Wheeler Village Board approves applying for CDBG funds to repair village hall
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By LeAnn R.Ralph
WHEELER — The Wheeler Village Board has approved applying for a Community Development Block Grant to repair the exterior of the village hall.
The funding would be in the form of grant money and/or a loan, said Don Knutson, village clerk-treasurer, at the Wheeler Village Board’s April 3 meeting.
Knutson said he had contacted two companies to obtain pricing, Liberty Exteriors in Mondovi, and Rock and Tait Exteriors, in Chippewa Falls, and had asked for prices on siding, soffit and fascia; windows and doors; and roofing.
The prices that came back are like comparing “apples and rutabagas,” he said.
Rock and Tait provided an estimate of $100,028, and Liberty Exteriors provided an estimate of $53,642.
Liberty Exteriors does not do any roofing or interior work. Rock and Tait inspected the building, and since there is only foam board sheathing in the village hall, the gable ends of the roof are not completely closed, and that is interfering with natural convection in the attic, Knutson said.
“There is more wrong with the building than we thought,” he said.
“You can see daylight through the gable ends when you look up here,” Knutson noted..
Knutson said he was thinking it would be best to “go big,” and if the village does not receive a grant and is only eligible for a loan, then the project can be scaled back later.
The Liberty Exterior estimate includes only soffit, fascia, window casings and jambs.
The Rock and Tait estimate includes windows, casings and jambs; the ridge vent; soffit and fascia; and a gutter down spout.
“We should try for all of it and get it done,” said Rob Hakanson, village president.
The Wheeler Village Board unanimously approved a motion to proceed with the Rock and Tait estimate and to work with CBS Squared, the village’s engineering firm, on an application for a community development block grant for the village hall.
Burning ordinance
According to the village’s previous burning ordinance, residents were not allowed to have fires in fire pits/campfires on Sundays and holidays.
At the April 3 meeting, the Wheeler Village Board approved an ordinance amendment that would allow a campfire, with a commercial fire ring and a spark arrestor (a wire grate to prevent sparks from flying out of the fire an igniting nearby grass or buildings), to within 15 feet of a house.
The Wheeler Village Board also amended the ordinance to allow campfires with the fire ring and a spark arrestor on Sundays and holidays.
Fire pits still will not be allowed at the trailer court in Wheeler because the structures are too combustible, Hakanson said.
The Wheeler Village Board unanimously approved the ordinance amendments.
Other business
In other business, the Wheeler Village Board:
• Approved additional holidays for the clerk-treasurer following a closed session. The additional holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving, will provide the clerk-treasurer with 10 paid holidays for the year. Dunn County provides 11 paid holidays for the year. The village of Colfax provides 10.5 paid holidays per year.
• Approved adding $2 per hour for the enforcement officer’s wages following the closed session. After the procedure for issuing citations was solidified by the village’s attorney, the enforcement officer, John Williams, will be doing more paperwork now because of the changed procedure, but it will be a faster process, Hakanson said.
• Learned that representatives for Dollar General will be attending the May meeting so that approval of paperwork can be finished and so that any questions can be answered.
• Learned that Knutson’s first election in the village was successfully completed, although very different than he had imagined. The village’s chief election inspector ended up going to the hospital with appendicitis, and Knutson said he had to borrow three election workers from other municipalities for the April 2 election. The Town of Tainter and the Town of Elk Mound were able to provide election inspectors to work in the Village of Wheeler.
