Minutes: December 12, 2007
Village Board Proceedings of December 12, 2007
The Regular Monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Plain was held at the Municipal Building on December 12, 2007. The following members were present: Raymond Ellenbolt, President; David Buchanan; Kevin Kraemer; Gary Leeck; James Liegel; Duane Meise; and, Robert Neuheisel, Trustees.
Others present: Erik Henningsgard of General Engineering; Roger Doescher and Jerry Kintz of Westbrook Associated Engineers; Dan Meise of Meise Construction; Todd Riebau of Contech Construction Products; Shannon Shelton of the Home News; Robert Schweiss; Tom Riek; Tom Meyer, Chief of Police; and,
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, December 10, 2007. Notice was emailed to the Home News and the Baraboo News Republic on the same date.
The meeting was called to order by President Ellenbolt at 7:30 p.m.
Buchanan motioned to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2007 Regular meeting. Meise seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Next, Liegel motioned to approve the minutes of the November 29, 2007 Budget Hearing and the minutes of the November 29, 2007 Special Meeting. Leeck seconded the motion, and then carried unanimously.
Erik Henningsgard of General Engineering was present for discussion regarding adding one additional light pole on Kraemer Avenue. Alliant Energy quoted $357.00 for an additional pole for a street light next to the driveway of the new maintenance shop facility. This is not a requirement, it is for convenience and safety. Concerns arose that the Village would be charged additionally for electrical wiring getting to the pole. The issue was tabled until a written estimate can be obtained from Alliant Energy to verify that it will only cost $357.00 for the entire project.
Henningsgard next presented a General Engineering progress billing invoice. This is not the final bill, there are a few more duties to complete. Also, $2,070 of this bill will be deducted from A-1 Excavating’s payment because of added engineering time caused by their unsatisfactory work. Liegel motioned to pay the General Engineering bill in the amount of $15,772.00. This was seconded by Leeck and carried unanimously.
A-1 Excavating disagrees with deducting the $2,070 of engineering costs from their payment. They also disagree with the fee in lieu of liquidated damages of $9,500 imposed upon them because they did not meet their deadline. A-1 is refusing to sign the change order with these items included. Henningsgard was directed to review the General Conditions of the contract to familiarize himself with how arbitration should be handled in this situation of unsatisfactory work. The board agrees not to forgive any penalties. Meise motioned to hold money for unsatisfactory work. This was seconded by Kraemer and carried unanimously.
The Golf Course bridges were discussed next. The Golf Course Committee wants a permanent fix to the problem with the bridges. Westbrook Associated Engineers’s complaint on Meise Construction’s work is what they backfilled the culvert with and the bedding material of wash rock. Westbrook added the manufacturer of the culvert’s, Contech Construction Products, options to the design plan and expected Meise to recognize that further engineering would be needed. Meise felt these details should have been included in the design. These bridges are not designed for the 50 or 100 year floods and are not a typical situation because of golf carts needing to pass over the creek. The DNR would only allow what the Village has. The biggest risk is scour, but scour potential has not been addressed in Westbrook’s design. Westbrook Engineering can not guarantee anything would work. The Golf Course Committee needs to meet to decide exactly how these bridges need to be repaired.
Public Works Department Report
The sewer main problem between Spruce Street and Maple Street ended up being a broken pipe. The resident’s house that backed up is not yet resolved by insurance. The insurance company needs to be contacted again to see what their findings were. It should not take this long.
Nick is concerned about exceeding the snow removal budget for 2007. He asked the board if public works should continue widening the streets. The board thought widening the streets should continue for safety reasons and waiting for a new budget may create difficulty with freezing snow being more problematic to remove.
During the Fireman’s 3-Day weekend LeRoy Schell’s son Cory had an accident on the golf course with the red boxes that protect PVC water pipes. There was no police report and Cory’s address was not obtained. An invoice for the damages was given to LeRoy at the time to give to Cory, but the invoice in the amount of $147.99 remains unpaid. Now that his first name is known, his address can be researched. If his address is found, the invoice can be mailed directly to him.
Police Department Report
Chief Meyer presented the Case Report for November. Ballweg replaced two tires on the squad car and planned to monitor the other two. The balding tires were not performing in the snow. Chief Meyer had the other two replaced locally and the original tires are in storage. The old tires will be put back on the squad car in the spring and Ballweg will continue to monitor the wear at that time.
Committee Reports
Water & Sewer - Liegel
Water Pumpage for November:
Well No. 1: 214,000
Well No. 2: 2,076,000
Total for November: 2,290,000 gallons, which was 576,900 gallons more than last year.
Two bacteria and two well samples were sent to the State Lab. All samples tested safe.
Monthly fluoride average: 1.07 p.p.m.
Wastewater Report for November:
Influent Monthly Average B.O.D.: 231 mg/l
Effluent Monthly Average B.O.D.: 11 Limit: 15 mg/l
Influent Monthly Average T.S.S.: 282 mg/l
Effluent Monthly Average T.S.S.: 20.5 Limit: 20 mg/l
(Sludge pump malfunction, problem rectified.)
Monthly Average Nitrogen Ammonia: 2.198 mg/l
Limit: 20.0 mg/l Monthly
29.0 mg/l Daily
Total gallons treated: 1,618,800
Police & Golf Course – Meise
No Police Committee report.
No Golf Course Committee report.
Parks – Neuheisel
Neuheisel suggested that the Village get the community involved in the Park Master Plan before Strand Engineering starts their designing. He proposed have a meeting or sending everyone a letter. A survey would be a good idea. An insert into the Buyers Guide is inexpensive. Buchanan will contact Josh Straka of Strand to explore this idea.
Finance & Ordinance – Kraemer
The Budget Hearing was held and the budget was passed. The process went better this year than in the past because Committees did a better job.
Ordinance Committee will meet early next year.
Streets & Library Liaison – Leeck
No Library Report.
No Streets Committee Report.
Building & Swimming Pool – Buchanan
There was one permit issued in the last month. Jeff Nachreiner was fined a total of $250 for his parking issue. He still has a little work to do.
The contract for Strand Engineering for the Park Master Plan was reviewed by the attorney. Changes were made and sent to Strand. The survey has been put on hold because of the snow cover.
No Pool Committee report.
Other Business
Liegel motioned to approve Sauk County Planning & Zoning’s first payment for the Village of Plain’s Comprehensive Plan. This was seconded by Buchanan, and then carried unanimously.
Buchanan motioned to add “Additional Taxable Income” language to the Village Employee Handbook in correspondence with Internal Revenue Service tax code and was seconded by Meise. The motion carried unanimously.
Kraemer motioned to approve of the Village of Plain’s Utilities billing offering automatic payments for the customers. This was seconded by Leeck, and then carried unanimously.
Liegel motioned to set the date and time for the 2008 Village Caucus as Wednesday,
January 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. This was seconded by Kraemer, and then carried unanimously.
Kraemer motioned to grant approval for operator’s licenses for Mary C. Brey and Travis W. Kraemer for the period ending June 30, 2008 and was seconded by Neuheisel. The motion carried unanimously.
Correspondence
The Snow Removal Ordinance will run in the Home News next week.
A letter was received from Sauk County Highway Department. The Village of Plain will receive a Local Roads Improvement Program grant in 2009 for the amount of $21,064.10.
Review and Audit of Invoices:
Liegel motioned to pay Voucher #9768 payable to Siemens Water Technologies in the amount of $1,220.00 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 Buchanan. Meise seconded, and then the motion carried unanimously.
General Fund | $31,071.20 | Water Utility | $4,380.87 | ||
Library Fund | $3,185.74 | Sewer Department | $6,485.88 | ||
Golf Course | $1,044.18 | ||||
Wage Reimbursements: | $17,728.33 | ||||
Liegel motioned to adjourn to closed session at 9:45 p.m. This was seconded by Kraemer, and then the motion carried unanimously.
Clerk/Treasurer