Call to order: by President Kelly Hodge
Pledge of Allegiance

Motion: Hodge/Pliska to appoint Cindy Gemza as temporary Clerk until the appointed Clerk arrives. All in favor. Carried.

Roll Call: Cindy Gemza, Helen Pliska, Arnie Kaminski, Kelly Hodge, Duane Dobbe, Rick Osowski

Also Present:  Jill Kumenius, Norma Anderson, Jack Brooks, Mike Zdroik, Angela Tucker, Jeff Schreiber, Ken Johnson, Mike Hodge, Chain Williams, Betty Williams, Steve Rutta, April Rutta, Robert Kurszewski, Sheriff John Charewicz, Barb Mlodik, Gene Worzalla, Tod Beckland, Senator Russ Decker, Nancy Osowski, Debbie Peplinski

Motion: Dobbe/Pliska to approve the February Minutes as read. All in favor. Carried.

Old Business:

Keg Registration:
All of the Tavern owners, grocery and convenience store owners and the Board members were provided with information regarding the Counties proposal to implement Keg Registration. Sheriff John Charewicz was present to answer questions.
1. The Sheriff spoke in reference to the issue of the stickers falling off
the kegs. He said he looked into it, and he was assured they would not fall
off.
2. Is Stevens Point implementing this ordinance? YES Ordinances supporting this regulation have already been passed in the City of Stevens Point, the Town of Hull and Village of Park Ridge. The Villages of Almond and Amherst are considering at this time and the Townships will be approached at a later date.
3. If we buy a keg in an area that does not participate in this program,
what do we do? Sheriff-you must register the keg if you take it out of that
area, either at sheriff office or police station.
4. Is this ordinance strictly Portage county? No, not necessarily, but we
are on the forefront as to what the sheriff feels will be a state mandate
soon. He stated it is municipality by municipality.
5. The sheriff stated this is a good program not a hassle. There is no
consequence to the seller.
6. If one bar wants to sell to another bar, do they have to register or
reregister? No

This registration will pertain to ¼ and ½ barrels (kegs) of beer and the Sheriff states in Central Wisconsin; it is common to “bust” two or three beer parties per week.
Motion: Osowski/Kaminski to adopt the Keg Registration Ordinance to be effective May 1, 2006. All in favor. Carried.

Zoning Change:
Petition for 622 Grand Avenue (parcel # 176-25-1021-03.05) received from Lorraine Dobbe was reviewed. Hodge explained that the Zoning Administrator as well as his boss both agreed that the 80 ft. lot width requirement in the Zoning Ordinance applies to the street frontage. A lot may be narrower at other sections if all other requirements are met.
Therefore, the lot division on this parcel is in accordance with the Zoning Administrators approval.
The side yard set backs were questioned. The board would like to know if the 20 feet requirement can be met with only a 70 Ft. lot width at the placement of the House.
Several Board members to do not support these facts and therefore a
Motion: Kaminski/Gemza to forward this petition to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Carried.

Fire Bell Planter-Highway 66 Enhancement
Maintenance Bob presented an estimate from McCune Paint & Body to sandblast and repaint the Fire bell and the Christmas decoration brackets.
Bell=$206.90
Brackets=$173.90
Hodge explained that we have received notice from Ralph Colrud that he intends to donate $500.00 towards this enhancement.
Motion: Dobbe/Pliska to approve the estimate from McCune. All in favor. Carried.

** Hodge also noted that a choice of banners will be presented for the residents to vote on at Election Day in April.

Life & Disability Insurance:
A paragraph pertaining to the participation and termination in the State Insurance Program were read. Employer and Employee cost for a Basic Life Insurance plan were presented as follows:

Employer        Employee:
$36.86/year        $184.32/year-Maintenance Bob
$4.80/year        $24.00/year-Clerk Theresa

Several Board members and residents felt this was already decided at the January Meeting when the Health care policy was established.
Hodge explained that the facts of the State Plan have been confirmed since then. The State offers an appealing plan so it is the Board’s option to present the benefits of the plan at this time.
Motion: Hodge/Gemza to Approve the Resolution approving the Village as a participating Employer under the Wisconsin Public Employers’ Group Life Insurance Program.
4 in favor. Pliska and Kaminski opposed. Carried.

Employee Handbook
Motion: Dobbe/Osowski to approve the amendments to the Employee Manual to include the following paragraphs:
Jury Duty: Retirement/Pension/Life Insurance: Health Care Policy
All in favor. Carried.

Truck Purchase:
Maintenance Bob explained that all of the companies presenting price quotes agreed to maintain their price for an additional 30 days.
The dealers were all in agreement that the trade in value of the dump truck would be between $2,500.00 and $3,000.00
The current premium for full coverage property insurance is $693.00. A new truck would be between $750.00 and $800.00.
The amount of funds spent on repairs since 2000 is $8,427.19.
Financing the Truck would increase the debt payment by about $10,000.00 each year for ten years. This new debt could be levied on the tax roll.
The general consensus of the Board is to deny the purchase of a truck due to the unforeseen events that could occur during the Highway 66 construction project.

Ordinance Codification:
Attorney Molepske has not processed this codification in the time frame specified in his proposal.
The clerk spoke with General Code. They are willing to reduce their original price quote if the Ordinances can be placed on the computer for electronic transfer.
Motion: Dobbe/Pliska to notify Molepske that he is no longer obligated to complete the Ordinances and to authorize the Clerk to input the data and contact General Code for an updated quote. All in favor. Carried.

New Business:

Fair Park Renovation:
Mike Zdroik representing the Lions Club and Jack Brooks representing the Booster Club presented an idea to upgrade the facilities at the Fair Park to include some of the following:
Bathroom, Concession stand and bleachers and the possible addition of a softball field.
They have hopes that this project could be a combined group effort with participation from all of the local Boards, groups and associations.
If the Village likes the idea, the Lions & Booster Clubs would like permission to proceed with gathering information for the project realizing there are issues of concern such as: ownership, electric bills, sewer laterals and general maintenance, Etc.
Then general consensus of the Board is to proceed.

R&R Meats:
Hodge explained her knowledge of the incident causing concern about the operation of the plant. She responded to resident complaints by speaking to them on the phone as well as going to the plant and speaking with the manager about the situation.
The State Inspector and Sheriffs’ department were also involved with the incident.
She feels that this incident was handled appropriately and further complaints will be accepted by completing a written complaint form that will be presented to the Chairman of the Committee pertaining to the nature of the complaint. It will be at the discretion of the chairman to determine if Board action is necessary.

The manager of the plant stated that the gates have been reinforced and they are now taking precaution by backing the trailer up to the building to release the animals. This was not done previously as they did not want to damage the building.

Acknowledging the use of the Village Loader/Backhoe to haul the animal, a statement of charges will be sent to the Business owner for use of this equipment.

Resident complaints from the property owners living at 247 Pioneer Street (Angela Tucker & Jeff Schreiber) were considered. They presented pictures to the Board supporting their concerns for violations to the conditional use permit.
Hodge once again stated that the appropriate enforcement agents were on site during the incident. She also noted that the Board had previously toured a similar facility to assure this type of business should not have any adverse affects to the community before approving the project.
When the tone of the conversation turned accusatorial, Hodge ended the conversation and advanced to the next agenda item.

Senator Russ Decker
He introduced himself and asked if the audience had any general questions.
The following topics were discussed:
1. Is there any funding available for Village Grants...? State Budget is tight.
2. When will the other 2 portions of Highway 66 be complete...? Transportation budget will be cut due to gas indexing. Not sure.
3. What can be done about the school funding...? This is a never ending battle, there is no solution, and the best option is a referendum.
4. Where does the TABOR law stand...? It is alive in the Assembly, but will probably not be passed by the Senate.

Street Lighting Parts & Service:
Alliant Energy met with Maintenance Bob, Hodge and the Clerk to discuss the Facilities Service Agreement. They suggest we order a spare pole, base and hardware to have on stock when a replacement becomes necessary. The cost of this would be between $1,500.00 and $2,000.00. It should be a reduced price due to ordering it in quantity with the Highway 66 order and also be included in the shipping and handling charges.
~The board would like an exact price on ordering this through the Village before they approve the purchase.
Alliant also suggested the Village consider hiring a locator service to respond to inquires about digging.
Triple E Locate charges $13.75 for every locate on Highway 66 and $9.00 per every ticket in the Village.
Vanguard charges $15.00 per locate on Highway 66 and $35.00 per hour for any major locate projects.
The manner in which this quotes were presented was confusing and the Board would like a representative from Triple E to attend a meeting to explain the locator service.

Street Sweeper Repairs:
Maintenance Bob presented the findings by Bruce Equipment from a free inspection.
They estimated the bristle, brakes and bearings, etc. Need to be replaced for an estimated amount of $1,765.00. Maintenance Bob reviewed the estimate and feels he can do the work himself. The Bristle and replacement parts will cost approximately $600.00.
Motion: Dobbe/Gemza to authorize Maintenance Bob to proceed with the repairs himself.
All in favor. Carried.

Water Heater for Village Hall:
The water heater does not have enough use and the water becomes stale and smells very strongly of rotten eggs. Maintenance Bob would like to replace the heater with an instant 2 gallon heater system from Hardware Hank for $165.00.
This is tabled for more price quotes.
 

Farm & Wild Animals:
A resident request to consider changing a residential zoning to agriculture for the purpose of keeping horses was presented. Under the advice of the Zoning Administrator, the Farm & Wild Animal Ordinance is what will be used to govern the decision to keep horses.
After reviewing the Ordinance, the Board agreed to deny keeping of horses based on items B (d) & (e) which refer to odor and public nuisance.

Discussion:

Land filling
The Army Core of Engineers must view the site by the Mill Pond for approval before any fill can be added.
The DNR will not allow any fill to be placed in the swamp area along Highway 66.

Maintenance Bob would like the Street Committee to view Pioneer Street to determine if repairs are needed.

President Report:
A free lunch series Grant Writing Workshop is being offered by the Portage County Grant Writer for anyone who is interested.

Motion to pay the Bills: Pliska/Gemza with the acceptation of the $500.00 donation requested by the Portage County Business Council. All in favor. Carried.

Motion to adjourn: Osowski/Kaminski. All in favor. Carried.

Adjournment: 10:15 p.m.

_________________________________________
Theresa K. Hartvig, Clerk-Treasurer
  
VILLAGE BILLS PAID-MARCH 2006
Duane Dobbe    $20.20    Bob Kurszewski    $362.67
Theresa Hartvig    $535.25    Judie Wiener-Mileage    $17.80
WI Dept of Revenue    $147.00    Alliant Energy    $953.65
WI Public Service    $323.17    Amherst Telephone Co    $133.91
Onyx Waste Service    $1603.28    MasterCard    $980.72
Schierl Inc    $354.31    BP Amoco    $127.60
Citgo Petroleum Corp    $305.02    Gannett WI Newspaper    $39.37
Firkus Lumber Co    $543.17    Anderson Machine    $502.00
Rosholt Hardware    $118.60    Rosholt Automotive Sales    $48.00
Service Motor Co    $36.24    Bob Kurszewski    $589.85
Theresa Hartvig    $519.88    Rosholt Fire District    $900.00
District 7 Clerk Meeting    $12.00    Duane Dobbe    $13.13
Bob Kurszewski    $360.95    Theresa Hartvig    $509.22
           

SEWER BILLS PAID-MARCH 2006
Bob Kurszewski    $292.48    WI Dept. of Revenue    $17.70
Amherst Telephone    $93.89    MasterCard    $120.83
Commercial Testing Lab    $129.00    Alltel    $22.58
Alliant Energy    $883.94    Bob Kurszewski    $254.34
US Post Master    $117.00    Duane Dobbe    $14.13
Bob Kurszewski    $483.23    Bob Kurszewski-Health    $1,000.00
Theresa Hartvig-Health    $750.00       

Call to order: by President Kelly Hodge

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call: Cindy Gemza, Helen Pliska, Arnie Kaminski, Kelly Hodge, Duane Dobbe and Rick Osowski

No others were present

Motion: Dobbe/Hodge to support the Zoning Administrator’s Ruling on the interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance regarding residential lot width and approve the zoning change from Business (B1) to Residential (R2) @ 622 Grand Ave E. (parcel # 176-25-1021-03.05.)
Dobbe and Hodge in favor, all other opposed. Denied Zoning Change.

Motion: Osowski/Pliska to adjourn. All in favor. Carried.

Adjournment:  7:00 p.m.
____________________________________
Theresa K. Hartvig
Village Clerk-Treasurer