MONDAY, 9/20 - 7PM!
All the Vernon Town Board is finally holding a listening session.
THIS MEETING IS CRITICAL!
PLEASE BE THERE!
Friday, September 17, 2010
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About Me
- Mike Doble
- In April of 2011, I was elected as Chairman of the Town of Vernon. I have lived in the community for 12 years. I'm proud to serve the residents of the Town of Vernon.
More like Town Board we really don't care what you say session.......
ReplyDeleteAnd what is with the Town Board appointing the current Assistant Chief Peterson to their committee along with the two Deputy Chiefs. Isn't that a conflict of interest???
They are starting up the Town of Vernon Fire Department with the Town Board and still working on the Big Bend/Vernon Fire Department.
You know who is kissing up to the Town Board for a job... How much you want to bet they keep their positions and Peterson ends up as Chief..
Peterson is part of the problem up at the fire house. He acts like god up their and degrades his staff. That is why people are leaving.
I talked to some members of the Department over the past few weeks as I have seen them around the Town and at the pancake breakfast and some of them are planning on leaving at the split up.
They don't want to work for Peterson. But the Town Board listens to his bs. No wonder there are the problems in the Fire Department. Peterson undermines everything...
Well good luck Mike on Monday and I hope to see everyone at the Town Hall. Make sure when you are up at the Town Hall, please mention the mess and in fighting that Assistant Chief Brian Peterson has created and that if the Department comes back together, he has to go or otherwise the same problems will remain.
We need a complete fresh start.....
They didn't listen to the people's vote - why have a listening session? They are not going to do anything the people really want - FD has no equipment and they think that it won't cost any more money - and I don't hear of any group being formed to buy this new equipment. They will be out of office next Spring and someone else will have to clean up their mess - you rock Town of Vernon Supervisors!
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to call Town Hall on Monday (662-2039)
and request that they show and recorded this listening sessions on channel 25. It would help if other people called and made the same request.
Let's catch their lies on DVD.
Listening sessions? You must be kidding. They had "listening sessions" back in Dec. or Jan. Then they lied about what the people were saying about the break up. What are they listening for...people disagree with them 2 to 1! Are they going to listen to that?
ReplyDeleteFunny isn't it? They really haven't even presented a plan to the town, but they want to have a listening session. All we get are bits and pieces of information. New to me at the last meeting was talk of an ambulance company providing service versus our own folks. Not a bad idea to outsource, but what's the plan? Is this a long term solution? If it's the way to go, why aren't other communities doing this? Or do they?
ReplyDeleteGIVE US A PLAN! I'm so done with these guys.
It's not just the board that will (or won't) be listening. Please don't hold back, you're speaking to your neighbors too. I for one will be bringing my ears.
ReplyDeleteI know what the plan is...Screw Big Bend, no matter what the cost!!
ReplyDeleteDo you think Big Bend would even reverse course at this point? They have 31 members...a Chief...and a whole lot of equipment thanks to Supervisor Bird's incompetence. If I were in their shoes I would only go back to a joint department with Vernon under a few terms...1.The Inter-municipal Agreement would need to be reworked. Mainly the disillusionment clause could be changed to span 2 election cycles. That way when a bunch of morons get elected and decide they know better that 2/3 of the people they could get voted out before they @#%& everything up! 2. Bird, Craig, Baricmo and Farmer Fred would have to resign. 3. Annex Fire Station #3 into the Village, because I think they need the room to put all their stuff!!! Nice job Bird! Are you going to give them all the fire trucks too?
ReplyDeleteI was at the meeting last night and noticed that although there were a number of intelligent people speaking about how they felt splitting the department was a bad idea based on years of actual experience; the Town Board was not listening. Instead they were repeating the same BS they have been preaching for months. Supervisor Barikmo spoke about how the equipment that Big Bend bought at the auction was old and would need to be replaced anyway. In 2009 over $200,000 of grant money from FEMA was spent to update the SCBA equipment, turnout gear and other items. This money was a grant so is it split 80/20 or 50/50? What about the other money that has been donated over the years is that going to be split 80/20, 50/50 or does it need to be returned to the donor since it wasn’t used for the purpose it was donated for? There were also comments made stating that the Inter municipal agreement wasn’t working. This agreement has worked great for as many years as we have had the Fire Department until this board took over and decided they wanted to run the show alone. None of the previous Boards had any problem coming to a mutually agreed upon budget and every year the Fire Department and Fire Board were diligent enough to budget and conserve so at the end of the year the communities received money back that wasn’t used. This can only work through communication and cooperation, two things this power hungry Board is not capable of. A large sum of money is going to be needed to cover all the upcoming expenses and it can’t be done just using currently allocated funds as Chairman Michalek would have us believe. The Town will need to borrow money and we will be paying this bill for many years to come.
ReplyDeleteIt really stinks that this board has buried the towns reputation. It may be quite a chore to encourage decent candidates to run for town supervisor and chairman. It may make sense to start on it early.
ReplyDeleteThe Town Board just bought a $29,000 Tahoe for $80,000...surprised?
ReplyDeleteCity of Pewaukee — City residents will have the opportunity to vote this fall on a nonbinding referendum question asking whether they favor merging with the Village of Pewaukee.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this something - a government actually listening to the will of the people and having a referendum.
I'm I hearing right. Did Tom Bird just rat-out Diane Herried at her place of work?
ReplyDeleteYes he did - but it turned out better for Ms. Herried than expected. Please call her - I'm sure she will tell you about her new community involvement award.
ReplyDeleteTom Bird does something like that & Vernon wonders why businesses & residents are actually scared of our board. They take stuff personally
ReplyDeleteI think We have four men on the Town Board that should hang their heads in shame, for what they have done to our Town.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should be humble and ask if the Village of Big Bend would allow the town to lease from them, What about sharing with Mukwonago?
Yeah! For Diane, keep up the GREAT WORK. Do yo think the town board has seen at least three or four different times, that the majority of the people don't want to see the Fire Dept. split up.
ReplyDeleteSo the big question with everyone on this site is with three months to go will Big Bend change course and go back with a joint department???
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt it... Here is why...
1. With the current Town Board in place, I doubt that the Village would want to sit across the table and try to hammer out a new inter-municipal agreement with the same people who over the past 9 months have accused them of everything except for running naked through the center of town... ooops sorry, I don't want to give them ideas...
2. The Village is too far along. They have a Chief, personnel and thanks to the Tom Bird, lots of equipment. They now have more than 50% interest in the current fire department.
3. It would take a big apology from the Town Board to the Village Board about their actions over the past nine months toward members of the Village Board. Including comments made by Supervisors Bird, Craig and former (i still have to have my fingers in everything) Supervisor Reilly for going after Trustees Fickau and Heinnemann and President Soneberg. And that will happen when hell freezes over.
4. The current command staff at the Big Bend/ Vernon Fire Department would have to go. That would not happen either. Assistant Chief Peterson is kissing too much Town Board ass to cover himself and he has had it in heart all along to close the Fire House in the Village. According to my source all that is left in Station #1 is one personnel and one tanker. Wow, what a way to provide excellent service to both communities....
5. The Village is in a great position, they have community support and a great group of people working on their department. They are prepared......
In the end, I feel the Village will not even talk with the Town until after the April Elections. By then it is too late and the Town will continue to suffer from stupidity of the current Town Board...
As they say "God save the Queen".. How about..
"God save the Town"......
So I hear the Mukwonago Village Board talked about the non service potential of the Vernon Fire Department and what Mukwonago is going to do come January 1, 2011. They also talked about the issue of non mutual aid from the Vernon Fire Department. It was referred to their Protective Services Committee for further review....
ReplyDeleteGeeezzz, even our neighbors are realizing that the Town of Vernon will not even be ready with fire services...
Thank you Tom, Bill, Kurt, Joe and Fred for that wonderful thought out vote you did last December.... You guys should be part of the Obama Administration, always out to screw over the average taxpayer....
Would anyone like to share just what Mr. Bird did to Diane Herried?
ReplyDeleteExtra... Extra.....
ReplyDeleteTOWN OF VERNON BOARD PROPOSES CONTRACT TO THE VILLAGE OF BIG BEND FOR FIRE/EMS SERVICE!!!!!
The Town Board feels not only are they going to have a Town of Vernon Fire Department, they can serve the Village too... Wow!!! I am a believer.
Big Bend is meeting Monday Night to discuss the proposal. Any bets that they tell the Vernon Board to take a jump off the Fox River Bridge.
The Town will provide Fire and an unknown level of EMS service to the Village for $97,500 plus all revenues generated in the Village and they want all of the Village's 2% dues. They need the financial support cause it is going to cost more than $97,500 for them to run it plus buy more equipment...
I wonder if the Town Board is offering to purchase all the equipment from the Village they lost??? I doubt it, Assistant Chief Peterson is going around and saying that everything the Village got was junk anyway and they are just going to get new stuff....
That's right we are all made of money...
I think it would be interesting to see what the Big Bend Board does. More than likely they will just dismiss the offer because they are so far ahead to the Town......
Hopefully someone will go to the meeting. I heard it is at 6pm Monday night, unknown if it is open or closed.. Open I hope...
Hey Craig, Do you remember when you won the election?
ReplyDeleteI think the total was about 900 to 600. As a matter of fact I think that was the total for all the Board. Then this year Reily lost 900 to 600. That means 300 voters saw the light and went to it. This past poll done by the VRSG, had a total count of 1000 to 500.
So another 100 people saw the light. By April, I would bet that a couple more hundred will also see that light. Now, when you lose the next election by a total of 1200 to 300. Are you not going to step down because 80% of the people didn’t vote?
Now that we all know that the Village of Big Bend will probably not contract with the Town of Vernon, we need to hold the Town of Vernon Supervisors to Option #2 because that is what $25,000+ told us to do and that is what the Vernon Supervisors want to do. Option #2 - Hire a FT contracted paramedic, hire a PT Fire Chief, pay an "annual" stipend to all the officers, etc. (this will get rid of Wisconsin State Retirement aka WRS and list the fire department with the State as a volunteer one) and hire outside services for Fire Inspections. I believe this is what Option #2 stated - everyone needs to watch the budget proceedings because three of the fire department officers are on the budget committee.
ReplyDeleteThis Town Board needs to be held accountable and not sway from Option #2 in any way.
Can someone please explain to me how The Town of Vernon can propose a contract for fire protection and ems services to The Village of Big Bend?
ReplyDeleteFrom what has been written on this blog, Mukwonago Chief and JSonline Vernon does not have a fire dept but it seems Big Bend's goes into effect December 18th.
Who really needs who?
It seems like Big Bend wanted to stay together with Vernon BBVFD. But Vernon forced the break up and now wants financial assistance from Big Bend...
Do I have this correct?
Talk about utter chaos..what a bunch of boobs!
What Vernon needs most is new leadership!
I think what Big Bend should do when they discuss the contract with Vernon's phantom fire department is white out all the Vernons and fill in Big Bend, and take out all the Big Bends and replace them with Vernon. Then adjust the price of the contract accordingly and send it back!
ReplyDeleteSince the Town voted behind closed doors in Dec.2009 to dislove the FD, BB has moved foward
ReplyDeleteby putting together a committee of very knowledgeable people with FD backgrounds and experience. (cost to residents $0.00 )Since then till now the town has seen fit to continue to put the BB board down. They did hire a consulting firm (cost to vernon residents $25,00)to advise them what to do,that took till end of Aug. to find out. So these Vernon supervisors who
believe they are #1 in brain cell capacity now
have a direction? Meanwhile little BB has just
been plugging along like the eveready bunny, holding it's tongue (for the most part, very hard
to do)and taking care of business. BB has personel, a chief, and enough equipment to be
ready in December (thanks Bird) So face it Vernon
supervisors,you have been out played! Vernon
residents deserve better!
Maybe this is a plus but have you noticed the lack of planning activity, business's must be afraid to approach the town board Nazi's.
ReplyDelete82 days and counting!
ReplyDeleteBusiness's ARE afraid of the Vernon Boards punitive nature.
ReplyDeleteWe should all be afraid. Ask Diane Herried or Joe Zimmerman. Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is Bird's favorite website! If anyone dares speak against the Almighty Town of Vernon Board they better not have any skeletons in their closet or Tom Bird will dig them up! Is that what we want from our elected officials? Come election time, I hope we're saying one and done for these clowns! They did tremendous damage in their first term, just imagine what they could do with a second! In April 5, 2011 lets shove Bird, Craig and Michalek back into the closet! Then maybe Reilly will craw back under his rock too!
ReplyDeleteI so look forward to the spring election's
ReplyDeleteVince Seigel had a legal business in Vernon. He wanted to expand his legal business. The town led him down that path, then pulled the rug out from under him, not passing his expansion, then changing the law to make his business ILLEGAL. Then to top it off THEY SENT HIM THE LEGAL BILL! Regardless of what you think about what Vince does, this scenerio scares every business member in Vernon.
ReplyDelete81 days and counting!
ReplyDeleteVernon had us pay fee's for legal review and planner's review then cancelled our planning commission meeting so they had time to change their law to ban fireworks.
ReplyDeleteI have not received a refund for those fee's
They ran us out of town, so we took our land with us.
They are also sending me bill's for planner review and legal counsel review of our annexation. They are out of control, what makes them think I should pay for this?
The good news is we are in a business friendly community now. We have our building plans approved. The government is for the people and without personal agenda's.
Had working individuals working toward progress not control. They even have a fire department.
We are a benefit to the tax base and a business that cares about the community.
Vernon board members put the ax to;
The Fireworks Store and residual income from it.
Town Planning Commissioner's
Fire Board Members
The Big Bend Vernon Fire Department
Supervisor attending closed meetings (really)
Anyone that disagree's with them.
What will be next?
Good Luck, hopefully you will get some decent people on "board" to run your town.
I just thought of a name for the Vernon Fire Dept. They could call it the "Phantom Fire Department", or maybe the "Invisible Fire Department". How about the "We Used to Have a Top of the Line Fire Department But Tom, Bill, Fred & Kurt Took Care of That Fire Department"! You guys are pathetic!!! C'mon April!!!
ReplyDeleteI was shocked they didn't hire a consultant to give them 3 options on a name.
ReplyDeleteTOWN OF VERNON
ReplyDeleteTOWN BOARD MEETING
Monday, October 4, 2010
7 PM
Vernon Town Hall Meeting Room
W249 S8910 Center Drive
1. CALL TO ORDER.
2. PLEDGE TO FLAG.
3. MOMENT OF SILENCE.
4. ROLL CALL.
5. OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLIANCE CHECK.
6. TOWN CHAIRPERSON ANNOUNCES CLOSED SESSION.
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS. See (a) below
8. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. The following matters will be discussed and possible action taken by the Town Board unless otherwise noted:
a. Appointment of Tom Tomasik to the Vernon Fire Department Budget Committee.
b. Set the Public Hearing & Special Town Meeting for November , 2010.
c. Update and funding of the McGrath Consultant Group Inc. update on contract titled “Town of Vernon Fire / EMS department implementation proposal and contract.”.
d. Hiring a Vernon Fire Department Secretary.
e. Hiring of Fire & EMS personnel for Vernon Fire Department.
f. Application process for applicants for Vernon Fire Department.
g. Approval of the Fire and EMS application for Vernon Fire Department.
h. Purchasing fire clothing (turnout gear) and related items for the Vernon Fire Department.
i. Purchasing of radios and communication items for the Vernon Fire Department.
j. Purchasing miscellaneous supplies and equipment (not including truck and ambulances etc.) for the Vernon Fire Department.
k. Town of Vernon future Fire Service and the costs present and future for the same.
l. Issues arising out of the dissolving of the Big Bend Vernon Joint Fire Department and Inter-Municipal Agreement.
9. MOTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION. Consideration and possible action on a motion to
convene into executive session under Wis. Stats. 19.85 (1)(e): Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified
public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session, specifically
evaluation of October 1, 2010 from the Village of Big Bend relating to establishing a contract for Fire Department Services / Medical Services for the Village of Big Bend from the Town of Vernon. Included in Closed Session Town Board Members, and Town Clerk. Motion needs a roll call vote.
10. MOTION TO RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION. Reconvene in open session to consider taking action on those matters discussed in Closed Session including but not limited to issues regarding the establishing a contract for Fire Department Services / Medical Services for the Village of Big Bend from the Town of Vernon.
11. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT.
Wow, pretty ambitious agenda, why did it take Big Bend over 8 months to put together a Fire Dept. when they could have done it all in one evening?
ReplyDeleteTo all....
ReplyDeleteHere is the Village's reply to the Town of Vernon's Contract Proposal...
-------------------------------------
October 1, 2010
Chairman Frederick Michalek
P.O.Box 309
W249 S8910 Center Drive
Big Bend, WI 53103
Dear Chairman Michalek,
Thank you for your response to our March 10, 2010 letter requesting a proposal for contracted Fire and Ambulance Service from the Town of Vernon. Since the Village issued that letter over six months ago, we have continued to move forward with our own Fire Department. The Village has hired a Fire Chief, 35 members and has purchased the needed equipment to establish our own Department.
The Village Board continues to feel the proper course of action would be to continue with the current joint fire department. This is more cost effective to both communities and would be better than a contract. However, due to the Town Board’s recent actions due to your consultant report conclusions, the Village Board feels the current Town Board is not willing to discuss a Joint Fire Department.
With that in mind and it appears a contract is the only solution for the Town Board, the Village has several questions in regards to your Contract Proposal.
1. What level of Ambulance Service is the Town of Vernon going to provide to the Village of Big Bend?
2. What is the cost/fee schedule for charges to the Village residents and people who work in the community?
3. Would the Town Board consider a longer contract then one year?
4. Since the Town is charging the Village $97,500 plus all fees from ambulance services and the entire Village’s 2% dues, has the Town Board come up with an annual estimate of the total monies you will be receiving from the Village?
5. Is the Town planning on purchasing all the equipment from the Village of Big Bend?
6. Is the Town planning on hiring all the personnel the Village has hired, including our current Fire Chief?
7. Can the Town guarantee that your Department will be ready with the proper equipment come December 18, 2010?
8. In regards to Item #10 of the Contract proposal, can the Town Board be more specific on additional equipment? We feel this is vague and could mean any type of equipment.
9. Please explain in paragraph #1 the following sentence in more detail. “The ability of the Town to respond to fire or ambulance calls shall be dependent upon the availability of suitable equipment and personnel, it being agreed that the type of equipment and personnel used in the response shall be discretionary with the Town of Vernon Fire Department, and shall be consistent with the Standard Operating Procedures used for emergency responses within the Town.” The Village has concern with this sentence that it being discretionary and that the Town would not be able to provide adequate service to the Village.
With these in questions in mind and time as short as it is, the Village of Big Bend will continue to move forward with our own Fire Department since we feel it is more cost effective to the residents of the Community. If the Town of Vernon wishes to answer our questions to the Village Board’s satisfaction, we may be interested in your proposal. Until then we thank you for your time and considerations in this matter.
Sincerely,
Big Bend Village Board of Trustees
James S. Soneberg, President
Michael Conn, Trustee
Leah Fickau, Trustee
Robert Henniemann, Trustee
Keith Peterson, Trustee
Ronald Peterson, Trustee
Daivd Treichel, Trustee
If on every decision, The Vernon Board consults Mcgrath or John Macy, why do we need the board?
ReplyDeleteThe following is part of a letter that I E-mailed to the Vernon Town Supervisors and Chairman on Jan. 9 of this year. For which Supervisor #4 described me as a “Greasy Drunk”! (Anyone who knows me laughs when I tell them that.) I’ve edited it slightly because It was part of a much more lengthy letter. I though I’d put it on this blog because after 9 months I can’t believe we are actually heading down this road. Never under estimate the stubbornness, lack of contrition and down right evil in some people's hearts.
ReplyDeleteI’d like to express the disgust that I feel over the ultimate break up of the Big Bend/Vernon Fire Dept. The fact that, as Elected officials, the Town Board cannot be trusted to deal with a situation in an honest, open and forthright manner saddens me to my core. I have four kids, one who is a six-year-old, and to look around and realize that you have to be careful taking anyone’s word for just about anything from Washington on down to the Vernon Town Board, makes me worry about his and our future. I have a pocket copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States that I page through periodically. If I had a better memory, I’d be able to recite a few lines. However, one line that I do remember from the Declaration is the last: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” If the Town and the Village, as the lowest rungs on the political ladder, cannot trust or just plain refuse to deal with each other or our constituents openly and honestly, well, I question if that last line of the Declaration means a damn thing!
Sincerely Bob Heinemann
I think it is a good tome to reflect on all that has happened in the town since the town chairman and supervisors were elected.
ReplyDeleteAsk yourself these questions;
What good reasoning leads to the actions that this board has taken?
Have they been acting in your best interest?
Were there really problems with the fire board, planning commission and other committee's?
Were there really problems with the joint fire dept?
Is this how you want the town to be handled?
Ask your neighbor's if they are aware of this blog and have them read the past entries and comments.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteWhere does your blog go from here? Big Bend is on there own. The town board still does not care what anyone thinks. The town needs better leaders. I think you should be involved you really seem to care what is best for the residents of Vernon!