Village Board gets update on broadband improvement project
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The Boyceville Village Board got an update on the planned construction of improved broadband within the Village.
Tim Kusilek of NextGen appeared before the Village Board at their regular monthly meeting Monday evening, March 14. He informed the board that his firm “got the grant.”
“We are going to dig up the town,” Kusilek said. Construction should start by mid May, but he noted that they would be doing Downing first. He said construction would take three to four months. He was asked what would the cost be to village residents to hook up to the new system? He told the board that the usual cost for hookup is $200.00 by he hoped that during construction the cost could be $50.00.
CDBG Loan write offs
Members of the village board pondered on how eight loans presented through the Village’s Community Development Block Grants could have went delinquent and now the village can not collect on these loans which total $81,068.48.
It was learned that these loans could not be placed against property deeds and thus were just missed. Some went through forecloser, owner passing away, some were not caught and one piece of property had been sold four times, one loan was from 2006. Village President Luke Montgomery told the board that the money used for this program was state funds and it contacted the state over the matter and they were comfortable with the village writing off these loans. “We can’t do any thing about it,” he said.
East Street sidewalk
The Village Board has been planning on constructing a sidewalk along East Street from the Trinity Lutheran Church toward the new Dollar store. The board entertained several people that were interested in the project and one asked, “Who is going to benefit from this sidewalk? The board has not yet nailed down a project cost, but after some discussion they agreed to have MSA Engineers move ahead with planning of the project.
Frozen water line
Don Rose, head of the Village’s Public Works Department informed the Village board that they have one water service line that is frozen and that 100 residents are keeping their water running to prevent freezing.
Rose also addressed the installation of two more streetlights that they have as part of the Main Street project that was completed two years ago. He noted that the village has budgted for the installation on the south side of Main Street. He questioned the board if they wanted to have a light fixture on the back side of the pole to light up the parking area. After some discussion and a failed motion, they moved to have the second light fixture, the board approved Rose’s idea.
In other action the board approved to allow the firefighters to use village’s land where they hold the firefighters tractor pull for a Demo Derby during the annual Cucumber Festival.
Approved the purchase of two loads of aggregate for Pafko Park.
During his report, Village President Montgomery said that he had contacted realtors about the development of the 100 acres that the village owns at Anderson Hills.
Made a policy that forbids the purchase of personal items with the Village’s accounts. Montgomery noted that in last month’s bills there was the purchase of ammunition through a Village account. “That didn’t set well with me, it looked like personal gain,” he told the board.
The board also set a special meeting for next Monday evening and discussed contract for other municipalities for participation in the collection of Household Hazardous Waste.
Although Police Chief Greg Lamkin was not at the board meeting, he sent his report, which indicated that the case-load for the department increased some 63 percent over a year ago. “10 citations were issued and five arrests were made in February and we had no use of force incidents,” his report indicated.
Some of the cases that Lamkin reported to the board include that he responded to a welfare check at a residence. “I located an intoxicated female who had accidentally set herself on fire. After, she was cleared by medical personnel, she was booked into jail for felony bail jumping as she was on bond from when Sgt. Rud pulled her over for OWI last fall.
Lamkin reported that he received a case referral from another jurisdiction out of the county of a sexual assault that took place in the Village. The case is under investigation pending charges on the subject. He also responded to the high school after two students decided to get into a fistfight at school. Both were issued a citation.
