The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 27 with Alderpersons Ken Martine and Jason Thornton absent.
Clerk Tracy Rau reported that she had spoken to Jim Bohl. He had a question on the 1,400 square foot requirement and whether that was per unit or for an entire duplex. Alderperson Ray Kilty said it is per side and he didn’t think it would fit on the lot. Kilty felt that the current duplexes were about 1,000 square feet per side. This doesn’t include the garage as that is not living space. Kilty is willing to meet with Bohl and review things with him. Bohl would like to trade Lots 6 and 7 for Lots 18 and 19. Alderperson Bob Wilczek suggested the council hold off on making a decision until they confirm the size of the duplex. It will be added to the next agenda.
Mayor Scott Jalling said he had something in writing from the post office in regard to the Clustered Box Unit (CBU) that the post office was asking the city to put up. It says it is the responsibility of the customer, but the post office would have the final say on where a mailbox cluster could go. Jim Bohl is waiting to see what the city does before he does anything for his duplexes.
The council went on to discuss the Police Agreement. Alderperson Wilczek said that ¾ of what Withee is complaining about is in the agreement. He said that their attorney Bonnie Wachsmuth wrote the original agreement and eventually it had to go to another attorney. He said that the council doesn’t need to vote on most things, only the budget and anything outside the budget. Chief of Police Patrick Fehlman said the committee has the right to lease or purchase vehicles. Wilczek said they are helping Withee financially. Mayor Jalling asked of Owen was happy with the agreement. Alderperson John Mauel said Withee didn’t say anything about the police department, they only asked questions. Wilczek said there is a lot of misunderstanding of the police agreement and that falls on the police committee, in part. Alderperson Pam Jaffke suggested they move forward with seeing if the mayor can be the tie-breaking vote. Wilczek turned this into a motion to move forward with an amendment stating the mayor would be the tie-breaker for the police committee. The motion passed.
The city will have their attorney draw up an agreement with Withee in regard to the bike trail. The council approved DPW Chad Smith being the lead on this.
Operator licenses were approved for 43 people with no problems. Beverage licenses won’t be approved until the next meeting as they hadn’t been published yet.
Under the Mayor’s Report, Jalling expressed condolences to the family of Norby Pabich saying he was a valued member of the community and served on the council for over 20 years. The city will make a $100 donation to The Highground in his memory. Jalling congratulated the track teams for being Conference Champs. Wilczek added congratulations to the O-W Archery Team members that competed at Nationals.