Minutes: February 14, 2007

Village of Plain

Village Board Proceedings of February 14, 2007

                                                                                                                                               

 

The Regular Monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Plain was held at the Municipal Building on February 14, 2007.  The following members were present: William Gruber, President; David Buchanan; Kevin Kraemer; James Liegel; and, Harold Murry, Trustees. Trustees Gary Leeck and Philip Studnicka were absent.

 

Others present: Rob Roth and Erik Henningsgard of General Engineering; Maureen Palmer, representing the Home News; Tom Meyer, Chief of Police; and, Nick Ruhland, Public Works Director.

                                                                                                                                               

Notice of this meeting, along with the agenda, was posted at the following locations in the Village of Plain: the Municipal Building; the Plain Post Office; and, The Peoples Community Bank on Monday, February 12, 2007.  Notice was faxed to the Home News and the Baraboo News Republic on the same date. 

                                                                       

The meeting was called to order by President Gruber at 7:31 p.m. 

 

Murry motioned to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2007 regular meeting. Liegel seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Murry motioned to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2007 Special Village Board meeting.  Liegel seconded the motion, and then carried unanimously. Finally, Murry motioned to approve the minutes of the Caucus, held on January 17, 2007.  Buchanan seconded the motion, and then carried unanimously.   

 

Rob Roth and Erik Henningsgard of General Engineering informed the board of limitations of costs that are TIF eligible as it relates to the projects on Park Avenue and Willow Street.  The General Engineering team presented estimates for the complete street project and the TIF eligible portion.  Completing only TIF eligible work would leave the street with a patched up appearance.  The board thought this wasn’t good construction practice and not a policy that the Village follows.  The Board asked General Engineering to find ways to encompass as much cost as possible into the TIF District. 

 

Rob Roth then summarized changes on the Development Agreement made by the attorney that represents Kraemer Brothers.  Rob will discuss the changes with the Village Attorney and make sure he is comfortable with the new language.  Estimates need to be obtained for extension of service of gas & electric, data & voice communications, and street lights before the Village agrees to the cost. 

 

Trustee Buchanan discussed his thoughts on the zoning ordinances needing some attention.  Currently, if commercial units add residential square footage, they do not have to go through any procedure for approval.  One possibility is a multi-use zoning district.  Another option would be to draft an ordinance stating regulations of changes to a commercial unit.  Rob Roth suggested that the Village look at conditional use and non-conforming issues.  The Building Committee and the Ordinance Committee needs to have a joint meeting to discuss this subject further. 

 

 

Police Department Report

 

Chief Meyer presented the Case Report for January.  The Police squad car was involved in a car/deer accident.  The Sauk County Sheriff’s Department investigated the accident.  Classic Auto Body has already repaired the car.  The new squad car is tentatively scheduled to be manufactured the week of March 5th.  It should arrive in late April.

 

 

 

Public Works Department Report

 

Nick Ruhland informed the board that the two meters for the wellhouses were installed almost two weeks ago.  Recent readings have shown that the old meters were reading inaccurately.  Next months Water & Wastewater Report will be a full month with the new meters and should show an improvement.    

 

The boiler problem was taken care of.  The plant had a large boiler for heating the plant and a small boiler for heating the heat exchanger.  Everything is now running on the large boiler.  This change was made three weeks ago and everything is working fine. 

 

In the past, sign-up day for summer activities has always been the first Saturday in March.  With the restructuring of the baseball program, this day can be closer to summer.  Plus there may be more participation if the date is scheduled closer to the summer months.  This can be coordinated with the Pool Committee.

 

The bids for the Oak Street sidewalk reconstruction project are going to be opened at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 23, 2007. 

 

 

Committee Reports

 

 

Streets - Studnicka

 

No Streets Committee report.

 

 

Water & Sewer and Cable TV - Liegel

 

No Cable TV report.

 

Water Pumpage for January:

 

Well No. 1:      316,600

            Well No. 2:   1,499,400

 

Total for January: 1,816,000 gallons, which was 31,000 gallons more than last year.

 

Two bacteria samples were sent to the State Lab.  Both tested safe.

 

            Monthly fluoride average: 1.19 p.p.m.

 

 

Wastewater Report for January:

 

            Influent Monthly Average B.O.D.:  254 mg/l

            Effluent Monthly Average B.O.D.:    9   Limit: 15 mg/l

           

            Influent Monthly Average T.S.S.:    206 mg/l

            Effluent Monthly Average T.S.S.:   8     Limit: 20 mg/l

           

Weekly Average Nitrogen Ammonia: 0.459 mg/l           Limit:   6.0 mg/l

 

            Total gallons treated: 2,252,200

 

 

Building & Swimming Pool - Buchanan

 

No building permits were issued since the last meeting.  The Building Committee recommended to the Board that the Village should recapture its current ordinances. The Building Committee chair needs to approve permits before they are issued.  If there is concern about the issuance of a permit, it will be brought to the full board for discussion.  Buchanan motioned to approve the new procedure and send the Building Inspector a letter informing him of this change.  This was seconded by Kraemer and carried unanimously. 

 

The Pool Committee met to discuss the new season staffing schedule and advertising.  Trustee Buchanan and Nick Ruhland met with Jeff Koch.  Mr. Koch is going to assist the Village in preparing the documents for a variance request for the new diving board.  Nick was asked to check with Badger Pool to make sure their quote is still valid and what the timeline would be for ordering the board.

 

 

Finance & Ordinance – Kraemer

 

No Finance Committee report.

 

The Ordinance Committee will be meeting with the Building Committee to discuss the Zoning Ordinance.

 

 

 

Police & Library Liaison – Leeck

  

No Library report.

 

No Police Committee report.

 

 

 

Parks & Golf Course - Murry

 

No Parks Committee report.

 

No Golf Course Committee report.

 

 

 

Other Business

 

Trustee Kraemer recommended that the Police Committee create a policy for budgeting annually for saving for a police squad car. 

 

President Gruber informed the board of the lighting problems in the upstairs meeting room in the Municipal Building.  There are 30 lights that are constantly burning out.  An estimate to replace them all is $1,728.00.  The Public Works Department can continue to replace ballasts as needed. 

 

Murry motioned to adopt Resolution #2007-01, designating the Clerk/Treasurer as the authorized representative for submitting the recycling grant application and final reports. This was seconded by Kraemer, and carried unanimously.

 

Buchanan motioned to deny the request from US Bancorp Equipment Finance for a refund on personal property taxes in the amount of $7,905.69 paid on tax exempt equipment on grounds that the request was made after the January 31st deadline.  This was seconded by Liegel and the motion carried unanimously.

 

 

Correspondence  

 

A Smart Growth meeting was attended on February 7th.  Sauk County explained their process to the three villages and discussed some survey results.  They plan to have the Comprehensive Plan completed by November of this year.  Every other month will be individual Village meetings and the other months with be cluster meetings with the two other villages held in Loganville.  All meetings will be facilitated by the County.

 

 

Review and Audit of Invoices:

 

Kraemer motioned to pay Voucher #8992 payable to E & B Scale in the amount of $2,555.00, Voucher #9007 payable to Nachreiner Plumbing in the amount of $901.89, and finally Voucher #9009 payable to North Central Laboratories in the amount of $526.93  from the Sewer Parts Replacement Fund.  This was seconded by Buchanan, and then carried unanimously.

 

A motion to pay the monthly invoices as presented was made by Kraemer.  Buchanan seconded, and then the motion carried unanimously.

 

General Fund:             $463,117.96                              Water Utility:           $ 4,801.80

Library Fund:              $  12,629.30                              Sewer Department:  $ 6,041.12

T.I.F. #2:                      $    1,595.00                            Golf Course:             $ 3,677.49

 

Wages and Reimbursements: $13,408.83

 

Buchanan motioned to adjourn at 9:27 p.m.  This was seconded by Kraemer, and then the motion carried unanimously.

 

 

 

 

Sheila Tafs 

Clerk/Treasurer