Boyceville Village board takes quick action on several items
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BOYCEVILLE — Even though they had a smorgasbord of reports from seven different department heads, the Boyceville village board made quick work of their agenda on Monday evening finishing up their meeting in just 35 minutes.
Village Engineer Eric Barclay reported to the board on Sykora Lane. The village wants to run water and sewer out to that area. Barclay said that the bidding process for the project is dependent on the permitting situation with the DNR. He said the permits are handled on a first come first served basis.
“It just depends on how far your water and sewer permits are in the queue,” said Barclay.
Because the DNR is out 60 to 90 days, water and sewer will probably not be able to be completed this fall, according to Barclay. The village could get a contractor on board for the project this fall and perhaps get started in the spring on running water and sewer out to Sykora Lane.
Barclay also reported that he is continuing work on the industrial user agreement. He’s also working on the clean water fund application which will help fund wastewater treatment improvements.
Airport Manager Joel Timblin told the board that the airport recently underwent a compliance check and the airport was found to be totally compliant. He also said that quite a lot of flight training has been going on including for a number of military and civilian helicopters.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard them,” said Timblin of the helicopters.
“It’s the sound of freedom,” said Village Trustee Brad Stevens.
The board thanked Timblin for all the events that took place at the airport during Cucumber Fest, including the hot air balloons. Timblin said several balloons are already booked for next year’s fest.
“I really appreciate everything you guys did around Pickle Fest,” said Village President Luke Montgomery.
Director of Public Works Craig Dotseth reported that chip sealing is complete and that his department installed three additional mixers on pond one at the wastewater treatment facility. They also worked on the well at Pafko Park and installed timers on the bathroom lights.
His department removed a dead pine tree at Freedom Park and there is another one that looks pretty sickly. He noted that the big ash tree at Pafko Park is infested with ash borers and the tree will most likely die.
As for Cucumber Fest, Dotseth said his department made it through all their festival related duties while only logging 13 hours of overtime.
Police Chief Greg Lamkin reported that BPD had 211 calls for service in the village for the month of August and they handled 92% of them. His department issued 24 citations and made 10 arrests last month. He noted that calls for service were down slightly when compared to August 2023, although traffic stops doubled from a year ago.
Lamkin outlined a few significant cases that occurred in the village last month. Two happened during Cucumber Fest. In one case a suspect was taken to jail and charges of disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and resisting or obstructing an officer were referred. After two members of law enforcement had to fight with the intoxicated suspect on the roof of a downtown residence.
In another case that happened during Cucumber Fest, a suspect became uncooperative and refused to identify himself during a traffic stop. The suspect struggled with BPD while being taken into custody. He was taken to jail and charges of resisting or obstructing an officer were referred.
A third case involved Lamkin being contacted by the FBI regarding threatening messages made on social media. Lamkin investigated and charges were referred for a juvenile suspect.
Village Clerk Treasurer Brittany Halvorson told the board that she has been working on the budget and plans to present a budget to them at the end of the month.
“Essentially the name of the game right now is numbers,” said Halvorson.
Library Director Kallie Anderson reported that there has been an increase in people coming in to get library cards. She also said that there were 118 runners at the Cucumber Run which raised more than $2,500 for library programs.
Montgomery filled the board in on various meetings he attended last month, including a meeting with District Administrator Nick Kaiser about the pickle ball courts. He said work on the courts will be wrapping up this week. The windscreen for the courts will be delayed by six months, but the courts will be usable soon.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, village resident Trudie Chernak asked the board about who is in charge of enforcing the covenants in the Anderson Hill neighborhood. Montgomery said that since the village owns the lots they have the authority to sell as many as they want to, however it’s in the village’s best interest to have as much housing development as possible.
Chernak also asked about how many demo cars village residents are allowed to own. Lamkin said that demo cars are considered recreational vehicles.
In other business, the Boyceville Village Board:
• Approved a GIS system training with MSA so village employees can better use the zoning and underground utility mapping website.
• Learned from Halvorson that fuel sales at the airport were close to $4,000 last month.
• Heard from Halvorson that overtime was down significantly from last year for village employees.
• Learned from Montgomery that fuel costs for BPD looks like they will be less than they were in 2022.
• Approved a renewal with Rassbach Realty for the village owned lots on Charlotte Street.
