VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
August 4th, 2025
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, August 4th, 2025.
Village President Shane Trott presided and called to order the meeting at the Village Hall facility at 5:30 p.m. Board members present were Galen Brainerd, Darlene Wundrow, Tim Dolan, Jim Johnson, Kim Grasley & Mark Zimmer. Clerk/Treasurer Jessica Hayes attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Johnson to approve the July 7th, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Casey Gudis attended the meeting to report that the new plow truck has been delivered.
Storm Drain on Blackburn Street: There is a storm drain on the south end of Blackburn Street that needs ditched. When there is significant rainfall, the street floods and the property owner adjacent to the drain has asked if the Village will fix the issue to avoid damaging his parking lot any further. Gudis is asking if he can obtain quotes for completing the work. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Wundrow to approve Gudis obtaining bids for the project, if the Village crew are not able to get the work completed themselves, carried.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Trevor Richards – Bruce Library Director: Trevor Richards, Bruce Area Library Director, attended the meeting to give the Board an update on recent Library activities. Their Summer Reading Program has come to an end. He thanked all the local businesses that contributed prizes towards the program. The list has been published on their website.
The Virtual Author Talks program has begun. Residents can view the live or recorded videos online and there will occasionally be watch parties at the Library for the more popular authors.
There will be a film presented by Embrace to anyone interested in attending on August 27th, focusing on relationship abuse, aimed at 6th grade students through adults.
Richards will present the 2026 budget to the Board at the next Regular Monthly Meeting.
Karee Dean- Zielie’s Tree Service: Karee Dean attended the meeting in regards to the alley paving project between North Main and Alvey Street that the Board had voted not to proceed with. She asked that due to the recent flooding at their building, if the Village would at least consider doing a portion on the North end, instead of the alley entirely, to help with the drainage issue. Trott stated that the item is on the agenda and will be discussed later.
Rick Ensenbach – Wreaths Across America: Rick Ensenbach attended the meeting on behalf of the Wreaths Across America Program. He presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Board in recognition of their support for the program. He stated that he was very thankful for past donations from the Village and would appreciate if the Board would consider a donation for this year as well. He stated that for the fourth year in a row, the program has gotten the distinction of being the third largest most active program in the State of Wisconsin out of seventy-four programs. He stated that Rusk County’s WAA program is ranked 100 out of 4,000 worldwide. The program covers a little over 2,500 veterans in Rusk County. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Zimmer to approve a donation of $500.00 to the Wreaths Across America Program, carried. This year’s event will be held December 13th, 2025, coinciding with the Village’s annual Christmas in Bruce event.
Rick stated he is now the new Legion Commander for Post #268 in Bruce, effective June 1st, 2025.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: (Please state your name – Limited to 5 minutes per person)
Tony Bosco, the new 2025-2026 Bruce School Superintendent, attended the meeting to introduce himself to the Board and express his gratitude towards the community for being so welcoming.
APPLICATIONS:
Building Permits:
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve a building permit to AT&T to do maintenance on their satellites located on N. Hwy 40, carried.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to approve a building permit to Myron Kempen to install a deck and re-roof on their property they own at 735 W. Railroad Avenue, carried.
Operator’s License:
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve an operator’s license to Travis M. McMahon, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Committee Meeting 7/24/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on July 24th, 2025. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss the possibility of starting collection services for the Village of Weyerhaeuser. The Village of Weyerhaeuser had approached Bruce and asked if we would be interested in providing our services to them. The committee would like to look in to insurance and legal issues regarding contracting our services with an outside entity. They would like to speak with Weyerhaeuser further to get a total number of accounts that would need to be serviced, man power, as well as pricing, purchasing of cans, etc.
All of this information would need to be obtained before moving forward with the possibility.
The committee would also entertain the idea of switching recycling carts to small bins (like previously used when the Village contracted with Waste Management) or smaller 36 gallon carts.
Public Works:
Alley Paving: Trott stated that Zielie’s is wanting to complete their parking lot blacktopping project this year, along with Chippewa Valley Bank and Bruce Telephone. As previously discussed with Karee Dean, Zielie’s representative, the alley to the North would need to be cut down and graded to avoid the water runoff directly in to Zielie’s building. Dalton Thompson of Thompson Russ Excavating, LLC spoke on the project and what would be needed from the Village to complete the work. Dalton’s recommendation would be to drop down the alley approximately a foot and a half so the water would run off in to the entrance to Zielie’s out to Main Street’s curb. Wundrow asked if this would affect Bob Lorkowski’s property. Dalton discussed the small portion of blacktopping, approximately a 50ft x 15 ft area, in front of Lorkowski’s building that would need to be redone at approximately $4,000- $4,500. Dolan asked if the property on the corner of Alvey Street and River Avenue would be affected. Dalton stated that the grading would need to be extended 15ft in to the property, not doing any gravel work, but cutting the yard down so it transitioned to the new alley paving. Dalton stated that a rough estimate for the work would be approximately $12,000.00. The power pole that is currently located in that area would not be affected. Wundrow stated that discussion would need to be had with Lorkowski. Dolan asked if there would be any costs to the property owner on the corner of Alvey Street & River Avenue. Trott stated no, there would be no assessments to the property. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to approve the work, but talking with Lorkowski before proceeding, carried. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Alley Paving’ item until the September, 2025 Regular Monthly Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting 7/29/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on July 29th, 2025. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss two Department of Transportation funding programs open right now, Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) and Surface Transportation program (STP).
Several questions were asked and will be looked in to with the DOT.
Once the Village finds out if they would qualify, then projects and priority road rehab will be discussed.
Public Welfare:
Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion: Nothing new to discuss this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to table the ‘Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion’ item until the September, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Library Rent Increase: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to increase the Library rent for 2026 by 3%, carried.
Finance:
Cemetery Rates Increase: Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Johnson to increase the cemetery rates by 3% effective August 4th, 2025, carried.
Building Permit Fees Increase: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to approve increasing the building permit rates by $10.00 per $1,000.00 improvement, carried.
NEW BUSINESS: Trott reported that there is a Public Hearing scheduled for September 8th, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. with the Regular Monthly Meeting to follow at 5:30 p.m.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $188,818.34, carried.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Cruise Nights-Classic Auto Collision Center has set the calendar for Cruise Night in the parking lot at 705 N. Main Street in Bruce, 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. August 19th.
Bruce Community Farmer’s Market: Every Friday thru the end of October, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Bruce Park
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 6:14 p.m.
Jessica Hayes
Clerk/Treasurer