VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
October 7th, 2024
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, October 7th, 2024.
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, Mark Zimmer, Kim Grasley, Darlene Wundrow, Tim Dolan and Jim Johnson. Clerk/Treasurer Jessica Hayes attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to approve the September 3rd, 2024 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 working on getting the new garbage cans stickered. The garbage truck has been picked up. The recycling center pad has been poured and fencing has been installed at the garbage building.
The trees in the park have been taken down to make room for the veteran’s mural location, and murals will be picked up this week. The artist informed the Village she would do an additional 40 mural portraits and then she will be retiring. Application deadline for those is July 4th, 2025 with an estimated completion date of November 11th, 2025. The Village needs to make a decision on where they would like that to be located.
Business 40 is paved, and shouldering completed.
PETITIONERS-CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS:
Nancy Balistreri attended the meeting in regards to her letter she received about her fencing. The fencing that was approved by the Building Inspector was not the fencing that was installed, and she was asked to remove it within a week from the date of the letter. She is asking for additional time. The Board said they would work with her but that she needed to get the fence down as soon as possible.
APPLICATIONS:
Operator’s Licenses: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Johnson to approve an Operator’s License to John Michael Jeager, carried.
Motion by Grasley, seconded by Wundrow to approve an Operator’s License to Rei N. Slattery, carried.
Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grasley to approve an Operator’s License to Hailie N. Robbins, carried.
Bow Hunting Permit: Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Zimmer to approve a bow hunting permit to Joe Vojtasek, carried.
Building Permit: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Brainerd to approve a building permit to Rhonda Widder to install a carport/storage shed at her house located at 224 E. Washington Avenue, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Committee Meeting 9/10/24 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on September 10th, 2024 to discuss the letter to residents regarding the letter that will be mailed out in November. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss the garbage information letter that will be sent out to residents this fall. The letter needs to have the following in it:
– Notify residents garbage will be picked up street side and no alley pick up
– Keep the same current schedule as with Republic Services (Tuesdays)
– Post on What’s Up Bruce and Website and possibly Ladysmith News
– Notify residents that the $144.00 charge for the cans will be out on the quarterly bill in 4
installments
The Clerk will check with Republic services when the last date of scheduled pick up will be and also when/how they will be collecting the cans.
Adjourned – 3:00 p.m.
A draft copy of the letter will be sent home with Board members to do any updates if needed before it is mailed out.
Garbage Contract Discussion: Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Johnson to table the ‘Garbage Contract Discussion’ item until the November, 2024 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Sewer Rate Increase: Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Grasley to raise the sewer rates 1% effective January 1st, 2025, carried.
Public Works:
LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds: The project is completed. Once the final invoice for the work is submitted and paid for, all paperwork will be submitted to the DOT and funds distributed to the Village. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘LRIP (Local Road Improvement Program) Funds’ item until the November, 2024 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Sewer Line Replacement – Alley Between North Main & Alvey Street: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Sewer Line Replacement – Alley Between North Main & Alvey Street’ item until the November, 2024 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Parking Lot Seal Coating Bid: Two bids were submitted from Kaufman & Son for crack sealing/blacktopping of the Village’s parking lots. One for $1,500.00 for the Village Hall building lot and one for $2,640.00 for the Municipal lot on River Avenue. Motion by Wundrow, seconded by Zimmer to accept both bids, carried.
Water Filtration Project – Corrective Work on Village Wells & River Avenue:
-DISCUSSION & ACTION-
– UPDATE –
Per the DNR’s request, the chlorine level has been increased in the system. Hydrants are being flushed every week to help the chlorine break up the years of sediment in the pipes. Samples are taken weekly and are all coming back under the state required limits. The VFD was fried on Well #1, so that will need to be replaced.
Change Order #7 Approval: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Johnson to approve Change Order #7, for a quantity adjustment of a $7,641.00 decrease on the Village Well #1 Rehabilitation, carried.
Haas Sons, Inc. – Invoice Payment Approval: Motion by Johnson, seconded by Grasley to approve the final pay request thru September 26th, 2024, in the amount of $67,506.56 to Haas Sons, Inc., for the Water Filtration Project, including the approval of Change Order #7, carried. The pay request will not be paid until the full punch list is completed.
Public Welfare:
Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion: Nothing new to report this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grasley to table the ‘Bruce Park Concession Stand/Contract between Bruce School & Village Discussion’ item until the November, 2024 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Administration:
Committee Meeting 9/17/24 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on September 17, 2024 to discuss 2025 proposed employee wages and benefits. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
The committee met to discuss 2025 wages and benefits with employees. Employees submitted wages from City of Ladysmith & Rusk County Courthouse. They asked that their wages be more in line with those. Employees are also requesting:
– Juneteenth & Martin Luther King Day as paid holidays as they are federal holidays and the post office and bank are not open
– Bump Frisinger’s vacation up to the 3 yr vacation slot versus accruing currently one day a month
– Gudis receives 2 more extra sick days annually than other employees and the office would like that to be even across the board
The committee is recommending the following:
– 4% raise for Gudis, Will, Gudis and Hayes
– Bump Frisinger to $22.00/hr
– Give Martin Luther King Day off as a paid holiday
– Sick days were denied
Meeting adjourned at 3:39 p.m.
Committee Meeting 10/2/24 Report/Minutes: A follow up meeting regarding 2025 proposed employee wages and benefits was held on October 2nd, 2024. Below are the minutes from that meeting:
Employees asked for an additional meeting.
Final committee recommendations for 2025 employee wages and benefits are:
– 4% raise to J. Gudis, C. Gudis, Will & Hayes
– Giving Frisinger a $2.00/hr raise
– Increasing the monthly health insurance stipend by $50.00 for all qualifying employees
– Giving Martin Luther King day as a paid holiday to all qualifying employees
No other changes to vacation or sick time was recommended.
Meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.
Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to approve the committees’ recommendations from the October 2nd, 2024 committee meeting, carried.
Finance:
Committee Meeting 9/11/24 Report/Minutes: A committee meeting was held on September 11th, 2024 to discuss CCF’s proposal to the Village regarding moving bank accounts from CVB to them. Below are the minutes from that meeting:The committee met to discuss the possibility of transferring bank accounts from CVB to CCF.
After CCF’s offer to set only our general fund checking account to 2.5% interest, CVB counter offered with 2.5% interest rates on all of our accounts.
The committee is recommending that at this time, the Village maintain their accounts with our local hometown bank, CVB.
The committee asked the Clerk to look in to what kind of rates CCF would offer on a CD that is maturing with CVB in November, 2024.
Adjourned: 12:04 p.m.
Motion by Jonson, seconded by Dolan to approve the committees’ recommendations from the September 11th, 2024 committee meeting, carried.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Grasley, seconded by Zimmer to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $58,809.71, carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Johnson to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 8:03 p.m.
Jessica Hayes
Clerk/Treasurer