VILLAGE OF BRUCE
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
March 1, 2021
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a scheduled monthly meeting of the Village Board was held on Monday, March 1st, 2021.
Village President Shane Trott presided and called to order the meeting at the Village Hall facility at 7:00 p.m. Board members present were Galen Brainerd, Rob Grabon & Mark Zimmer. Kim Grasley and Avery Newman were absent. Jessica Hegeholz attended also.
– PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE –
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to approve the February 1st, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting Minutes, carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve the Treasurer’s report as given, carried.
EMPLOYEE’S REPORT: Darlene Wundrow attended the meeting and reported that the plow truck has broken down and is leaking oil. Martin Heavy Duty Towing towed the truck to Frank Weinert’s for repairs. Wundrow also asked permission to trade in the oldest John Deere riding lawnmower that we own. She obtained a quote from John Deere in the amount of $8,600.00 with an estimated $3,000.00 trade in for the old mower. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Zimmer to approve Wundrow to trade in the old John Deere lawnmower for $3,000.00 and purchase the new mower for $8,600.00, carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Pat Sturzl-Bruce Public School-Referendum Discussion: Bruce School District Administrator Pat Sturzl attended the meeting to discuss the upcoming referendum that will be on the ballot for the April 6th, 2021 Spring Election. Sturzl explained that the school is asking for a referendum to exceed the revenue limit in the amount of $400,000.00 per year for 5 years. The current referendum for the Bruce School District runs through the 2020-2021 school year. The district is asking for the referendum to start with the 2021-2022 school year and run for five years, ending in June, 2026. Sturzl explained that by using the 2020-2021 property valuation, the $400,000.00 referendum per year for five years is an equal amount to the current referendum and that there would be no school property tax increase compared to last year. To maintain the current referendum the affect would be $0.1156 for every $1,000.00 of value.
APPLICATIONS:
Operator’s Licenses: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve an operator’s license for Evelyn E. Wulf, carried.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Utility:
Discussion and Action Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells: Two quotes were submitted for the corrective work on the wells.
1: Municipal Well & Pump: Well #1 – $45,280, Well #3 – $54,870 – Total $100,150
2: CTW Corporation: Well #1 – $31,379, Well #3 – $35,374 – Total $66,753
Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to award the corrective work to CTW Corporation for the proposal of $66,753, carried. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to table the item until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Meeting and to reword the item to say, ‘Discussion Regarding Corrective Work on Village Wells, carried.
USDA-Rural Development Grant: The Village is seeking a 75% match grant through USDA-Rural Development to cover the expenses from the Corrective Work that needs to be done on the Village Wells. The grant is almost finished and ready for submittal. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to table the ‘USDA-Rural Development Grant’ issue until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Committee Meeting February 16th, 2021 Report: Trott reported there was a committee meeting on February 16th, 2021 to discuss a few items on the PSC Water Rate Application before final submittal:
Item 1 – Should the Village assess 50% or 100% of the Public Fire Protection Charge to water utility customers? This charge has historically been charged to Village residents through the tax levy. The committee is recommending charging only 50% of the Public Fire Protection Charge and also recommending that the charge be spread out evenly through all property owners in the Village limits, not just limited to water utility customers.
Item 2 – The committee is recommending adding a real estate closing charge to customers when a property closes. This item will be added in with the application and only charged to individuals during a sale of a property.
The committee also reviewed and is in agreeance with a resolution that would need to be passed regarding the desire to place the 50% of the Public Fire Protection Charge on utility bills as a direct charge for all users, regardless of whether water service is provided. This resolution is a necessary item that would need to be submitted with the final application to the PSC.
Resolution #21-01 – ‘Resolution Electing to Have the Village of Bruce Water Utility Begin Directly Charging for Public Fire Protection’: For the Village to be able to charge customers for the Public Fire Protection Charge, the PSC requires a resolution to be passed. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to approve passing Resolution #21-01, a resolution electing to have the Village of Bruce Water Utility begin directly charging for Public Fire Protection, carried.
PSC-Water Rate Application: The application has been submitted to the PSC and the Village will wait to hear a response. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to table the ‘PSC Water Rate Application’ issue until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
Public Works:
Property Concern on Daily Street-Tree Removal: The property owner has taken care of most of the trees that were a concern and is in the process of clean up. There are still two trees standing. The item will be left on the agenda until the entire removal is completed. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to table the ‘Property Concern on Daily Street-Tree Removal’ issue until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
North Main Street Reconstruction Project:
Purchase Approval for Proposed North Main Street Reconstruction Project-Coleman Street Lift Station Location: All final paperwork and closing is scheduled for March 4th, 2021. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grabon to table the ‘Purchase Approval for Proposed North Main Street Reconstruction Project-Coleman Street Lift Station Location’ issue until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
North Main Street Reconstruction Project Bid Discussion & Award: A bid opening meeting was scheduled on February 26th, 2021. Four bids were submitted:
1: Haas Sons, Inc – Total Project Bid – $2,082,111.13
2: McCabe Construction, Inc. – Total Project Bid – $2,319,665.00
3: A-1 Excavating, Inc. – Total Project Bid – $2,432,263.00
4: James Peterson Sons, Inc. – Total Project Bid – $2,605,472.12
The current Engineer’s estimate was $2,436,207.50. The low bid from Haas Sons, Inc. was approximately 15% below the Engineer’s estimate and 10% below the second bidder. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to award the project to Haas Sons, Inc. with the total bid of $2,082,111.13, carried. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Grabon to remove the item from the agenda, carried.
Larry Gotham of Morgan & Parmley, Ltd. gave a quick update on the project. He is currently working with the Village attorney on easements.
Administration:
Employee Manual Update: Nothing new this month. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to table the ‘Employee Manual Update’ issue until the April, 2021 Regular Monthly Board Meeting, carried.
New Hire Deputy/Clerk Position Discussion: Six applications are currently on file.Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to send the item to committee to review applications and schedule interviews, carried.
Special Assessment Ordinance Chapter 3 Section 2 Article A & Article B Discussion & Action: Two options were submitted to the Board for review. Option one would be to get rid of Article B, only keep Article A, and to pass a resolution adopting a ‘Best Practices Document’ to be included with Article A. This option would let the Village be more flexible in how special assessments are done. Option two would be to keep both Article A & B in Chapter 3 Section 2 but amend the Ordinance to a more updated, specific version. Keeping Article B would make the Village required to follow certain steps when assessing. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to keep both Article A and Article B included in Chapter 3 Section 2 but to amend Article B to a more updated version, carried. A copy of the revised Ordinance can be viewed at the Village Hall Facility.
Finance:
Emergency ‘One Call’ System: Three package options through OnSolve were submitted to the Board for review.
1: Standard Package – $1,560 Annually – Limit of 6-8 calls only
2: Unlimited Emergency – $1,938 Annually – Provides unlimited use for emergencies. This plan would not cover any basic information that would need to be shared.
3: Unlimited Emergency Plus – $2,280 Annually – Provides fully unlimited alerting.
After some discussion, the Board felt like the fully unlimited plan would be the best option right now with all of the project information that will need to be shared efficiently and effectively with the Village residents. Motion by Grabon, seconded by Brainerd to approve going with the Unlimited Emergency Plus package at the cost of $2,280 annually and reviewing our contract with OnSolve again in 2022, carried.
Chippewa Valley Bank 2011 Street Rehab Project Loan Payoff: Trott reported that the Chippewa Valley Bank 2011 Street Rehab Project Loan was paid off February 10th, 2021. Final payment due on the loan was $30,005.63.
Superior Choice Credit Union Main Street/Water Tower Loan Payoff: Trott also reported that the Superior Choice Credit Union Main Street/Water Tower loan was paid off on February 10th, 2021. Final payment due on the loan was $14,748.73.
Industrial Site:
Advertise for Bids – Industrial Site Land Lease: The current lease for the Industrial Site Land is up in April, 2021. Motion by Brainerd, seconded by Zimmer to approve advertising for bids for the 21 acre,3 year lease, carried. Bids will be opened at the April 5th, 2021 Regular Monthly Meeting.
APPROVAL OF BILLS: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to pay vouchers and electronic payments totaling $342,078.62, carried.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring Election-April 6, 2021: Poll hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Village residents may vote at the Village Hall, 100 W. River Avenue, Bruce, WI 54819.
Cruise Nights-Classic Auto Collision Center has set the calendar for Cruise Night in the parking lot at 705 N. Main Street in Bruce, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. May 18th, June 15th, July 20th & August 17th.
Saturday July 10th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. will be the annual Open House/Craft/Car Show. Contact Classic Auto Collision Center at 715-868-CARS or classicauto@brucetel.net for more details.
Blue Hills Cruise-In Open House/Car Show Dates: June 5th, August 7th & October 2nd. Contact L’Cars at bob@lcars.com or Classic Auto at classicauto@brucetel.net for more information.
ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Brainerd to adjourn, carried. Adjournment was at 8:30 p.m.
Jessica Hegeholz
Clerk/Treasurer