AB678: Bill Text

AB678, s. 155 Section 155. 82.03 (1) (title) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,63,20 82.03 (1) (title) Oversight of highways, superintendent of highways.

AB678, s. 156 Section 156. 82.03 (1) (c), (5) (title) and (c), (6) and (9) to (19) of the statutes are created to read:

AB678,64,2 82.03 (1) (c) The town board shall fix the compensation and may require and set the amount of a bond of the superintendent. The town board may reimburse the superintendent for expenses incurred in performing his or her duties as superintendent.

AB678,64,4 (5) (title) Maintenance. (c) To erect on the right-of-way fences other than snow fences.

AB678,64,6 (6) Liability. The town shall be responsible for any damage resulting from activities undertaken under the authority granted by sub. (5).

AB678,64,9 (9) Rustic roads. As specified in s. 83.42, the town board shall maintain the rustic roads under its jurisdiction and may apply to have a highway designated as a rustic road or withdrawn from the rustic road system.

AB678,64,12 (10) Additions to and deletions from county trunk highway system. The town board shall approve or deny additions to and deletions from the county trunk highway system as provided in s. 83.025 (1).

AB678,64,15 (11) Emergency closure of county trunk highway. The town chairperson may close county trunk highways when they have been rendered dangerous for travel and immediately notify the county highway commissioner under s. 83.09.

AB678,64,18 (12) Controlled-access highways. The town board shall work with the county and other governmental bodies in establishing and maintaining controlled-access highways under s. 83.027.

AB678,64,21 (13) County-controlled highways in a town. The town board may contract under s. 83.035 with the county to enable the county to construct and maintain streets and highways in the town.

AB678,64,23 (14) Purchase of equipment. The town board may purchase road building and maintenance supplies from the county under s. 83.018.

AB678,65,3 (15) Agreements with other governmental bodies. The town board, under s. 83.027 (9), may enter into agreements with other governmental bodies respecting the financing, planning, establishment, improvement, maintenance, use, regulation, or vacation of controlled-access highways or other public ways in their respective jurisdictions.

AB678,65,5 (16) County aid highways. The town board may improve county aid highways under s. 83.14.

AB678,65,7 (17) Highway lighting. The town board may provide lighting for highways located in the town under s. 60.50 (4).

AB678,65,9 (18) Solid waste transportation. The town board may designate highways on which solid waste may be transported under s. 60.54.

AB678,65,12 (19) Tunnels under highways. The town board shall ensure that all tunnels constructed pursuant to s. 82.37 are constructed in accordance with the requirements of s. 82.37 and are kept in good repair by the landowner.

Note: Current s. 81.02 requires the superintendent to file a bond before assuming office. The special committee discussed this requirement and concluded that town boards rarely require such bonds. As a result, s. 82.03 (1) gives the board discretion over whether to require a bond. Current s. 81.02 specifies what fund the superintendent may be paid from. The special committee discussed this requirement and decided it should be left to the town board's discretion.

New s. 82.03 (9) through (18) are simply cross-references to sections outside of this chapter. They have been added to create a more comprehensive list of the duties of the town board in relation to the highways under its jurisdiction.

New s. 82.03 (19) is based on the last sentence of current s. 81.35. No substantive change is intended.

AB678, s. 157 Section 157. 82.05 (1) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,65,15 82.05 (1) The term of office of highway superintendents shall be one year from the date of their appointment.

AB678, s. 158 Section 158. 82.05 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,65,18 82.05 (4) The superintendent shall routinely notify the town board of all highway work.

AB678, s. 159 Section 159. 82.08 (8) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,66,5 82.08 (8) Administration charge. The county may charge the towns that apply for aid under this section an administration charge. The administration charge shall be fixed as a percentage of the total costs of administering aid under this section and the percentage shall be no more than the percentage that the county charges the state for records and reports.

AB678, s. 160 Section 160. Subchapter II (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.10] of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,66,8 chapter 82

AB678,66,10 Subchapter II BASIC PROCEDURES

AB678, s. 161 Section 161. 82.10 (title), (1) (b), (2), (4) (title) and (b) and (5) of the statutes are created to read:

AB678,66,13 82.10 (title) Initiation of procedures.

AB678,66,14 (1) (b) A scale map of the land that would be affected by the application.

AB678,66,17 (2) Resolution. Notwithstanding sub. (1), the town board may initiate the process of laying out, altering, or discontinuing a town highway by the introduction of a resolution. The resolution shall contain all of the following:

AB678,66,19 (a) A legal description of the highway to be discontinued or of the proposed highway to be laid out or altered.

AB678,66,20 (b) A scale map of the land that would be affected by the resolution.

AB678,66,21 (4) (title) Notice recipients.

AB678,66,24 (b) If procedures are begun under sub. (1), the applicants shall bear the cost of publication. If the procedures are begun under sub. (2), the town shall bear the cost of publication.

AB678,67,3 (5) Lis pendens. In the case of an application under sub. (1), the applicant shall file a lis pendens under s. 840.11. In the case of a resolution under sub. (2), the board shall file a lis pendens within 10 days of the introduction of the resolution.

Note: Current s. 80.02 seemed to require the petition of 6 resident freeholders to lay, alter, or discontinue a highway. Section 82.10 now allows the board to lay, alter, or discontinue a highway on its own initiative by the introduction of a resolution. After introduction, the resolution is treated the same as an application.

AB678, s. 162 Section 162. 82.11 (title) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,67,5 82.11 (title) Meeting.

AB678, s. 163 Section 163. 82.12 (title) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,67,7 82.12 (title) Highway order.

AB678, s. 164 Section 164. 82.14 (title), (1) and (3) of the statutes are created to read:

AB678,67,12 82.14 (title) Acquiring rights to land; damages from discontinuance. (1) Unless the acquisition can be made by mutual agreement, the town board shall utilize the procedures under s. 32.05 to acquire rights to land for the purpose of laying out or altering a town highway.

AB678,67,14 (3) An owner of property abutting on a discontinued highway whose property is damaged by the discontinuance may recover damages as provided in ch. 32.

Note: The special committee decided to eliminate the provisions for acquiring land in chs. 80 and 81 in favor of requiring the town to utilize the procedures under s. 32.05. As a result, the following provisions were not carried over into this bill: ss. 80.09, 80.10, 80.30 (1), and 80.24 through 80.29.

New s. 82.14 (3) is based on language that appears in current ss. 66.1003 (4) and s. 62.73 (3).

AB678, s. 165 Section 165. 82.15 of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,67,19 82.15 Appeal of a highway order. Any person aggrieved by a highway order, or a refusal to issue such an order, may seek judicial review under s. 68.13. If the highway is on the line between 2 counties, the appeal may be in the circuit court of either county.

Note: Section 82.15 is based on current s. 80.17. Current s. 80.17 states that the failure to act on an application within 60 days shall be deemed a refusal. The special committee decided that the town board should have to consider the application and affirmatively make a decision. New s. 82.12 creates a 90-day timeline for the board to act, and the failure to act shall not be deemed a refusal.

AB678, s. 166 Section 166. 82.16 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,68,5 82.16 (3) It shall be presumed that a release was given by the owners of the lands over which the highway was laid out and the public shall be entitled to use the full width of the highway, as laid out, without further compensation if all of the following apply:

AB678,68,6 (a) An order laying out the highway has been filed for more than 30 years.

AB678,68,7 (b) No award of damages or agreement or release has been filed.

AB678,68,9 (c) The highway, or a part of the highway, has been used by the public and public money has been expended on the highway for at least 5 years.

Note: New s. 82.16 (3) is based on the last sentence of current s. 80.07 (1). No substantive change is intended.

AB678, s. 167 Section 167. 82.19 (2) (b) 1. of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,68,13 82.19 (2) (b) 1. In this paragraph, "vehicular travel" means travel using any motor vehicle required to be registered under ch. 341 or exempt from registration under s. 341.05.

AB678, s. 168 Section 168. Subchapter III (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.21] of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,68,16 chapter 82

AB678,68,18 Subchapter III Special Procedures

AB678, s. 169 Section 169. 82.21 (1) (a) and (b), (4) (title) and (5) (title) of the statutes are created to read:

AB678,69,3 82.21 (1) (a) Six resident freeholders of the town, city, or village deliver an application to lay out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway to the clerk of every town, city, or village that would be affected by the proposal.

AB678,69,5 (b) The town board, city council, or village board introduces a resolution to lay out, alter, or discontinue a town line highway.

AB678,69,6 (4) (title) Apportionment of authority and responsibility.

AB678,69,7 (5) (title) Appeal of apportionment.

AB678, s. 170 Section 170. 82.27 (title), (1), (5) (c) and (d), (9) and (10) of the statutes are created to read:

AB678,69,12 82.27 (title) Landlocked property and property with insufficient highway access. (1) Definition. In this section, "advantages" means the greater of the following:

AB678,69,14 (a) The increase in value of the landlocked property after the highway is laid out or the way or road is widened.

AB678,69,18 (b) The administrative costs under sub. (5), and the estimated cost of constructing or widening the highway, including both the cost of constructing a turnaround, if one is necessary, and the damages paid to the owner of the land over which the highway is laid out or the way or road is widened.

AB678,69,19 (5) (c) Administrative costs such as clerical costs and publication costs.

AB678,69,21 (d) If special meetings are held only for the purpose of considering the application, per diem compensation for the supervisors.

AB678,69,24 (9) Limit on applications. The determination to deny an application under this section shall be final for the term of 3 years. No application to lay out a highway to the same property shall be considered within 3 years from the date of the refusal.

AB678,70,3 (10) Highway to remain public for at least 2 years. A highway laid out under this section shall be a public road and shall remain and be maintained as a public road for at least 2 years from the date of the order.

Note: The definition of "advantages" in s. 82.27 (1) is new. Under current s. 80.13, the term "advantages" is not defined. In Roberts v. Town of Springvale, 204 Wis. 2d 110, 552 N.W.2d 898, the court held that advantages ". . . refers to how much of a financial benefit has inured to the applicant or the enhancement in value of the applicant's land as a result of the town's decision to lay the highway". While the special committee agreed that this was a reasonable construction of the statutory language, it decided that the costs should be allocated differently. Constructing a highway could increase the value of the landlocked property by a far smaller amount than the cost of construction. The result would be that the town would pay the difference between the construction cost and the increased property value. The special committee decided that since the highway would primarily benefit the landowner, the landowner should bear the cost. The new s. 82.27 retains the term "advantages", but defines it as the greater of the increased value of the property or the estimated cost of constructing the highway and the damages paid to the owner.

Section 82.27 (9) and (10) are new. The special committee discussed the fact that landlocked property owners sometimes file repeated applications to wear down the town board. Thus, new sub. (9) puts a 3-year limit on filing a new application. The special committee also discussed the potential problem of a town constructing the highway and then immediately giving the highway back to the applicant. New sub. (10) requires the highway to remain a public highway for at least 2 years.

AB678, s. 171 Section 171. Subchapter IV (title) of chapter 82 [precedes 82.31] of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,70,6 chapter 82

AB678,70,8 SUBCHAPTER IV EXISTING HIGHWAYS

AB678, s. 172 Section 172. 82.35 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is created to read:

AB678,70,11 82.35 (1) (intro.) The town board, upon its own motion, may lay out and open temporary highways through any lands in the following situations:

AB678, s. 173 Section 173. 83.015 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB678,71,9 83.015 (2) (b) In any county with a highway commissioner appointed under s. 83.01 (1) (b) or (c), the county highway committee shall be only a policy-making body determining the broad outlines and principles governing administration and the county highway commissioner shall have the administrative powers and duties prescribed for the county highway committee under par. (a), sub. (3) (a) and ss. 27.065 (4) (b) and (13), 32.05 (1) (a), 81.38 (1), (3) and (4), 82.08, 83.01 (6), 83.013, 83.018, 83.025 (1) and (3), 83.026, 83.035, 83.04, 83.05 (1), 83.07 to 83.09, 83.12, 83.14 (6), 83.17, 83.18, 83.42 (3) and (4), 84.01 (5), 84.06 (3), 84.07 (1) and (2), 84.09 (1), (3) (a) to (c) and (4), 84.10 (1), 86.04 (1) and (2), 86.07 (2), 86.19 (3), 86.34 (1), 114.33 (5), 349.07 (2), 349.11 (4) and (10) and 349.15 (2). No statutory power, duty or function specified elsewhere for the county highway commissioner may be deemed impliedly repealed for the sole reason that reference to it has been omitted in this paragraph.

AB678, s. 174 Section 174. 83.09 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB678,71,18 83.09 Emergency repairs of county trunk highways. Whenever a flood or other casualty renders any county trunk highway dangerous for travel, the town chairperson shall may immediately close it and notify the county highway commissioner thereof, and the commissioner shall promptly make repairs necessary to render the highway safe for travel. If sufficient funds are not available in the county maintenance fund, the commissioner may, with the consent of the chairperson of the county board or of the county highway committee, make the necessary repairs, and the cost thereof shall be paid as soon as funds are available.

Note: In the course of discussing a cross-reference to current s. 83.09, the special committee discussed that section's use of mandatory language. The special committee concluded that it should be changed to "may". The special committee members had concerns about the mandatory language breeding litigation and about the town using this authority unnecessarily.

AB678, s. 175 Section 175. 83.18 (1) (title) of the statutes is repealed.

AB678, s. 176 Section 176. 83.18 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 83.18 and amended to read: