The Village Board plowed through a long list of agenda items at their regular monthly meeting on December 13th. Included on that list was approving election workers, sidewalk near the new Dollar General Store, setting fines and fee schedule, discussing the recycling center fees, and amending the 2022 budget.
The board is faced with making a small change on their proposed 2022 village budget because of some sort of error at one the Village’s TID Districts. Village President Luke Montgomery said the village lost some $29,012.92 in valuation at the TID district, which will cause a tax levy change.
The board wrestled with a contract with Melstrom Inspections to do the village’s building inspections. The board learned that with the new contract, it would take the village out of the picture with Melstrom doing the inspections and collecting the fee, and that would free up time at the Village office. After a long discussion the board voted six to one to approve the contract, with Jonathan Farrell voting no.
Another item on the agenda was repairs to equipment at Pafko Park. The board approved payment for a fire department call to the park. Apparently, during the summer, a youngster got caught in a piece of playground equipment and that required the fire department to come and cut the youngster out of the equipment.
During his report to the board, President Montgomery, discussed the permits for use of the recycling center and noted that the permits which are designed to hang from a car’s rear view mirror. He told the board that the permits for residents are printed in red while non-residents are printed in green. He was questioned about the cost for those permits and Montgomery noted that resident permits cost $160.00 for the year, the cost is applied to their village utility bill while non-residents cost is $200 for year and can be obtained at the recycling center.
The Board also approved hiring MSA to make plans for new sidewalk installation near the new Dollar General Store. The board told that they would need a public hearing to assess the cost of the walk to affected property owners.
The board approved a list of people as election inspectors for the next two years. Included, as chief inspectors are Steve Slind, Carlene Booth, Traci Suckow and Patricia Marlette. Election inspectors include Virginia Waller, Kendra Kostman, Steve Bauder, Donna Hedlund and Jennifer Barstad. Alternates are Stu Waller, Carol Schlosser and Grace Lewis.
After a long discussion about the winter parking rules the board will post and publish the rules. According the Police Chief Greg Lamkin, his department had issued over 30 tickets for first time offenders two years ago with one person getting a ticket three times. The board asked the chief to come in early a couple of times to check out vehicles left on the street during snow removal.
Village Clerk/Treasurer, Darlene Lee reminded all that the January meeting of the Village board would start at 5 p.m. on Monday, January 10. She also asked that that the board hold no meetings the first week of January, because the auditors will be in her office for that week.
In his report to the board the Chief Lamkin reported on a fraud against him. He said that the Village Hall notified him that they had received a claim for unemployment benefits; someone filed a claim using his identification. He told the board he gathered information and turned the matter over to the FBI.
A couple of other interesting cases that the chief discussed at the board meeting included that a person who just left court in St. Croix County and was ordered not to consume alcohol was at a local bar drinking and then left, but left the court paper work at the bar. Bail jumping charges were referred to the prosecutors.
Another bar incident was where a party left their purse with a handgun inside at a bar. The chief said, “After an investigation, the DA’s Office declined charges, but the party was counseled on their hand gun safety.
They got a complaint that a student was showing lewd images at the high school and that this case currently being under investigation. The Chief also reported that his office responded to six different disturbances involving students and one involving tobacco use. “These have resulted in numerous citations, the chief noted.
