The Withee Village Board held their regular meeting on Monday, April 13. The minutes were approved after a couple of clarifications in regard to trees and branches and fixing the breaker at the lift station. President Larry Klabon asked if residents were going to get something in the mail informing them that dog poop had to be cleaned up. It has already been put in the water bills.
Trustee Bill Kroeplin and Klabon were both asked about the bathrooms at the ballpark being open. DPW Derek Schad said they aren’t open yet as the building is not insulated and the water hasn’t been turned on.
Under Committee Reports, Kroeplin said the Tootsie Rolls are all wrapped for Withee Days. He also talked about library circulation as there were questions asked at the last meeting. Kroeplin said he has asked them to keep track of how many people come through the door each week, all books checked out are counted. It was also noted that some people come in to use the computers or the internet and don’t check anything out. Trustee Nancy Amacher said that circulation is only one aspect of what a library does. The board also asked about Janice Arndt, who fell on Saturday. She broke her glasses and had to get stitches. Library Director Brandon Hardin worked for her on Monday. Amacher said author Sandy Lindberg would be doing a presentation at the library. It was also noted that Frank Olszewski had written a book. Kroeplin said the library was going to buy a copy in his memory. Amacher reported on Spring into the Arts and the greenhouse tour for Clark County Economic Development.
For the Police Report, Chief of Police Patrick Fehlman reported that March was pretty busy with bigger calls that required a lot of follow-up. Officer Scheffler is doing the junk properties in Withee. He sent out 38 letters to properties that have abandoned cars or other items that need to be taken care of. Fehlman said his goal was to get this taken care of early in the spring so that things are cleaned up before the big summer events. Scheffler will be doing follow-up on the properties that got letters. Fehlman is also working on getting out letters for Owen before the cleanup day on May 2. There was a question about whether the letters are mailed or handed to the people. The response was they are mailed. Fehlman said they list the date that it should be cleaned up by and then they take another look to see if it has been done. They might send a follow-up letter if they feel the person has been working on it. Otherwise, they write citations. Trustee Randy Shelton asked about the trailer park. Letters are sent to the owners of the trailers. If a letter gets returned to the police, they check to see if someone is actually living there. They also contact the property owner. It could also possibly be a violation of their lease to have junk around the property. Fehlman was asked how long they give them to clean up a property. He said it is officer discretion but they give them enough time to get it done. Currently the letters have a deadline early in May shortly after the cleanup day. Normally they give them about 14 days. Clerk Ellen Niemi said that a lot of the dogs in the trailer court are not licensed. She said she could give the police a list. Kroeplin said he was glad that some of K9 Jimi’s deployments have been added to the police report. If it is a negative alert, it will be listed that way. But if Jimi has a positive alert, it will be listed as whatever crime has been committed. Trustee Susan Kalepp asked about calls in Stanley, etc. Fehlman said that is where the call started. It might be someone driving at a high rate of speed and Owen-Withee Police Department will be notified if they are coming in this direction so they can try to locate the vehicle. Klabon asked about brush and blocks of wood in people’s yards. Fehlman said they can have a woodpile. They would only look at it if it looked like a pile of rubbish.
For Public Works, DPW Schad said the recirculation pump will be installed in the water tower in the next week or two. The bathroom remodel at the shop is done. The radiant heaters at the shop went out. He has been picking up brush. He is waiting for bearings for the sweeper on the endloader. Schad said he is also getting things ready for spring. The electric pole by the water tower is being redone because it is tipping. When it is fixed, they will have to move the socket and fuse box. The cost of $2,600 for Baehr Electric to do the work was approved. He said that eventually he would like to fence the area and add a generator. Xcel will have to inspect the work when it is completed.
Clerk Niemi reported that they had 95 voters for the spring election. The Organizational Meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 28. Niemi asked that any board members interested in doing Board of Review training let her know.