The Village of Withee held their regular board meeting on Monday, July 13. Payment of the bills was approved
after a couple of questions were answered. There was a question on the bill from Weld Riley for legal services.
There was also a question on the Elan Financial bill which included fuel for the F150, phone bills, tires, and mailing out a report. There were also questions on a bill from B&M Technical for motor repair and R&R Waste System for jetting & televising sewer lines. The B&M bill was to repair lightning damaged equipment and the R&R bill is once a year, more often if needed.
Under Committee Reports, trustee Nancy Amacher handed out a couple of items prepared by Clark County
Economic Development. They listed jobs available in Clark County, various things to do in the county, and
restaurants and bars in Clark County. It was also noted that the library is still looking for a part-time director.
Under the Police Report, Chief Patrick Fehlman said there have been a number of disturbances and crisis calls the past month, along with a fraud case, and welfare checks. He was asked about the times on the police report. They default to when items are entered on the computer unless a specific time is entered. He was also asked about what Traffic Hazards, Spills, etc. means. It could be anything causing a traffic hazard, in this case the orange barrels on Hwy 29 blowing around during a storm. Trustee Susan Kalepp asked for an update on the ordinance violations. She asked in particular about lawns being mowed. The village weed commission is in charge of that. The village sends
out the lawn letters and the police can issue a citation if it is too hazardous for the village to mow. Clerk Ellen Niemi said they are usually given five days to mow and then the village does it. A couple of questions were also asked about the police bills. Officer Jake Haugstad gets extra pay for being the K-9 officer, but that should be included as regular payroll. There was a problem with the Teamsters information having to be removed because that comes out of their paychecks. The police department does not pay it. Fehlman also said he wasn’t paying the WE Energies bill for heating the garage as that should be paid by the city and not the police department. Officer Haugstad turns in bills for K-9 Jimi for food, medication, grooming, etc. about once a quarter, which is why the bill was higher. The
bill for Kramer Plumbing was because of an issue with the pipes in the police bathroom. It has been fixed. The
police department won’t get this type of maintenance bill next year after the new rental agreement is in place.
Yellowstone Computing backs up all police emails. The credit card was used to pay for a certified letter and a couple of uniform items that will come out of Officer Scheffler’s uniform allowance.
Pat Kilty from Three C’s was on hand to introduce himself and tell the village what services he can provide them.
He works for the city of Marshfield but started his own business last November and currently is doing inspections for seven municipalities. He does everything online and if he is hired to do both residential and commercial inspections, he will give 10% of the permit fees back to the village. There is an extra fee if the village requests an inspection. In Withee, Bob Christensen has been doing residential inspections since 2008, with the state DSPS handling commercial inspections. He said there is no state commercial inspector right now. Kilty said the village
will need to update their ordinances first but he is willing to help with that. He can do most commercial inspections, including electrical and plumbing. DPW Derek Schad would still do permits for minor updates to residences like siding and roofing. Kilty said he would like to sign a two-year contract to start and have it signed by the first of the year. Kilty said they could use much of Owen’s ordinance for their updates if they want to. He will work with Christensen on making the transition. The board voted to move forward with doing the ordinance changes and work with Three C’s.
The board went into closed session for about 15 minutes to discuss the agreement with Country Wireless. When they came into open, they voted to have their attorney negotiate with Country Wireless with the terms discussed in closed.
For the Department of Public Works, DPW Schad said that the culverts on North and Oak Streets are done. He is working on water testing. Brush mowing is done and the curbs are painted. He replaced two water meters. Some street lights were knocked out during a storm. He is working on a quote for curb replacement. He did get a quote for the culvert in the Lions Park but wasn’t ready to discuss that yet. He will be seeking bids for the LRIP funds. The
culvert at the corner of Pine and Clover has a hole in it. The cost to replace it is $3,540, not including repaving the road. The quote from Dennis Ovyn Trucking was approved.
The Property, Crime and Liability Insurance renewal for 2026-2027 in the amount of $21,365 was approved. The board reviewed the year-to-date budget, including some items that have gone overbudget due to unforeseen issues including culverts, furnace repairs, updates to the bathroom at the village shop and internet porting.