The Village Board took a step forward to refinance two outstanding General Obligation Bonds with the village saving over $66,000 in finance charges over the next seven years. The total borrowing would be $1,735,000.
Brian Reilly, the Senior Municipal Advisor from Ehlers out of Roseville, Minnesota addressed the Village Board Monday evening during their regular monthly meeting. He explained that the borrowing would retire two 2019 Promissory Notes, one for $645,000 and the other for $1,090,000.
He explained that the note would be for a twenty-year period with a balloon payment at the end of ten years. Reilly explained a timeline for the sale of the bonds which could be approved at the board next meeting in November, they should be awarding the bonds and the village should have the funds by the end of November.
In his presale report, Reilly explained how the bonds would count against the Village General Obligation Debt Limit of five percent of the total Village Equalized Valuation. “Following issuance of the Bonds, the Village’s total General Obligation debt principal outstanding will be $1,924,839, which is 67 percent of its limit. The five percent limit is a state set limit. By the end of this bond issue the cost to the village in interest is estimated at $350,337.
In other action the board agreed to spend up to $2,000 for a housing study to go with the village’s upcoming Comprehensive Plan.
They also approved spending $13,750 to apply four inches of river rock on the Dump Road.
The board did not move on the new Title Ten Municipal Code as many of the board members stated that they did not have the time to read the entire code. They did talk about one item in the new code, and that was to allow ATV’s and snowmobiles to have the same speed limit as regular vehicle traffic.
The board addressed the Main Street lighting, with Village President Lukas Montgomery reminding other board members that the lighting issue has been an item every since the Main Street Construction project was completed more than a year ago. The improvement centered with installing two more lights near where the old feed mill stood.
The board also approved new Employee Health Insurance program for next year with Village Clerk/Treasurer telling the board members that the renewal increase is 3.49 percent.
During his report, Don Rose, the village’s Public Works Director noted that a five-year-old got stuck in the playground equipment at Pafko Park and that the ambulance and fire department were called to help out.
In his report to the Village Board, Police Chief Greg Lamkin informed the board that his department handled 203 calls last month, bringing the total for the year to over 1500 calls.
Lamkin also made note of several cases the department worked on, including a local resident had a package stolen off the porch. His report said, “We recommend that residents try to schedule delivery for when they are home or plan to arrange with a neighbor to take delivery on their behalf.”
“Working with the school and post office, we deployed the Dunn county sheriff’s Office K-9 units to conduct routine checks of the post office and school campus. No contraband was located.”
The department received a complaint about a sexual assault of a child that occurred several years ago. “An adult suspect is in custody and we anticipate him being charged soon,” Lamkin informed the board.
Lamkin also noted to the board that they will be hosting the Drug Take Back again on Saturday, October 23 and will be working with local organizations to have Trick and Treat downtown on Halloween.
