The Withee Village Board held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 9.
Under Committee Reports, Trustee Bill Kroeplin reported that the library had 621 circulations in February. There were questions asked about how the interlibrary loan circulations are counted. Kroeplin said he would find out. They are starting to roll the Tootsie Rolls for Withee Days and anyone is welcome to help. Trustee Nancy Amacher brought a couple of items from Clark County Economic Development. They included brochures for Spring Into the Arts and Bloomin’ Greenhouse Tour as well as a calendar of events for March and April. She said that Karen Hurd had visited the Owen Library. Kroeplin asked a question about the fire station. Village President Larry Klabon said that Owen has been asked to hold the land while the district continues to work on grant funding. They were given a right of first refusal.
Under the Police Report there was some clarification given about how the city of Owen will pay police bills and the police department will reimburse them once a month. They moved $4,500 from the K9 savings to a CD at Prevail Bank with 3.99% interest. Officer Jake Haugstad said there had been an uptick in disturbances. There was a bar fight at the Woodland. He said a lot of people are arguing as there are more people outside now that the weather is nice. He then spoke about the new RMS (Records Management System). He said the Sheriff’s Office was sending some people to Chicago to learn about the system and Haugstad will be attending a meeting when they get back. He said currently when they go on a call, they enter it in their local system. He hopes everyone will sign on to the new system. Then while an event is happening dispatch will be entering information and it will all be there for him when the call is done. It will allow for information sharing between Clark County agencies involved in the system. He expects the cost to be similar to what it is in Marathon County. The county will cover the big costs and the municipalities will pay for county IT to get them on board per computer. He guessed it might cost $2,000 per year. The current system is costing the department $1,200 per year and they don’t get any updates. Haugstad said that the Dept. of Justice is going to make mandatory reporting to the state within the next couple of years. He will have more information on the system in the next couple of months. Alderperson Amacher asked about the treasurer’s report and if it was possible to get more detail in the future. The treasurer’s report and the K9 funds transfer were approved.
For Public Works, DPW Derek Schad said he had read meters. The reclaim meters are in, the check valves are bad, but he might be able to clean them. He also cleaned culverts out. He spoke about issues with dog poop in people’s yards. He has to dodge it when reading meters and it is an ordinance violation. Schad also said that people leaving garbage carts in the streets instead of in their driveways creates an issue for snowplowing. Xcel has been working on replacing electric poles. They plan to do the poles to the school first and then come back toward Withee. The power pole at the lift station is leaning and pulled the breaker box out. Zelie’s is trimming trees. They won’t chip the trees if they are ash. They have left some brush piles that the village currently can’t get to because it is too wet. He said it will be a mess for awhile but if anyone needs wood, they can talk to the homeowners about removing it. He said that moving the brush might be a good project for Community Service Day. There are currently a lot of totem pole trees where the branches have been removed and the trees left standing.
Ben Esker was present from the Softball Association to talk about the lease. He said they have been talking about abolishing the Softball Association. They want to do a one-year lease so they can plan for that. He said everything in the concession stand would stay with the building. He asked if a key could be kept at the village hall. Too many people are making copies of keys and that is becoming an issue. Having it at village hall would allow for more accountability. He said the Mennonites that use the ballfield need to provide a phone number and address and be held accountable. Esker said if they abolish the Association, it will be back in the village’s hands anyway. They need to get at least $75 in rent to cover electric, etc. Village Clerk Ellen Niemi said the key could be dropped in the dropbox at the village hall when they are done, but the key would have to be picked up before the village hall closed. Trustee Susan Kalepp said they should have a written agreement with people renting the ballfield. DPW Schad would like a calendar of what happens there. Esker said it was usually youth baseball, T-ball, and the Mennonites. He said the Softball Association only has two tournaments. He also felt that they could work more with the Lions during Withee Days and not have the concession stand open when the Withee Days stands are open. The board approved the one-year lease.
DPW Schad got a quote for a new recirculation pump for the water tower. The cost is $2,042 for the pump and $2,686 for installation, including labor, valves, wiring and stainless pipes. Schad said he can see if the old pump can be refurbished and kept as a spare. The estimate from N.L. Stock was approved.
Porting internet from the water plant to the shop was approved at a cost of $1,259 from Yellowstone Computing. Currently Schad is using Country Wireless in the shop. Spectrum can be ported from the water plant to the shop. This means the phone will actually work and he will have better internet service. The board will still have to address Country Wireless equipment on the water tower. The estimate is for porting, there won’t be any additional monthly charge.
Klabon said he had been approached by Owen Mayor Scott Jalling about the village participating in their Clean Sweep in May. The village would have costs for dumpsters and people to help. The county is offering a Clean Sweep on August 21. This wouldn’t cost the village anything. The board decided to go with the county for this year.