VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 4, 2021
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, January 4th, 2021.
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 Galen Brainerd, Rob Grabon, Avery Newman, Mark Zimmer & Kim Grasley . Jessica Hegeholz attended also.
APPOINTMENT OF VACANT TRUSTEE POSITION ON THE BOARD: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to remove the ‘Appointment of Vacant Trustee Position on the Board’ issue from the agenda, carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to approve the December 7th, 2020 Budget Hearing Minutes, carried.
Motion by Newman, seconded by Brainerd to approve the December 7th, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to approve the December 15th, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Darlene Wundrow attended the meeting. She reported that she has finished her sampling that was required since the ‘No Drink Order’ has been in effect. Culligan has been to the Hall for pre installation of the filtration system and she will have to submit sampling once that’s completed. She reported that she can now take down the ‘No Drink Order’ for the entire Village and now put up the ‘No Drink Order’ for only elderly and infants. She also reported that there were some 3rd Street lift station issues that have been fixed. There were roots clogging the pipes between the lift station and the manhole. Wundrow asked the Board for approval to purchase 30 new Kampstrup remote read meters. The price last year when she ordered was $5,655.00. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve Wundrow to purchase 30 new Kampstrup remote read meters, carried.
APPLICATIONS:
Bow Hunting Permit: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve a bow hunting permit for Anthony Pyles to bow hunt on Village owned property, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Committee Meeting December 10th, 2020 Report: Trott reported there was a committee meeting held on December 10th, 2020. The committee met, with several people in attendance in audience, to discuss their actions on handling the recent report from the DNR on the Village’s water being above the recommended manganese levels. The problematic well is well #3. Due to the concern of turning well #3 off and not having it available for the fire protection the Board decided at its’ December 7th Regular Monthly Meeting to leave Well #3 on and issue a ‘No Drink Order’. After a lot of discussion with the audience, the committee recommended the following:
– Looking in to a ‘One Call’ system
– Call around to local businesses about water donations
– Have volunteers distribute water after office hours for individuals who are unable make it in to the office for pick up during regular office hours.
– To take well #3 offline with the option to put it on again if emergency
– Recommend giving approval to test the wells
– Install a water filtration system at the Village Hall for residents to fill their own personal jugs
– Public Works director requested to purchase her own meter to do her own manganese testing
– Advertise the announcement on the local tv station and on the school marquee
Discussion and Action Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells: Larry Gotham of Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. attended the meeting to explain what actions and corrective work needs to be done on the Village Wells. There is biofilm present and the following steps need to be taken to correct the issue and hopefully drop the manganese levels that are currently in the water:
- Develop a rehabilitation plan for both wells.
- Submit the plan to the DNR for approval.
- Hire a well driller to rehabilitate the wells.
- Prepare and implement a unidirectional flushing program for the water mains
- Implement a maintenance plan for the wells
Motion by Newman, seconded by Zimmer to approve developing a rehabilitation plan for both well #1 and well #3, submit the plan to the DNR for approval, to authorize Darlene Wundrow approval to obtain a quote from Municipal Well & Pump and to authorize the Utility Committee to approve the purchase, carried. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to table the ‘Discussion and Action Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
PSC-Water Rate Application: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Newman, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘PSC Water Rate Application’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to send the item to committee, carried.
Public Works:
‘Welcome to Bruce’ Signs: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Parking Lot Repairs/Alley Work @ 714 N. Main Street: Nothing new this month.Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to table the “Parking Lot Repairs/Alley Work @ 714 N. Main Street’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Sale of Village Owned Property-202 W. Railroad Avenue: An ad has been submitted to the local paper requesting bids for the property. Bids will be opened at the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting.Motion by Grabon, seconded by Newman to table the ‘Sale of Village Owned Property-202 W. Railroad Avenue’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
North Main Street Reconstruction Project: An informal pre award meeting was held on December 15th, 2020 to meet with the DNR, Engineer and CDBG Coordinator for the project. Gotham reported that they are working on how to make sure the Village is able to use the full one million dollar block grant and the full $500,000.00 for the water system. Grant totals would be $1.5 million dollars and the remainder would come from low interest loans thru the DNR. Utility rates would need to be adjusted. A PSC rate increase would need to happen. The Village auditor is currently working on the case. To cover the water portion. If the rate case is not finalized in time, the Village would have to finance through the general fund. Interim financing would have to be done for the remainder of the project. June 2021 would be when the project applications need to be finalized. Gotham went over the timeline of when things need to be done. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to have the project bid ad in the paper for February 3rd, 2021 and have bid opening for March 1st, 2021 at the Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting December 17, 2020 Report: Trott reported there was a committee meeting held on December 17th, 2020 to discuss the property on Coleman Street where the possible location of the new lift station would be. The Village attorney is working with the project engineer to make sure all the proper steps are being taken to purchase the property. Trott spoke with the owners of the lot and they are willing to sell just the lot and not the full parcel with the building attached. Barry Frisinger attended the meeting in audience and wanted to discuss with the committee the walking bridge on his property in the Village limits. Frisinger proposed to donate to build either a new bridge or to haul some fill in to make access on Village land instead of his own. The current bridge, which is on Frisinger’s land, is deteriorating. The committee recommended the following:
– Improve the public access with volunteer help. And then remove the current bridge once the new bridge is completed. Frisinger offered to have a surveyor come out and look at the property lines. The Village would not be responsible for any of the project costs.
Motion by Grabon, seconded by Grasley to give Frisinger the permission to proceed with the project with no cost to the Village, carried.
Purchase Approval for Proposed North Main Street Reconstruction Project-Coleman Street Lift Station Location: After some discussion with the Village assessor to determine what fair market value would be on the portion of the property the Village is trying to acquire, motion by Newman, seconded by Brainerd to offer the property owner $10,000.00 for the purchase of the portion of the property, carried. The portion of the property in question is .92 acres. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to table the ‘Purchase Approval for Proposed North Main Street Reconstruction Project-Coleman Street Lift Station Location’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Xcel Energy-Invoice Payment Approval: At the December, 2020 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, an invoice in the amount of $9,686.70 from Xcel Energy was submitted to the Board for electrical upgrades that would need to be done on the 4th Street lift station in preparation for the North Main Street Reconstruction Project. The invoice came in at $12,028.84. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve the new invoice of $12,028.84, carried. The invoice is project eligible.
Administration:
Update Ordinances: With there being no monies in the budget for 2021 to proceed with the item, motion by Newman, seconded by Grasley to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Employee Manual Update: Nothing new this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Employee Manual Update’ issue until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Resignation of Deputy Clerk/Treasurer & Payout Approval: Motion by Grabon, seconded by Zimmer to send the item to committee, carried. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the “Resignation of Deputy Clerk/Treasurer & Payout Approval’ item until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
New Hire Deputy/Clerk Position Discussion: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Newman to send the item to committee, carried. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘New Hire Deputy/Clerk Position Discussion’ item until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Finance:
Emergency ‘One Call’ System: No quotes have been obtained at this time. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Emergency ‘One Call’ System until the February, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $67,553.63, carried.
CORRESPONDENCE:
2021 Safety Grant: Motion by Newman, seconded by Grabon to approve spending the $500.00 safety grant on reflective clothing for the maintenance crew and spending any remaining funds on needed street signs, carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 8:16 p.m.
Jessica Hegeholz
Clerk/Treasurer