The Owen Common Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, November 17. They went into closed session for a short time to discuss information from their attorney in regard to potential litigation involving the Business Park. In open session they announced that no further discussion or concurrence was needed.
The council approved an operators license for Galen Rubel. An operators license for Keyera Kramas was approved contingent upon payment.
Skunky’s Tavern was discussed. City Clerk Tracy Rau has calls in to the state to get answers to some questions. The bar is for sale and Rebecca Swiggum would like to lease it, with a possible future purchase. Owner Laken Potocnik would like to be done by the end of the year with Swiggum taking over January 1. Swiggum has applied for a Federal ID number for the business, which would be known as Skunk Hollow. The question is whether the license can be transferred from Potocnik to Swiggum. It is believed that Potocnik would have to surrender her license and Swiggum would have to do an application for a new license. Currently the city has no license available unless Potocnik surrenders hers. If the clerk gets answers, a special meeting may be held before the end of the year to approve the change.
The Union Contract for employee wages and classifications was approved.
The initial cost for Municode will be $20,950 paid over two years. They will upload the city’s ordinances and update them. The cost after that will be $1,200 per year. Police Chief Patrick Fehlman said that Greenwood has used Municode for years and really like it. The city had looked at it back in 2008 before deciding to go with a different ordinance attorney. A final decision was not made but a representative from Municode will be invited to the January 14 council meeting to explain what they do and how it works.
DPW Chad Smith gave his report. For Water, they have been doing quarterly meter reads. For Sanitary Sewer, the hauler program has started and Decker Sanitation is dumping holding tank waste at the wastewater treatment facility. Smith would like to buy ferric in bulk to save money going forward. He wants to purchase 4,000-5,000 gallons at a time and store it in tanks that they have available. The ferric is good for two years. They installed a new effluent meter at a cost of $1,200. This was due to the old meter not recording correctly when tested. For Streets, they rebuilt the back of the plow truck and serviced a number of other vehicles. They have plowed snow once so far this year. They also put up the signs along the snowmobile trail. They had to do some repairs on the Senior Center, including fixing a spot in the roof that was leaking and replacing the bathroom ceiling, which had suffered damage due to the roof leak. They also removed one water heater as it was felt that the Senior Center no longer needs two. Christmas lights were put up December 2.
Mayor Jalling asked Smith about the F&NE Depot roof. Smith said they will order what is needed to replace the roof with a metal roof. He plans to use a neutral color. They will work on the roof replacement if there is a nice day in January. Smith said he can’t buy the materials direct, they have to go through a place like Meyer Builders or Klingbeil Lumber. He will also look at Hixwood Metal as a possible source. There was also a question related to cables on the water tower. Signage for the dog park was asked about. Smith said as soon as he knows what they want on the signs, he can contact the Stanley Prison and order them to be made.
Under Other Reports, Alderperson Pam Jaffke reported on the Police Committee meeting, including the hiring of Officer Jason Scheffler, the call reports, all three officers working on becoming EMT certified, equipment updates, K9 Jimi being recertified, and Chief Fehlman looking for another used vehicle for Officer Scheffler.