VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
July 10th, 2023
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, July 10th, 2023.
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, Darlene Wundrow, Tim Dolan, Kim Grasley, Jim Johnson and Mark Zimmer. Clerk/Treasurer Jessica Hayes attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve the June 5th, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT:
R & R Sewer Televising & Cleaning: Casey Gudis attended the meeting and reported to the Board that R & R Waste Systems Cleaning, Inc. was in town and did their annual sewer televising and cleaning. The sewer line on the end of Walnut Avenue needs to be repaired at the end of the pipe. A bucket that was used at the end of the pipe to cap it has broken and came out. The crew will dig that up and repair it as needed. All other sewer lines that were televised and cleaned were ok.
Lawnmower Purchase: The Village’s current 2018 Husqvarna Z548mower needs to be upgraded. Gudis supplied the Board with two quotes. One quote was obtained from John Deere for a Z920M ZTrak mower for the price of $10,900.00 with a trade in of our current one at $4,200.00. The second quote was received from Wally’s Saw & Gun for a 2023 Husqvarna Z448 mower for $8,372.69 with a trade in of our current mower of $3,372.69. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to purchase the 2023 Husqvarna Z448 from Wally’s at a price of $8,372.69, with a trade in value on our current mower of $3,372.69, carried.
Gudis reported that the Hwy 8 project has started. Curb & gutter work along with culvert replacement will begin first and then paving will follow. The Filtration project has begun as well. New valves and hydrants are currently being replaced.
Lastly, Gudis reported that since Haas & Sons was in town for the project, he is going to have them bore under the highway to replace the water line on Arthur Avenue that has been needed to be repaired since the winter.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Karen Hanson attended the meeting to talk about the sewer line replacement project on East Arthur Ave. & S. Main St. that will affect her property located at 530 S. Main St. She would like the water turned back on there and wanted to check to make sure that her lines would be ok when she does so. She also asked if she could be kept in the loop on the scheduling of the project as she has work she would like to complete while they are doing the work. If the parking lot were to be dug up at all, she would like to use the same contractor to replace her lot as well.
Larry Gotham of Morgan & Parmley stated that the plans are ready to be submitted to the DNR and once approved, the project will be completed yet this year.
Brandi Witt attended the meeting to discuss with the Board her business proposal. Her and her husband are wanting to open up a drive-thru coffee shop on their property located at 740 W. Arthur Avenue and she is asking for guidance on where to start. Hayes told her to start with the Department of Revenue and if she needed further help to stop in sometime at the Hall and she could help her with where to begin.
Paul Carlson attended the meeting for the Public Hearing for special assessments that was to be held at 6:30 p.m. but was cancelled. He would like to know how much the special assessments are going to affect him. Trott informed him that the Public Hearing was cancelled due to issues with the sewer line replacement project on River Avenue and that there were changes with how to assess for that project that may ultimately affect the Filtration Project assessments, depending on how the Board votes later in the meeting. Trott said they would discuss the project and assessments more in depth when the item arose later on the agenda and Carlson would get more information on his questions then as Larry Gotham would be able to explain more in depth then.
APPLICATIONS:
Operator’s Licenses:
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to approve an Operators’ License to Alisha C. Berg, carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve an Operator’s License to Ivy M. Kottke, carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to approve an Operator’s License to Jamie L. Shelton, carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Johnson to approve an Operator’s License to Melanie M. Grutt, carried.
Bow Hunting Permit:
Motion by Johnson, seconded by Zimmer to approve a bow hunting permit to Nicholas Moelter to hunt with a bow on Village owned property, carried.
Building Permits:
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to approve a building permit to David Rosolowski to build a garage at his property located at 321 E. Feller Avenue, carried.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve a building permit to Jerry Czyscon to install a door on his garage located at 226 S. Coleman St., carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve a building permit to Sherry Hemm to replace windows and do deck repairs on her home located at 504 E. Feller Avenue, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Public Safety:
Fire Hall Sirens: An invoice in the amount of $494.00 was submitted to the Village for tornado siren annual maintenance at the Fire Hall. The Village has never received an invoice for this in the past. Discussion was had about the siren on the water tower and it not being workable. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to pay this current invoice, with the understanding that in the future, the Fire Hall will pay for the Fire Hall siren and the Village will maintain the water tower siren, and asked Gudis to get quotes/costs to get the water tower siren repaired, carried.
Utility:
Garbage Contract Discussion: The Village is looking in to the idea of starting their own garbage service for the Village. There are two years left on the current contract with Republic Services, with a 4% increase annually. In 2022 the Village’s revenues for garbage service were approximately $55,000 with expenditures at approximately $76,000. Gudis did receive some information from Ladysmith, who currently has their own services. The Board asked Gudis to contact other Townships/Cities to see what their revenues/expenditures are annually as well as contacting Waste Management about disposal rates based on our current annual tonnage disposal. Gudis mentioned if we are serious about moving forward with the item, that we need to start looking in to purchasing a truck sooner rather than later. Nothing further to report at this time. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to table the ‘Garbage Contract Discussion’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Sewer Main Replacement on East Arthur /S. Main St.: Morgan & Parmley has the plans ready for submittal to the DNR. Before submitting, he wants to go over the plans with Gudis. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Sewer Main Replacement on East Arthur/S. Main St.’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Works:
Veteran’s Memorial Park Site: Gudis reported that they will get the black dirt leveled out and seeded. He asked when Derrick Ewald would be starting his Eagle Scout project. Trott reported that he wants to start in the next few weeks on installing the cement pads for the benches. He is starting the build on the benches in the next week. Ewald’s only concern was that if he would begin his project, if the Hwy 8 project would disturb any of his work. Discussion was had that the Hwy project should not affect his project at all. Gudis reported that he did get in contact with Xcel Energy regarding installation of electrical for lights. The site was inspected and plans were approved. Gudis will be in contact with B & B Electric to get the power installed. The power would come right off of the transformer so there will not be a charge from Xcel.
Trott also mentioned that Ewald had asked if the Board had a design picked out for light fixtures. The Board asked Gudis to find out how many we need and have Hayes order them. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to have Hayes order industrial goose neck lights and order enough to have one on every other post, carried. Ewald had contacted the Legion on installing flag poles but has not heard anything further at this time. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Veteran’s Memorial Park Site’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting 6/19/23 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on June 19th, 2023 to inspect unsightly properties. Letters were sent to residents in violation of Village Ordinances. A follow up meeting is scheduled for July 11th, 2023.
Committee Meeting 7/7/23 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on July 7th, 2023 to discuss the sewer line replacement on River Avenue. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss the sewer line that was replaced on River Avenue. After some research done by Larry Gotham of Morgan & Parmley, he notified the Village that a certain type of pipe was supposed to be installed due to being so close to a water line.
The committee is recommending filing a change order under the current Filtration Project to include this project.
Under the current CDBG funded Filtration Project, residents would qualify for a low-income survey which would result in no assessments being charged to those residents that qualify under the current LMI scale.
Sewer Line Project on W. River Avenue: The Board discussed the minutes from the July 7th, 2023 Meeting. The project was completed in the fall of 2022. When they installed the pipe, they installed regular sewer pipe. The DNR has a regulation that if a sewer pipe is installed within 200 feet of a well, a water main class material type of sewer pipe needs to be installed. Ultimately, the original sewer pipe needs to be replaced. Three options would be to leave the pipe as is, however, in time, the DNR could come back to the Village in the future and require them to replace it, which would cause the Village to tear up all new asphalt which would be a major expense. Another option would be to have a local contractor do the work and finance locally. Lastly, the Village could have Haas replace the pipe, since they are currently here working on the Filtration Project. Gotham did speak with Haas & Sons and they said they would do the work at $107 per foot. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Dolan to go with the committee’s recommendations from the July 7th, 2023 meeting and file a change order under the current project to include the sewer pipe replacement on W. River Avenue, carried. This would not change grant funding, however, there is a 5% contingency with the project as well as DNR financing at 1.13% that would cover the costs, if plans are approved by the DNR. Financially, this would be the best option for the Village. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Sewer Line Project on W. River Avenue’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Meeting, carried.
LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds: Trott reported that the Village has roughly $7,400.00 in LRIP funding with a sunset date of June 30th, 2025. The funds need to be used by 2024 or can be moved to a different project once. The funds are currently sitting on E. Feller Avenue. There was discussion on using the funding for the blacktopping on W. River Avenue. Hayes reported that LRIP funding cannot be used on a project that already is receiving state funding. Gudis mentioned using the funds to repave Walnut Street after they dig up to replace the sewer line as earlier mentioned in his employee’s report. The Board asked him to get a quote from Monarch. The Board asked Hayes to contact the County to see when the next meeting is held to discuss the next round of funding for the program. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Cemetery Rates Increase: Cemetery rates are reviewed annually. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Johnson to increase the cemetery rates 3% across the board, effective August 1st, 2023, carried.
Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue:
-DISCUSSION & ACTION-
Gotham reported to the Board that the piping should be done roughly around August. The water tower will be drained, inspected and cleaned on July 17th, 2023. A new hydrant will be installed at the base of the tower at that time. The well will be down for about a week and a half to two weeks. When the water tower is down well # 1 will run 24/7 until the tower is back up and running. A temporary water service line from well #1, which would be the hydrant in front of the Village shop, will be ran from over by the post office and over to the Catholic Church. Site restoration should be done this fall. The water treatment plant, located in the Village Shop, should be completed by the middle of November/end of December. Paul Carlson asked how the water was going to be filtered. Gotham explained to him that the filter company was Water Surplus and gave detail on how the system would run. Gotham discussed the Village’s need to finalize how they were planning on assessing for the project. Carlson was informed that only properties running along the project would be assessed per footage they own, and that since he did not own any property along the project, he would only see an affect from the project through the water rates, if the Village were to raise them.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to table the ‘Water Filtration Project-Corrective Work on Village Wells and River Avenue’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Welfare:
Bruce Park Concession Stand Discussion: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Wundrow to table the ‘Bruce Park Concession Stand Discussion’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Meeting, carried.
Park Dugout Update: Adam Frisinger of Northland Construction Services is looking at starting the rebuild of the dugout at the park towards the end of August. Trott stated that there was some additional damage to a truss on the pavilion that the dugout was attached to. Trott asked Brainerd to get ahold of Frisinger to ask him to submit an addition to his quote to do the work. Nothing further to report at this time. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Park Dugout Update’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Approval of contract between Bruce School & the Village on Park Use: Nothing new to report this month.Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to table the ’Approval of contract between Bruce School & the Village on Park Use’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Library Lease Rent Increase: The Library’s rent is reviewed annually. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Zimmer to increase the Library’s rent 4%, effective April 1st, 2024, carried.
Administration:
Committee Meeting 7/7/23 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on July 7th, 2023 to discuss the maintenance worker position that is available. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met with John Runstrom to discuss the position. He informed the committee that he would not be available for hire until the winter of 2023 or spring of 2024. If the Village is still interested in hiring at that time, Runstrom would be very interested in taking the position. Runstrom will keep the Village informed on his plans if anything changes or comes up.
Maintenance Position Hire: Nothing further to discuss at this time. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Dolan to table the ‘Maintenance Position Hire’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Revision of Deputy Clerk Position & Potential Modifications to Benefits: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to take the item to closed session later in the meeting and to table the ‘Revision of Deputy Clerk Position & Potential Modifications to Benefits’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Finance:
Rusk County Sheriff’s Department Contract Discussion & Action: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to table the ‘Rusk County Sheriff’s Department Contract Discussion & Action’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Ambulance Garage Building Discussion & Action: Nothing new to report this month. No payments were received from any neighboring Townships this month. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Ambulance Garage Building Discussion & Action’ item until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Discussion & Action on Delinquent Bill from Village Owned Property Damage: Paperwork has been filed by the Village’s attorney against the individual for small claims court. Nothing further to report at this time. Motion by Johnson, seconded by Zimmer to send the item to small claims and to table the ‘Discussion & Action on Delinquent Bill from Village Owned Property Damage’ issue until the August, 2023 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Closed Session
A. Motion to convene in closed session under Wisconsin Statues 19.85 (1)(e) and (1)(c), for the purpose of deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session and for the purpose of considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.
A.1. Clerk/Treasurer Requests
A.2 Revision of Deputy Clerk Position & Potential Modifications to Benefits
Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to convene in closed session under Wisconsin Statues 19.85 (1)(e) and (1)(c) at 8:24 p.m., carried.
Return to Open Session
- Motion to reconvene in open session under Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (2).
- Village may take action on items under discussion in closed session and/or report action taken in closed session, if any.
B.1. Clerk/Treasurer Requests
B.2 Revision of Deputy Clerk Position & Potential Modifications to Benefits
Motion by Johnson, seconded by Wundrow to reconvene to open session under Wisconsin Statutes 19.85 (2) at 9:11 p.m., carried.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to allow the Clerk to work from home for 6-8 weeks upon receiving a work release from her primary care provider, contact the former Clerk to see if she would be interested in filling in for the current Clerk on Tuesdays and Thursdays while on leave, if the former Clerk is not interested, contact Marlys Javener to see if she would be interested in the part time position at $14.00 per hour and schedule an administration committee meeting for July 14th at 3:00 p.m. to meet with the Deputy Clerk to discuss her position and potential modifications to benefits as well as documented additional training due to the Clerks leave, carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $93,015.60, 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. July 18th & August 15th. Contact Classic Auto Collision Center at 715-868-CARS or classicauto@brucetel.net for more details.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 9:14 p.m.
Jessica Hayes
Clerk/Treasurer