Village board hears reports, hires new Public Works head
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BOYCEVILLE—The Village board heard reports from village department heads, reviewed village employee handbook policies and hired a new Public Works Director.
Long time Public Works Director, Don Rose will be retiring in mid-January and the board appointed Craig Dotseth to fill that position. Dotseth will start on November 6th.
Police Chief Greg Lamkin informed the board that the police department has handled 1235 calls for service in the first nine months of this year with the county sheriff’s department fielding another 182 calls in the village. Included in that count were 65 arrests and 100 citations issued. In 2022, the department handled 2083 calls for the entire year.
Chief Lamkin’s report listed several significant cases that his department handled in September including officer Vodenlich handling a complaint of juveniles shooing BB or air soft guns at people. The juvenile was identified and a parent was referred for possible charges.
The chief noted that a resident that he had arrested earlier this summer recently accepted a plea deal on that case and one of the conditions was that he was not to possess or consume alcohol. The resident accidentally stabbed himself while intoxicated. The chief arrested him and he was transported for medical treatment. The suspect was subsequently charged with felony bail jumping, disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.
Lamkin’s report indicated that officer Vodenlich was advised of a child possible sharing nude images/videos. That case remains under investigation. The chief received a bus violation complaint where he identified the driver as a subject he recently cited for driving without a license. The driver was charged criminally as a repeat offender.
The chief also noted that with school back in session, the cases involving juvenile offenders have increased quickly. He has been at the schools investigating numerous cases of possessing vapes and drugs.
Village President Lukas Montgomery asked the police chief if the school could police for those items and Lamkin noted that it would cost between three and four thousand dollars per restroom for equipment to detect.
Montgomery had informed the board that the airport had purchased some $15,000 worth of fuel and noted that the airport fund did not have that amount in its account. Later in the meeting, airport manager, Joel Timblin, informed the board about cost sharing with the federal government picking up most of the cost. He also noted that the improvement project has been completed.
The Public Works Director Rose reported that there was a couple of water leaks, one of which was near where a gas company had installed a new service, but, Rose did not know if they had anything to do with the leak. He also noted that they had three clean water tests.
Village Clerk/Treasurer Brittany Halvorson once again addressed her disappoint in the firm that was doing the village’s auditing. “I can’t take another year of this non-sense,” she informed the board. The board then agreed to hire the firm of Bauman Associates, Ltd out of Eau Claire to do the village’s audit. The cost of their contract is $25,575.
Halvorson also told the board that she spent some time at Glenwood City helping their clerk with HeyGov. She also had a tour of Glenwood City’s new building and had a great exchange of information.
The board spent about a half an hour discussing the Village’s Employee Handbook covering vacation pay and time, sick leave and call-in policy. They made several votes to clarify the board’s policy.
And, on a three to two vote the board agreed to a new policy that will allow department heads to take a village owned vehicle home.
