliant with the size of its septic system.

The board tabled a recommendation from the planning commission on restating the minimum one-bedroom dwelling size allowable in the township to be consistent with the 500 square-foot minimum in the Iron County ordinance.

The board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the township of Sherman. The agreement updates the percentage of the annual state road tax awarded for both municipalities so that the dollar amounts adjust automatically with changes in the state formula to avoid another process.

Charles Schroepfer, supervisor, said the agreement is necessary and that it should work.

During the public comment period, Jim Hannemann, a board member of Lake of the Falls Association, said he was under the understanding that the township would make an agenda item out of the boat landing in need of repair under the waterline that is considered township property on Lake of the Falls. The association maintains all the above ground access to the boat landing, he said.

The $20,000 repair estimate would require Wisconsin Department of Resources cooperation. There is a grant that is possible to pay some of the costs and would require the township participation, he said.

Schellgell said the township is required to maintain property it owns but to what level he did not know. He recommended the township add the issue to the agenda and to contact the DNR

In the supervisor reports, Snow said the township board’s discussion of school issues at the previous meeting reflected poorly on the township in the newspaper. He asked the board to consider that as a town government the discussions should not include the business of other entities.

Township attorney Fritz Schellgell said he would look at the easement statutes to address a request from residents of Kind Road to allow the city plow to use driveways or easements to turn around when plowing. The offer came after one resident complained about the plow moving snow while using private property to turnaround.

In other business, the board:

—Appointed Mercer Public Library Trustees

—A temporary beer license for the Mercer Area Sno-Goers Winter Blast event on Jan. 18.

—Postponed approval for a street light at 5380N Lake Shore Drive until a site visit is conducted.

—Approved research to identify active fire department members with more than 50 years service and past members with the same who had not yet been recognized for plaques.

—Heard Sendra say he would continue to advocate to keep Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources fisheries staff positions at the Mercer Ranger Station that are expected to migrate to the Ashland Service Center after one year.

—Agreed to look into an exchange of plowing duties of certain roads with the township of Oma.