Colfax Village Board returns to 2 meetings per month schedule
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — After approving one meeting each month instead of two on a one-year trial basis at the December 27 meeting, the Colfax Village Board has now gone back to two meetings each month.
The issue is what state statute allows regarding a change in pay for village board members, said Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, at the Colfax Village Board’s January 10 meeting.
Two resolutions were considered at the December 27 meeting. One resolution changed the meeting schedule from the second and fourth Monday of each month to the second Monday of each month on a trial basis for one year, and the second resolution changed the pay for village board members from $20 per meeting for two meetings per month to $40 per meeting for one regular board meeting per month.
Under state statute, village board members cannot change the compensation for trustees until after their term expires, Niggemann said.
Anders Helquist of the law firm Weld Riley e-mailed a response to Niggemann dated December 30 explaining what is included in current state law.
As it turns out, the issue is not whether the pay is increased or decreased, but rather, that state statute refers to changing the compensation.
Several village board members expressed concern at the December 27 meeting that changing from $20 per meeting for two meetings to $40 per meeting for one meeting would appear as an increase in pay for the board members.
Another issue centered around the compensation for a second “special meeting” in the month if another meeting was needed to address something that could not wait until the next monthly meeting, resulting in the question of whether board members would also receive $40 for the special meeting.
Village board members agreed to delay action on the compensation resolution to give Niggemann an opportunity to get advice from the village’s attorney.
Statute 61.193
According to state Statute 61.193, “the compensation for an elective village office shall be established before the earliest time for filing nomination papers for the office or, if nomination papers are not used, before the caucus date determined under s.8.05(1)(a). After that time or date, no change may be made in the compensation for the office that applies to the term of office for which the deadline or date applies. The compensation established for an elective office remains in effect for ensuing terms unless changed.”
In other words, if the village board members wanted to make a change in compensation, they would have had to approve it before December 1, 2021, which was the first date nomination papers could be circulated for the April 5, 2022, election in order for the compensation to change after the April 5 election.
If the change in compensation had been made before December 1, 2021, however, the change would only apply for those village board positions up for election in April that are now occupied by incumbents Gary Stene, Carey Davis and Anne Jenson.
Compensation for the positions held by incumbents Jody Albricht, Margaret Burcham, Jeff Prince and Jen Rud would not change until after the April election in 2023.
If the village board were to change the compensation now at the January 10 meeting, the change would not go into effect until the April of 2023 election, and then only for those board members up for election in 2023. Compensation for the remaining village board members would not change until April of 2024, Niggemann said.
The idea behind one meeting per month was to simplify certain aspects of the workload for the administrator-clerk-treasurer, but having village board members on staggered compensation schedules would make payroll much more complicated, she said.
Having one meeting per month would reduce the pay for village board members by about $250 per year, resulting in a change in compensation, Stene said, adding that he would be willing to rescind his second to the motion for the resolution changing the meetings to only one on the second Monday of the month.
Waiting game
Jenson was one of the village board members who had advocated for keeping the schedule at two meetings per month.
Jenson said she had one employee now who has a provisional bartender operator’s license which, under a one meeting per month schedule, meant the bartender operator’s license would not be approved by the village board until February 14.
Jenson is the owner of A Little Slice of Italy on Main Street in Colfax.
The employee can work with a provisional license, but she cannot close by herself under a provisional license, Jenson said.
There likely would be “many things” that would come up and would then have to wait until the next month, Burcham said.
The bartender operator’s license was one example. Earlier in the meeting, Rand Bates, director of public works, had informed the board about a problem with the boiler system in the Public Works building, and Niggemann had informed the board about a problem with the “tough book” touch-screen computer used by the Colfax Police Department.
Instead of the village board being able to take action on repairing or replacing the boiler and the touch-screen at the next meeting in two weeks, Bates and Niggemann could have ended up being in the position of making the decisions on repairs or replacements and informing the village board about what had been done at the next monthly meeting in February.
The police officers are frustrated with the touch-screen, which was a hand-me-down for $50 from the county, because the computer shuts down when they are in the middle of a case, Niggemann explained.
The problem with the boiler is whether there is a leak in the exhaust system and possible exposure to carbon monoxide, which could be especially concerning since the EMTs at the Colfax Rescue Squad have living quarters in the building, Bates said.
New resolution
The village board should continue thinking about how to have one meeting per month and how to handle the pay issue, said Village Trustee Jeff Prince, who chaired the meeting in Albricht’s absence.
A new resolution could be worded in such a way to take care of trying one meeting per month with compensation included for one meeting and for two meetings, Stene said.
Niggemann could “huddle with the attorney” and figure out how to word it well before December 1, 2022, and then the changes could go into effect in 2024 or 2025, he said.
Setting a change in compensation for three years out would allow all of the village board members to be on the same pay schedule, Niggemann said.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved rescinding the motion establishing one meeting per month on the second Monday for a one-year trial basis.
Voting in favor were Burcham, Jenson, Prince and Stene.
Village President Albricht and Trustees Davis and Rud were absent from the meeting.
The Colfax Village Board meets next on January 27.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Approved training requests for blood borne pathogens for Rand Bates and Don Logslett (public works), Bill Anderson and Ryan Strzok (Colfax Police Department), and Lynn Niggemann, Sheila Riemer and Lisa Bragg-Hurlburt (administration staff).
• Approved a second-hand jewelry dealer license for Nancy and Mark Mouledoux (Twice Blessed Treasures).
• Tabled an agreement with CBS Squared for landfill monitoring at a cost of $8,500 for 2022 and 2023 until an estimate can be obtained from SEH. Bates said SEH had conducted the monitoring previously, which involves taking water samples from monitoring wells around the old landfill site and testing four nearby wells to make sure there is no contamination for the neighbors.
• Approved an agreement with Dixon Engineering for technical services related to antennas mounted on the water tower for T-Mobile. The amount is not to exceed $5,800, and T-Mobile must reimburse the village 100 percent, Niggemann said, noting that the payment must be received before the work begins.
• Approved authorizing Niggemann to talk to representatives from Bloomer Telephone and other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telephone service providers about providing services to the village of Colfax. While Charter Communications/Spectrum had a franchise with Colfax at one time, the franchise is now null and void, Niggemann said. Individuals or businesses might have a contract with Charter, but the village no longer has a franchise, she said.