VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 7th, 2025
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, April 7th, 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 & Kim Grasley. Jim Johnson & Mark Zimmer were absent. Clerk/Treasurer Jessica Hayes and Deputy Nicole Frisinger attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve the March 10th, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Dolan, seconded by Brainerd to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Casey Gudis attended the meeting to report to the Board that there was a significant water leak that was located and repaired.
The crew has been busy getting equipment serviced and ready to go for the spring/summer. They have also been busy getting the park cleaned up and ready for the baseball season.
Gudis reported that a water service line inventory letter was mailed out to some residents asking them to provide information on what water service line pipe material is located from the curb box in to their residence. This is a statewide mandated inventory required by the DNR.
There is a water line on 2nd Street/Washington Avenue that needs to be replaced. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to approve hiring H & S Excavating, LLC for the project if the crew is unable to complete the work themselves, carried.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Bruce Easter Egg Hunt Donation: Lorna Smalley, Rachel Moser & Katlein Detloff attended the meeting to request a donation for their annual Easter Egg Hunt event held at the Bruce School. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to approve donating $250.00 towards the event, carried. The event is scheduled for April 19th, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Sean Nagel attended the meeting on behalf of the Bruce American Legion, to present the coordinators of the Easter Egg Hunt event a $200.00 donation.
APPLICATIONS:
Operator’s Licenses:
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve an operator’s license to Stacey M. Davis, carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to approve an operator’s license to Ivy Kottke, carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve an operator’s license to Branden J. Wickman, carried.
Building Permits:
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Wundrow to approve a building permit for Heather Jones to re-roof her house at 927 N. Main St., carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Wundrow to approve a building permit for James Locke for interior remodeling at his house at 705 N. 2nd St., carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Committee Meeting 3/19/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on March 19th, 2025 to discuss the possibility of extending Bruce Garbage Services to residents outside of the Village limits. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss the possibility of extending the Village of Bruce garbage services to the Trails End loop, end of Chippewa Avenue, Quade Road, Hwy 40 South and Blueberry Lane. The committee is recommending moving forward with the idea, sending a letter out offering services to those areas and to bill the customers outside of the Village limits $90.00/quarter, $30.00/month.
Meeting adjourned at 2:21 p.m.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve the committee’s recommendations from the March 19th, 2025 meeting, carried.
Garbage Contract Discussion: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Wundrow to table the ‘Garbage Contract Discussion’ item until the May, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
2025 Solid Waste Building Concrete Slab & Insulation Bid Opening & Award: Four sealed bids were submitted for the Solid Waste Building Concrete Slab & Insulation Project. Trott opened the bids and read them aloud. B. Sidenbender Landscaping, LLC for $38,000.00, Anderson Landscaping & Concrete, LLC for $34,300.00, Northland Construction Services for $36,690.00 and J & J Concrete, LLC for $33,750.00. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to approve accepting J & J Concrete, LLC’s bid of $33,750.00, carried.
Public Works:
Workhorse Cemetery Module Purchase Approval: The Village’s cemetery record keeping is out of date and all in paper form. The Workhorse software that runs all of the Village’s programs offers a module for cemetery record keeping. The initial cost is $2,900.00 with an annual support fee of $600.00. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to approve the cemetery module purchase, carried.
Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue:
-DISCUSSION & ACTION-
– UPDATE –
DNR loan closeout paperwork was put on hold as there is additional funding remaining that the Village could use for various water & sewer purchases. This would not be extra monies but funding remaining in the 0% interest loan. By not using the funds, the remaining funding would come off the loan at the end of maturity. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Dolan to not use the remaining funding for any additional purchases, carried. The DNR will be notified of the decision, and closeout paperwork will be finalized.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to table the ‘Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue’ item until the May, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Welfare:
Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion: Trott reported that the Booster Club, along with Sysco are in discussions regarding donating to park concession stand upgrades. Nothing further to discuss at this time. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion’ item until the May, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Administration:
Committee Meeting 3/20/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on March 20th, 2025 to discuss several items. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
Summer Help:
The committee met to discuss the hiring of part time summer help. The committee is recommending putting an ad out for one part-time position, 3 days a week, approximately May thru September 1st. The committee is also recommending putting an ad out for summer help for 2 to 3 positions, 3 days a week, from June to August. Interviews will be conducted as necessary.
Mailbox Replacements:
There were two mailboxes that were damaged during the most recent snowstorm. The committee is recommending replacing the mailbox that was hit by the Village equipment but not the one damaged from the snow hitting it. The committee recommends replacing the post only for this homeowner, this time only.
Damaged Mailbox Ordinance:
The committee is recommending drafting an ordinance regarding damaged mailboxes. Recommendations for information that the committee would like to be included in the ordinance is as follows:
‘If snowplowing and Village equipment would hit the mailbox, the Village would replace it, post and box only. Equipment must make contact with the mailbox to be eligible for replacement at the expense of the Village. If the snow hits the post or box, the Village is not responsible for replacement costs’.
Meeting adjourned at 3:37 p.m.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Wundrow to approve the committee’s recommendations from the March 20th, 2025 meeting, carried.
Closed Session:
Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to go in to closed session for considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility, under Wisconsin Statues 19.85 (1)(e) and (1)(c), motion carried.
All responded yes – Closed session at 6:16 p.m.
Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Brainerd to reconvene to Open Session – at 6:29 p.m. – Motion carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to approve offering Brad Feller the position of a full-time maintenance employee, if the offer is rejected, putting an advertisement in the paper, and also hiring Scott Gudis for temporary help on Tuesdays until the position is filled, carried.
NEW BUSINESS: July 11th, 2026 Main Street Event: The down payment for Chris Kroeze for the event was approved at the March, 2025 Meeting to be funded by the Village. Weeks after the meeting, an anonymous donor had fronted the costs.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $159,538.24, carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 6:35 p.m.
Jessica Hayes
Clerk/Treasurer