The Withee Village Board held their regular monthly meeting on Monday, February 10. The recommendation from the Planning Commission in regard to the village owned property line issues was discussed. Village President Everett Lindgren said the recommendation was to give the property to the adjacent owners with them paying the cost of the surveying and the quitclaim deed. The cost of surveying will be about $875 each and the quitclaim deeds another $250-$300. One of the property owners, Dan Kraschnewski, was present at the meeting and said he could probably argue the issue but it would cost him legal fees and they would still end up in the same place. He always thought that the ditch was the property line. The board approved the Planning Commission recommendation. They went on to approve the contract with Denzine Surveying to do the work. The work will be completed in the spring.
The board approved the Hemp-Derived Cannabinoid Ordinance as presented. The village attorney had put together an ordinance for them based on the county ordinance.
Under the Police Report, O-W Police Committee members reported that a 2019 used Ford Explorer had been purchased for $10,100. It will cost $9,091.66 to outfit it. They said the police savings account was discussed. The garage quote was tabled. Chief Fehlman has two quotes but was working on getting a couple more. Lindgren said he didn’t think Withee should put money into a garage on Owen’s property, that Owen should fix it and rent it to the police. Clerk Ellen Niemi had checked with the village attorney and was told the contract only refers to equipment, not buildings in regard to recouping costs if the contract were dissolved at some future date. The attorney said they would have to change the agreement before putting police savings into the building. The patrol car purchase was approved. The village board approved a motion to go forward with not paying for the garage as it is not part of the contract.
Under the Public Works report, the board watched a short video of the sewer on West Mill Street to Pine that was televised. It was full of grease. There is also a crack in the pipe. The board approved the $3,000 cost to do a sleeve in the pipe. A price for the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) at Well #3 was also approved at a cost of $5,111. DPW Derek Schad said he had issues with it last month. He said replacing the VFD might fix other issues also. A quote from Hawkins for a new chemical pump was approved in the amount of $8,987. The DNR has also approved it. The cost doesn’t include the freight charges. Schad said the programming for the Tonka panel was lost due to a glitch. It is pretty much fixed, but the panel is from 2017 and they should be updated every three years. Getting everything at the same time means that all the programming work can be done at once, saving time and money.
Holly Wilke and Victoria Looker were approved to be Chief Election Inspectors. An operator’s license was approved for Lindsey Emmerich. She will be working at Refuel Pantry. The board also approved Clerk Niemi’s suggestion for what to do with their two maturing Certificates of Deposit. Some of the funds will be put into new nine month Certificates of Deposit and money from the Charitable Money Market Account will be moved to the Local Government Investment Pool to get a higher interest rate.