VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 5, 2021
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, April 5th, 2021.
Village President Shane Trott presided and called to order the meeting at the Village Hall facility at 6:00 p.m. Board members present were Galen Brainerd, Rob Grabon, Mark Zimmer, Kim Grasley and Avery Newman. Jessica Hegeholz attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to approve the March 1st, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Darlene Wundrow attended the meeting and reported that the new lawn mower has been purchased. She also reported that there are two trees in the cemetery that are in need of being taken down. The Board asked her to obtain quotes for the cost of having a company come in and do the work. Quotes will be submitted to the Board at the May, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting. She asked the Board for approval to have Don’s Sweeper Service come in to the Village and sweep the streets. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to approve having Don’s Sweeper Service hired for the job at the cost of not more than $1,000, carried. Wundrow also requested to have R&R Waste Systems Cleaning televise and clean the sewer lines like she does every year. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to hire R&R Waste Systems Cleaning to televise and clean the sewer lines in the Village at the cost of not more than $4,000, carried.
PETITIONERS-CITIAEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Bruce Blue Hills Lions Club – Blue Hills Festival Donation Request – July 9th, 10th & 11th, 2021: A donation request was submitted from the Bruce Blue Hills Lions Club for their annual Blue Hills Festival. The Village has historically donated $1,500.00 to the event, however, the festival was not put on in 2020 due to COVID and a donation was not given. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to donate $1,500.00 to the 2021 Blue Hills Festival, with Newman voting no, carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Lisa Jandrt attended the meeting to discuss an Easter Event that a group of community members had held on March 20th at the Bruce Park. The individuals in charge of the event were Lisa Jandrt, Dauna Zaudtke, Heaven Builliner, Cody Zaudtke, Autumn Zaudtke & Cassidy Sizer. This was the first year that this event had been put on. With the annual Bruce Lion’s Club Easter ‘Egg’stravaganza being canceled again this year due to COVID, the community members felt they needed to step in and hold something for the community. The turnout was above and beyond what they thought they would have and the event was a huge success. With funds being left over from the event, the individuals wanted to give back to Bruce, and submitted a donation check to the Board in the amount of $169.00. The Board thanked them for stepping up and putting on such a great event for the community. The donations will be used for additional upgrades to the Bruce Park Playground Equipment.
APPLICATIONS:
Building Permits:
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve a building permit for Paul Javener at 635 N. 1st Street to build a new garage floor and build up his yard, carried.
Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to approve a building permit for Karen Hanson at 504 E. Trails End Ave. to do some interior bathroom remodeling, carried.
Motion by Newman, seconded by Grasley to approve a building permit for Randal Johnson at 719 N. 4th St. to reroof his house, carried.
Operator’s License: Motion by Newman, seconded by Grasley to approve an operator’s license for Jamie L. Shelton, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Discussion and Action Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells: CTW Corporation will begin the well rehab work tentatively towards the middle to end of April. The well rehabilitation portion of the project is expected to take roughly a month per well with the base work afterwards requiring at least a week to cure. CTW will start on well #3 first, then when completed, move to well #1. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Newman to table the ‘Discussion and Action Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells’ issue until the May, 2021 Regular Monthly Meeting, carried.
Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. Invoice Payment Approval: Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to approve paying the invoice to Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. in the amount of $4,733.75 for engineering work done through March 31st, 2021 on the Corrective Work on Village Wells Project, with Zimmer voting no, carried.
USDA-Rural Development Grant: The grant for the Corrective Work on Village Wells Project from USDA-Rural Development has been approved in the amount of $78,000 with the Village contribution of $27,000. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
PSC-Water Rate Application: The application has been submitted to the PSC and the Village is still waiting to hear a response. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘PSC Water Rate Application’ issue until the May, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Works:
Property Concern on Daily Street-Tree Removal: The property owner has taken care of the issue. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Committee Meeting March 9th, 2021 Report: Trott reported that a Public Works Committee Meeting was held on March 9th, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. Larry Gotham from Morgan & Parmley and Amy Kelsey from Cooper Engineering were present to discuss with the committee options on assessing for the North Main Street Project. No final decisions were recommended to the Board.
North Main Street Reconstruction Project:
Purchase Approval for Proposed North Main Street Reconstruction Project – Coleman Street New Lift Station Location: The property has been acquired by the Village. All paperwork has been filed and the purchase is completed. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Morgan & Parmley Ltd. Invoice Payment Approval: Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to approve paying the invoice to Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. in the amount of $30,634.97 for engineering work done through March 31st, 2021 on the North Main Street Reconstruction Project, carried.
Administration:
Committee Meeting March 26th, 2021 Report: Trott reported that there was an Administration Committee meeting held on March 26th, 2021 at 12:19 p.m.The committeemet to discuss some employee’s requests and also to discuss moving forward with the employee manual updates. The committee is recommending the following to the Board:
– Offering the comp time for overtime hours worked
– Capping the hours at two weeks (70 hours) max
– Making it mandatory that the hours be used within that year, by December 31st, or will be paid back out to the employee at that time
– Determination of how the employee wants the hours allocated, via comp time or overtime pay, needs to be decided within that same pay period
– The committee recommends working on getting the employee manual updated as soon as possible
Employee Manual Update: Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to make the updates to the employee manual that the committee recommended from the March 26th, 2021 Administration Committee Meeting, carried. Motion by Newman, seconded by Zimmer to table the ‘Employee Manual Update’ issue until the May, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting March 15th, 2021 Report: Trott reported that a committee meeting was held on March 15th, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. to review the applications on file for the vacant Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position as well as discussion on hiring a part time summer maintenance worker. Darlene Wundrow attended the meeting to discuss the hiring of a part time maintenance worker for the summer to help with mowing, weed whacking, hydrant & curb painting and misc. work in the Village. The committee recommends advertising for the position, 3 days a week, approximately 20 hours a week and starting the pay at $10.50/hr. The committee also reviewed 5 applications that were submitted for the vacant Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position. The committee narrowed down the applications to two and will schedule interviews with the two candidates for March 17th.
New Hire for Part Time Summer Maintenance Worker: With only two applications on file for the maintenance position, Wundrow asked the Board for an extension on the advertising. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to extend the advertisement for two more weeks, have interviews scheduled around the last two weeks of April, and plan to have the hiring on the May Regular Monthly Board Meeting Agenda for approval, carried. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘New Hire for Part Time Summer Maintenance Worker’ issue until the May, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting March 17th, 2021 Report: Trott reported a committee meeting was held on March 17th, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. to interview the two candidates for the vacant Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position. The committee recommends the following:
– Hiring Jeanne Nelson for the vacant position
– 4 days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., 6 ½ hour days, with the day off for the week being flexible/varying week to week
– Paying $15.50 per hour with a 6 month probationary period
– Starting work on April 12th, 2021
New Hire Deputy/Clerk Position Discussion: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to hire Jeanne Nelson for the position at 4 days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., 6 ½ hour days, with the day off for the week being flexible/varying week to week, paying her $15.50 per hour with a 6 month probationary period and starting work on April 12th, 2021, carried. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Industrial Site:
Industrial Site Land Lease – Bid Opening: Three bids were submitted for consideration in leasing the Industrial Site land. Trott opened the bids from Jason Wester, offering to lease the 21 acres for $125.00 an acre per year for three years, Mike Hopkins, offering to lease the 21 acres for $51.00 an acre per year for three years and Jerry Johnson, offering to lease the 21 acres for $56.00 an acre per year for three years. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to accept the bid from Jason Wester to lease 21 acres at the Industrial Site for $125.00 an acre per year for the next three years, ending in April of 2024, carried.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $66,562.28, carried.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Election-April 6, 2021: Poll hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Village residents may vote at the Village Hall, 100 W. River Avenue, Bruce, WI 54819.
Village Wide Spring Clean-Up: May 14th & 15, 2021. The collection site will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you are unable to haul your own refuse either of those days, pick up service is available May 17th, 2021 for a fee.
Village Wide Garage Sales: June 12th, 2021
Cruise Nights-Classic Auto Collision Center has set the calendar for Cruise Night in the parking lot at 705 N. Main Street in Bruce, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. May 18th, June 15th, July 20th & August 17th.
Saturday July 10th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. will be the annual Open House/Craft/Car Show. Contact Classic Auto Collision Center at 715-868-CARS or classicauto@brucetel.net for more details.
Blue Hills Cruise-In Open House/Car Show Dates: June 5th, August 7th & October 2nd. Contact L’Cars at bob@lcars.com or Classic Auto at classicauto@brucetel.net for more information.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 7:00 p.m.
Jessica Hegeholz
Clerk/Treasurer