[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Woodruff 4-22-2008. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Officers and employees — See Ch. 125.
Records — See Ch. 149.
Town Board — See Ch. 170.
[Amended 10-13-2015; 5-10-2022]
A. 
Composition.
(1) 
The Board of Review shall consist of the Chairperson, Town Board Supervisors and Town Clerk, or qualified designees as prescribed in § 70.46 Wis. Stats.
(2) 
No Board of Review may be constituted unless it includes at least one voting member who has attended a training session in each year under § 73.03(55), Wis. Stats. The Town Clerk shall provide an affidavit to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue stating whether the requirement under this subsection has been fulfilled.
B. 
Duties. The duties and functions of the Board of Review shall be as prescribed in §§ 70.46 and 70.47, Wis. Stats.
C. 
Meetings. The Board of Review shall meet annually during the forty-five-day period starting the fourth Monday of April, at the Community Center Building of the Town of Woodruff, and notice of such meeting shall be published pursuant to the state statutes. The Board, through its Clerk, shall establish its meeting hours pursuant to § 70.47(3)(b), Wis. Stats. The Board may adjourn from day to day or from time to time, until such time as its business is completed, provided that adequate notice of each adjournment is so given.
D. 
Compensation. Compensation for Board of Review members shall be as established by the Town Board.
E. 
Open meetings. All meetings of the Board of Review shall be publicly held and open to all citizens at all times. No formal action of any kind shall be introduced, deliberated upon or adopted at any closed session or meeting of the Board of Review.
F. 
Procedures and criteria for allowing alternative forms of sworn testimony at Board of Review (BOR) hearings.
(1) 
Procedure.
(a) 
In order for a property owner or property owner's representative to submit a request to testify by phone or submit a sworn written statement, he or she must first comply with the following procedures:
[1] 
The legal requirement to provide notice of intent to appear at BOR must be satisfied; and
[2] 
An Objection Form for Real Property Assessment (PA-115A) must be completed and submitted to the BOR as required by law.
(b) 
After the two requirements outlined above have been met, a Request to Testify by Telephone or Submit a Sworn Written Statement at Board of Review (Form PA-814) may be submitted to the Town Clerk. Such requests must be submitted in time to be considered by the Board at the first meeting of the BOR.
(2) 
Criteria to be considered. The Board may consider any or all of the following factors when deciding whether to grant or deny the request:
(a) 
The requester's stated reason(s) for the request as indicated on the PA-814.
(b) 
Fairness to the parties.
(c) 
Ability of the requester to procure in-person oral testimony and any due diligence exhibited by the requester in procuring such testimony.
(d) 
Ability to cross-examine the person providing the testimony.
(e) 
The BOR's technical capacity to honor the request.
(f) 
Any other factors that the Board deems pertinent to deciding the request.
G. 
Confidentiality.
(1) 
Adoption. This section adopts by reference § 70.47(7)(af), Wis. Stats. Income and expense information provided by a property owner to an assessor for the purposes of establishing the valuation for assessment purposes by the income method of valuation shall be confidential and not a public record open to inspection or copying under § 19.35(1) of Wis. Stats.
(2) 
Exceptions: An officer may make disclosure of such information under the following circumstances:
(a) 
The assessor has access to such information in the performance of his/her duties;
(b) 
The Board of Review may review such information when needed, in its opinion, to decide upon a contested assessment;
(c) 
Another person or body has the right to review such information due to the intimate relationship to the duties of an office or as set by law;
(d) 
The officer is complying with a court order;
(e) 
The person providing the income and expense information has contested the assessment level at either the Board of Review of by filing a claim for excessive assessment under § 74.37, Wis. Stats., in which case the base records are open and public.
(3) 
Severability. The several sections of this section are declared to be severable. If any section or portion thereof shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, such decision shall apply only to the specific section or portion thereof directly specified in the decision, and shall not affect the validity of any other provisions, sections, or portions thereof of the section. The remainder of the section shall remind in full force and effect. Any other ordinances whose terms are in conflict with the provisions of this section are hereby repealed as to those terms that conflict.
(4) 
Effective date. This section shall take effect immediately upon passage and posting (or publication) as provided by law.
A. 
Appointment and term. The Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Brandy Park Commission shall consist of seven members appointed by the Town Board to staggered seven-year terms.
B. 
Powers and duties. The Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Brandy Park Commission shall have those powers and duties as prescribed in § 60.66(4), Wis. Stats.
A. 
Regular meetings; public notice.
(1) 
Every board, committee and commission created by or existing under the ordinances of the Town shall:
(a) 
Schedule a date, time and place for its meetings;
(b) 
Post or, when necessary, publish notice in or notify the official Town newspaper in advance of each such regular meeting of the date, time, and place thereof, in compliance with state law; and/or
(c) 
Post and/or publish an agenda of the matters to be taken up at such meeting.
(2) 
A separate public notice shall be given for each meeting at a time and date reasonably proximate to the time and date of the meeting, but not less than 24 hours prior to the commencement of such meeting unless otherwise authorized by law.
(3) 
Such notice shall set forth the time, date, place and subject matter of the meeting, including that intended for consideration at any contemplated closed session which may be authorized by law, and may be in the following form:
Notice of Meeting
Town of Woodruff, Wisconsin
(commission)
Please take notice that a meeting of the (commission) of the Town of Woodruff will be held on (date), 20____, at (time) p.m., at the Woodruff Community Center Building to consider the following:
1.
(Agenda items set forth).
2.
Such other matters as authorized by law.
Dated:
(Commission)
By
___
Any person who has a qualifying disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires the meeting or materials at the meeting to be in accessible location or format must contact the Town office at (phone), (address) by 2:00 p.m. the Friday prior to the meeting so any necessary arrangements can be made to accommodate each request.
B. 
Notice to members. Every member of any board, commission or committee of the Town of Woodruff shall be notified by the secretary thereof that a meeting is to be held and the time and place of such meeting and the subject to be considered thereat. No member shall be intentionally excluded from any meeting by a failure to give proper notice or a reasonable attempt to give proper notice to such member.
C. 
Special meetings. Nothing in Subsection A shall preclude the calling of a special meeting or dispensing with the publication of notice or such posting of the agenda, for good cause, but such special meeting shall nonetheless comply in all respects with the provisions of §§ 19.81 and 19.89, Wis. Stats.
D. 
Minutes to be kept. Every board, commission and committee shall keep a record of the minutes of its proceedings and shall cause a signed copy thereof to be filed by its secretary with the Town Clerk within one week of the meeting date.
No person not a legal resident of the Town of Woodruff shall be elected or appointed in a voting capacity to any Town board, committee or commission. Any voting board, commission or committee member who moves from the Town shall immediately be removed from such board or committee.
[Added 9-23-2008]
A. 
Title. This section is entitled the "Town Plan Commission Ordinance."
B. 
Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish a Town Plan Commission to further the health, safety, welfare, and wise use of resources for the benefit of current and future residents of the Town through the development and implementation of comprehensive planning with significant citizen involvement.
C. 
Statutory authority; establishment of Plan Commission.
(1) 
The Town Board has been authorized by the Town meeting under § 60.10(2)(c), Wis. Stats., to exercise village powers and the Town has a population of less than 2,500, according to the most recent regular or special federal census, § 990.01(29), Wis. Stats. The Town Board hereby exercises village powers under § 60.22(3), Wis. Stats., and establishes a five-member Plan Commission under §§ 60.62(4), 61.35, and 62.23, Wis. Stats.
(2) 
The Town Board Chairperson shall appoint the members of the Plan Commission.
D. 
General powers.
(1) 
The Plan Commission, under § 62.23(4), Wis. Stats., shall have the power:
(a) 
Necessary to enable it to perform its functions, and promote Town planning.
(b) 
To make reports and recommendations relating to the plan and development of the Town to the Town Board, other public bodies, citizens, public utilities and organizations.
(c) 
To recommend to the Town Board programs for public improvements and the financing of such improvements.
(d) 
To receive from public officials, within a reasonable time, requested available information required for the Commission to do its work.
(e) 
For itself, its members and employees, in the performance of their duties, to enter upon land, make examinations and surveys, and place and maintain necessary monuments and marks thereon. However, entry shall not be made upon private land, except to the extent that the private land is held open to the general public, without the permission of the landowner or tenant. If such permission has been refused, entry shall be made under the authority of an inspection warrant issued for cause under § 66.0119, Wis. Stats., or other court-issued warrant.
(2) 
The Plan Commission shall be considered the "Town Planning Agency" under §§ 236.02(13) and 236.45, Wis. Stats., which authorize, but do not require, Town adoption of a subdivision or other land division ordinance.
E. 
Comprehensive planning.
(1) 
The Plan Commission shall make and adopt a Comprehensive Plan under §§ 62.23 and 66.1001, Wis. Stats., which contains the elements specified in §§ 66.1001(2), Wis. Stats, and follows the procedures in § 66.1001(4), Wis. Stats.
(2) 
The Plan Commission shall make and adopt the Comprehensive Plan within the time period directed by the Town Board, but not later than a time sufficient to allow the Town Board to review the plan and pass an ordinance adopting it to take effect on or before January 1, 2010, so that the Town Comprehensive Plan is in effect by the date on which any Town program or action affecting land use must be consistent with the Town Comprehensive Plan under § 66.1001(3), Wis. Stats.
(3) 
In this Subsection E the requirement to "make" the plan means that the Plan Commission shall ensure that the plan is prepared, and oversee and coordinate the preparation of the plan, whether the work is performed for the Town by the Plan Commission, Town staff, another unit of government, the regional planning commission, a consultant, citizens, an advisory committee, or any other person, group or organization.