VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
July 6th, 2020
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, July 6th, 2020.
Village President Shane Trott presided and called to order the meeting at the Village Hall facility at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were Gayanne Skogen, Mark Zimmer, Galen Brainerd, Avery Newman & Larry Cabak. Jessica Hegeholz attended also.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to approve the Agenda, carried.
Skogen discussed her issues with the minutes from the June 1st, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting. She stated that she felt there was personal bias in the minutes, Cabak agreed. A motion by Skogen was made to not accept the June 1st, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes until the personal bias was removed. Zimmer and Trott asked Skogen where she thought the personal bias was. She stated her issues. Cabak seconded her motion. Trott stated that if the Trustees could discuss their issues with the minutes, they could make a motion for their preferred corrections and the minutes could go forward with being approved. After some discussion, Skogen rescinded her original motion. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to approve the June 1st, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, with Cabak opposed, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Darlene Wundrow attended the meeting and reported that the outside crew is busy blacktop patching, mowing and painting crosswalks and curbs. She asked the Board for permission to hire the County to mow the dikes which they do every year. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Cabak to give Darlene the permission to hire the County to mow the dikes, carried.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Stew Towers attended the meeting to thank the outside crew for doing a good job fixing his yard on 1st Street from some snow plow damage this past winter. He also mentioned he had voiced a complaint with Trott about a Village Trustee, and just wanted the Board to be aware of it. Towers proceeded to ask Wundrow about the old plow truck that is currently not being used that is sitting in the Village’s east parking lot. He is interested in looking at it to purchase. It is unsafe and hasn’t been used for some time.
Jon Fields attended the meeting to ask the Board if they were aware of what a walking quorum was. Fields explained to them what that meant. He proceeded to talk about his upcoming event he is having in the private Main Street parking lot on July 11th, which proceeds go to the backpack blessings, which benefits the Bruce Public Schools.
APPLICATIONS:
Building Permits:
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to approve a building permit for Mike Moser to do some concrete driveway work on his property located at 519 S. Alvey Street, carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to approve a building permit for Larry Cabak for a deck installation at his property located at 1107 N. 3rd Street, with Cabak abstaining, carried.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Cabak to approve a building permit for John Hoiby, Sr. for a deck installation at his property located at 1024 N. 1st Street, with Brainerd abstaining, carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to approve a building permit for Shane Trott to remodel his garage located on his property at 520 E. Trails End Ave., carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Public Works:
Committee Meeting June 12, 2020 Report: A committee meeting was held on June 12, 2020 to discuss a sidewalk demo request from a property owner on 1st Street, a walking bridge that needs repair out past Chippewa Avenue and a pine tree issue on Daily Street. Trott mentioned he has been in contact with the property owner on Daily Street and he is working with him to get the trees removed.
New Village Shop Update: Larry Gotham of Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. attended the meeting to give the Board an update on the progress of the Village Shop Building. He explained that the punch list is completed. Some discussion was had about the air conditioning unit that is in the Shop. There was a leak but has been fixed and is working great. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Newman to table the “New Village Shop Update” issue until the August, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
A-1 Excavating, Inc. – Change Order #5 Approval: Gotham presented and explained change order #5 from A-1 Excavating, Inc to the board. The change order is in the amount of $824.87. Motion by Newman, seconded by Brainerd to approve Change Order # 5 in the amount of $824.87, carried.
A-1 Excavating, Inc. – Final Pay Request Approval: Gotham presented the final pay request from A-1 Excavating, Inc. The pay request is in the amount of $10,907.37. Cabak asked when the warranty would start on the building. Gotham stated that the warranty would start on the building when substantial completion was reached, which would have been when the village crew moved in back in November of 2019 and the warranty would last a year. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve paying the final pay request from A-1 Excavating, Inc. in the amount of $10,907.37, carried.
North Main Street Reconstruction Project: Larry Gotham from Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. was here to give an update on the North Main Street Reconstruction Project. As of June 30th, the paperwork that was due to the DNR for the water portion of the project has been submitted. We should hear something around August/September about how we rank as far as funding. We already have a million dollar CDBG block grant, have paperwork submitted for a grant for the water portion, and anything that’s water related we can then borrow monies from the DNR at a low interest rate for 20 years. At the end of September we have to send in our sewer plans and application to the DNR as well. We should hear something about our ranking for the sewer portion of the project by early December. At that time, we should be able to know where we are financially with the project. Bidding would start in February/March. By the end of March, a signed contract is due to the state to be eligible for the funding. Gotham also mentioned that the Board needed to decide if they were going to assess the property owners on the affected streets for the project. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to send the issue to a committee, carried. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to table the “North Main Street Reconstruction Project” issue until the August, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Welfare:
Potential Skate Park in Village: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Newman, seconded by Brainerd to remove the ’Potential Skate Park in the Village’ issue from the agenda, carried.
Administration:
Update Ordinances: Nothing new to report this month. Cabak asked what we needed to do to move forward with this item. Trott instructed Hegeholz to get a quote to see how much it would cost to get the ordinance book updated and ready to go. The ordinances have been reviewed by the appropriate committee and recommended changes have been made. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to table the “Update Ordinances” issue until the August, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting June 23, 2020 Report: There was a committee meeting held on June 23, 2020 to discuss potentially filling the vacant seat on the Board. No referral from the committee to the Board at this time.
Finance:
Committee Meeting June 11, 2020 Report: There was a committee meeting held on June 11, 2020 to discuss which route to take with the general obligation portion of the Village Shop project. The committee recommends going with the State Trust Fund Loan program for 10 years at a 3% interest rate. The committee also discussed how they would like to see the Routes to Recovery Aid Grant Monies that the Village received due from the COVID-19 pandemic extra expenditures. This was a state-wide grant that all cities, towns and municipalities received.
Resolution #20-04-Terminating Tax Incremental District #1: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Newman to approve Resolution #20-04, Terminating Tax Incremental District #1, carried. TID #1 has a dissolution date of October 6, 2020. The final accounting submission is due to the Department of Revenue within 6 months of termination.
Loan Financing for Village Shop Project – (Resolution #20-05-Resolution to Borrow Funds): Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve Resolution #20-05-Resolution to Borrow Funds, carried. The $212,000.000 loan will be through the State Trust Fund Loan Program and will be a 10 year loan at a 3% interest rate.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Newman to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $59547.88, carried.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Cruise Night-Classic Auto Collision Center has set the calendar for Cruise Night in the parking lot at 705 N. Main Street in Bruce: July 11th 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., July 21st 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. & August 18th 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Contact Classic Auto Collision Center at 715-868-CARS for more details.
Bruce Community Farmer’s Market-Friday’s from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., June 5th through October 16th. The market will be located in the Bruce Telephone lot.
Bruce Blue Hills Lions Club Blue Hills Festival Fireworks- There will be only fireworks held this year at the Bruce Park on July 11th @ dusk.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 7:58 p.m.
Jessica Hegeholz
Clerk/Treasurer