Wheeler invests $100,000 from Wisc. Industrial Sand

By LeAnn R. Ralph

WHEELER — The Wheeler Village Board has agreed to invest $100,000 from Wisconsin Industrial Sand in a Money Market account and a certificate of deposit.

The village board agreed to invest $50,000 in each option at the March 12 meeting.

Quotes from Dairy State Bank in February indicated that a Money Market account would pay .30 percent monthly, with a minimum balance of between $25,000 and $99,000.

Dairy State Bank’s information for February indicated that a certificate of deposit would earn .75 percent for an 18-month CD, with a minimum deposit of $30,000.

Wheeler Village Board members said that the Money Market account would give them access to the money if an emergency should occur.

At the September 2012 meeting, the Wheeler Village Board approved an agreement with Wisconsin Industrial Sand/Fairmount Minerals to pay the village a one-time fee of $100,000 to cover the period from October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2017.

Fairmount Minerals had previously been paying a per-ton tipping fee for the sand loading facility in Wheeler several times per year.

In 2011, Fairmount Minerals/Wisconsin Industrial Sand paid the Village of Wheeler in the neighborhood of $25,000.

At the August 2012 meeting, the village’s financial advisor, Sean Lentz of Ehlers and Associates, recommended that the village borrow money to bring the general fund balance back up to $200,000 to eliminate annual cash flow borrowing.

If neither the village nor Fairmount Minerals gives written notice by the end of the five-year period, the fee will remain $100,000 for the subsequent five years and will be payable again on October 10, 2017, according to the agreement.

The agreement with Wheeler also stipulates that Fairmount will provide 40 hours of community service to the village for each year of the term of the agreement, for a total of 200 hours.

Cross connection

In other business at the March 12 meeting, the Wheeler Village Board learned that Robin Goodell, village clerk-treasurer, and Chris Goodell, sewer and water operator, had sent out a brochure to all village residents regarding residential water user cross-connection hazards.

The state Department of Natural Resources is requiring all municipalities to do cross-connection surveys of their residential and commercial water users.

Cross-connection refers to something in a water system, such as a hose in a laundry tub, that could siphon water back into the village’s water system and contaminate the entire water supply.

Outside faucets, kitchens and bathrooms are of particular concern, said James Carter, village president.

The village will obtain more information on cross-connection surveys when Chris Goodell and Carter attend a water conference coming up soon.