Municipal Minutes: Troy Town Residents Ask Questions, Air Concerns at Annual Meeting

More than 45 Troy town residents filled Troy Town Hall for the town's annual meeting on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. The meeting began at 7 p.m. and lasted nearly an hour before adjourning. A special presentation from Baldwin Telecom followed the meeting.

2011 Road Construction Plan: Troy Town Chair Ray Knapp said that there will be no major road improvement projects in Troy in 2011, but reconstruction is planned in 2012 between North Glover Road and Coulee Trail. Knapp asked for anyone with ideas to call Gary Parent (lead road crew employee) at the Town Shop.

Park Board Report: Jill Berke said that new brochures are available for parks. She recognized and thanked committee members. She informed residents about boulders that were added at the prairie remnant and garden. Crews removed cedar tree in way of bench at the playground. Thanked Mel Hermanson for work as elected constable for number of years.

Broadband Initiative: Knapp stressed the need for residents to prepare their homes for broadband by May 2011, and he gave instructions on how to do so. Right now, a federal program pays for bringing cable up to the home, but not in the future. “I don't want anybody to misunderstand. You can bring the cable to your house and not sign up for service, but at least it's there and there's not a cost in the future,” he said.

2010 Annual Financial Statement: Troy Town Clerk Sharon Provos said the property tax levy was raised 2.1 percent in 2010. A lease on a town dump truck, six years at $25,000 a year to pay off, is only debt town has. The levy was raised another 2.1 percent for 2011. Knapp said, “We have a long tradition of trying to pay things on a cash basis, to not incur a lot of debt. The only thing the town owes anything on right now is for our dump truck.” 

Resident Comments and Questions: As Knapp opened the resident comments and questions portion of the meeting, he walked around with a microphone and reminded the group that, “This is your meeting. This is not the town board's meeting.” 

Bike Trails: Jim Bott said he was not opposed to bike trails on North Glover Road, but asked if someone who might be an advocate give a bit of a pitch for them. Dan Cuddihy said North Glover Road is “scariest street there is. I see a lot of families that bike on that road—families with kids on the back of their bikes. Widening it would be a very good idea.” Knapp said that North Glover Road is not even 20 feet wide in some areas and there are no shoulders in some spots. 

Road Curves: Greg Johnson asked if the construction was changing horizontal or vertical curves, and if it was going to have the same dips, bumps and curves? Knapp said that the town engineer is looking into that issue, and where the town has rights of way, the goal is to try and take as many of the zigs and zags out of the road as possible. He said the goal to maintain the scenic nature of the road, improve lines of sight, and not anger people whose properties are right in front of those roads.

Illegal Dumping: Buzz Marzolf said he has noticed a lot of junk such as furniture and tires being dumped on highways and North Cove Road. He asked is there was any way to find out who is doing that. Knapp said there is no real way of finding out who dumps large items unless you see them doing it. He reminded residents that they should call Troy Town Hall when they see trash so the town can pick it up and take to the recycling center. 

River Falls-Troy Border: Mike Retz said that Chuck Strumpke talked about sewer issues at the River Falls-Troy border and asked Knapp for an update. Knapp said that four or five years ago, the town was actively working on cooperative boundary with city of River Falls, but the project died. About a year ago, the city and town started talking about cooperative boundary agreement again. Both sides are working to see if it makes sense to have agreement. A draft has been put forward, but a majority of members on the Troy Town Board are not in favor of many things in it, Knapp said.

Recognition: Gloria Wahrenbrock recognized for service to the town as former board member. Warren Vollmar was recognized for his work on bringing broadband service to town.

Oath of Office: Troy Town Clerk Sharon Provos swore in Jan Cuccia, Sue Warren, Ray Knapp, who won board seats in last week's election.