EM approves extending park rentals or giving refunds
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — People who have rented the village park in Elk Mound for a date in May can extend the rental out up to two years, or they can ask for a refund.
People have been asking whether they can get a refund, said Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer, at the Elk Mound Village Board’s May 4 meeting.
Mass gatherings are not allowed under the Wisconsin Department of Health Services “Safer at Home” order put into place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Safer at Home order is set to expire May 26.
Hahn said she was recommending that in addition to considering giving a refund that the village board allow people to extend their park rental out up to two years.
One person who has rented the park would like to extend the rental to next year, she said.
“This is not a use it or lose it game,” noted Steven Abraham, village president.
Mark Levra, director of public works, said he agreed with only allowing cancellations up to the May 26 expiration date for the state’s order, to allow people to extend their rental out up to two years, and then “see what happens in June.”
Levra said he had spoken with the public works directors in Colfax and Menomonie and recommended that when the village opens restrooms at the park to only open one set of restrooms because the state Department of Health will be requiring the bathrooms to be sanitized six times daily.
Considering the amount of time it will take to sanitize the bathrooms six times a day, the village board may want to consider whether it will be worth the cost of the rental to rent the park, he said.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved extending park rentals out up to two years or giving a refund to someone who has rented the park through the Safer at Home order expiration date of May 26, pending further directives from state government.
In addition to Abraham, voting in favor of the motion were Village Trustees Cynthia Abraham, Jesse Jenson, Deborah Creaser-Kipp, Greg Kipp, Terry Stamm and Paula Turner.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Learned that Elk Mound has received the Wisconsin Rural Water Association’s 2020 safety award. The plaque arrived last week, Levra said.
• Learned that Levra is not planning to hire a summer employee this year for the public works department.
• Approved maintaining the COVID-19 response plan “as is” and to review the plan at the next village board meeting May 18.
• Accepted the Consumer Confidence Report for the village’s water system. There is nothing out of the ordinary on the report, Levra said. All of the items for which the village’s water is tested are under the maximum contaminant levels, he said, noting the village board must approve a motion indicating board members have reviewed the report so that it can be sent to the state Department of Natural Resources.
• Approved making updates to the Village of Elk Mound’s Emergency Operations Plan. Updates will include current telephone numbers for Kyle DeVries, Elk Mound Police Department; Levra; Eric Velin and Matt Flatland, building inspectors; Wachsmuth Excavating for disaster clean-up; replacing Rebecca Livingston with Creaser-Kipp as the property and finance chair; replacing Creaser-Kipp with Cynthia Abraham for distribution and adding Jenson and DeVries to distribution; adding the telephone numbers of all of the Elk Mound Village Board members.
• Tabled the agenda item pertaining to allowing Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church to place a mini food pantry at the location of the Little Free Library on village property near the village hall. The Little Free Library has been taken down for repairs, Levra noted. Village board members said they needed more information about the food pantry before they could consider approving it.
• Appointed Greg Kipp to be the village board member on the Board of Review scheduled for June 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.