VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
March 10th, 2025
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, March 10th, 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 and Mark Zimmer. Jim Johnson was absent. Clerk/Treasurer Jessica Hayes and Deputy Nicole Frisinger attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the February 3rd, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Casey Gudis attended the meeting to report to the Board that the crew has been busy plowing snow this last week.
Garbage collection is going smooth with little to no issues.
A water leak was located and repaired on Feller Avenue. There is still a significant amount of water being pumped daily, so there is a possibility of an additional leak occurring. The crew is working on locating it.
A quote was obtained from Midstates Equipment for a starter kit for the hydraulics replacements that comes with a crimping machine, hoses, dyes and fittings. The contract would consist of them stopping once a month to replenish the stock, at no additional charge. Total cost would be $9,840.45. This would be utilized by all of the Village’s equipment. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the purchase, carried.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Bruce Public Schools: The Bruce School President Roxie Kemmitz, along with Clerk Andrea Vohs, attended the meeting to give the Board an informational presentation of the referendums on the upcoming April 1st, 2025 Election ballot. Pamphlets are available at the Village Hall for additional information for residents, as well as the Bruce School Facebook page and website, bruce.k12.wi.us.
Robert Lorkowski: Robert Lorkowski attended the meeting with several topics of discussion.
First being the traffic speed on Main Street. He is wanting the Board to look in to further options on trying to get speeders to slow down.
Secondly, he asked if the snow could be plowed first and foremost on Main Street as well as the sidewalks.
He asked if the Board could come together with community members and business owners in the 54819 area to get involved more with the community and community events.
Lastly, he asked if Grasley would entertain the idea of selling her vacant lot on Main Street. No response from Grasley.
APPLICATIONS:
Operator’s License:
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Wundrow to approve an operator’s license to Kelli R. Usher, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Committee Meeting 2/5/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on February 5th, 2025. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss a few items of concern regarding the Bruce Garbage Collection.
Discussion was had on alley versus street side pick-up. The committee is recommending staying with street side pick-up, except for businesses on Main Street, south of the tracks.
The committee is recommending continuing following ordinances and requiring all active businesses and all property owners to have service through the Village and carts paid for by the property owner.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Dolan to approve the committee’s recommendations from the February 5th, 2025 meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting 2/17/25 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on February 17th, 2025. Below are the minutes from that meeting.
The committee met to discuss the skid steer purchase that was initially intended to be purchased with remaining funding from the Filtration Project, if approved by the DNR. The DNR denied the request to purchase.
The committee is recommending purchasing the skid steer with attachments for $66,300.00 through the general & water and sewer utility.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the committee’s recommendations from the February 17th, 2025 meeting, with Wundrow opposing, the motion carried.
Garbage Contract Discussion: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Zimmer to table the ‘Garbage Contract Discussion’ item until the April, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. – Invoice Payment Approval: Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Zimmer to approve paying the invoice in the amount of $2,652.50 to Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. for engineering services with the WPDES permit renewal with the DNR, carried.
Morgan & Parmley, Ltd – Invoice Payment Approval: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the invoice in the amount of $10,306.81 to Morgan & Parmley, Ltd for engineering services on the solid waste storage building, carried.
Public Works:
LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds: Reimbursement from the DOT has been received in the amount of $21,072.29. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Zimmer to remove the ‘LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds’ item from the agenda, carried.
Sewer Line Replacement – Alley Between North Main & Alvey Street: The Village will not be moving forward with the project. Motion by Grasley, seconded by Dolan to remove the ‘Sewer Line Replacement – Alley Between North Main & Alvey Street’ item from the agenda, carried.
Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue:
-DISCUSSION & ACTION-
– UPDATE –
The project is completed and the Village is working on closeout paperwork with the DNR.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Zimmer to table the ‘Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue’ item until the April, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Welfare:
Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion: Trott reported that there is some movement on the item. At their most recent meeting, the Booster Club approved using funds to complete some upgrades at the park/park concession stand. Nothing further to discuss. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion’ item until the April, 2025 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
NEW BUSINESS: July 11th, 2026 Main Street Event: Discussion was had on some early planning in place for a Main Street event that will be held on July 11th, 2026. This would be the same weekend as the Bruce Blue Hills Lion’s Club and would be part of the Main Street Craft and Car show held annually the same weekend. A down payment of $2,500.00 would be due to book Chris Kroeze for that weekend. Donations would be sought to reimburse for the down payment. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to approve the down payment of $2,500.00 to book Chris Kroeze for that weekend, with Wundrow opposing, until discussion can be had with the Lion’s Club, the motion carried. A community group meeting will be scheduled in the future to discuss planning of the event.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $287,974.26, carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 6:46 p.m.
Jessica Hayes
Clerk/Treasurer