Elk Mound Village Board appoints Abraham to fill unexpired term
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has appointed Cynthia Abraham to fill the unexpired term of her husband, Steve Abraham.
Cynthia Abraham is willing to fill the position, said Greg Kipp, village president, at the Elk Mound Village Board’s April 18 meeting.
Steve Abraham died unexpectedly February 27 and had been serving as the village president.
Kipp, who was serving as president pro tempore, was appointed village president at the March 7 Elk Mound Village Board meeting.
Appointing a village president from the remaining trustees on the village board is not the same as appointing a new trustee, said Jason Brasch, an attorney with Bakke Norman Law Offices, at the March 7 meeting.
Abraham was both the village president and a trustee on the village board, he had noted.
The village board will have to decide if the trustee seat will remain empty until the next election. If the village board appoints someone to the open seat, that person would be a village trustee but not the village president, Brasch had explained.
Steven Abraham’s trustee position is not up for election until next spring in 2023, and the options available to the village board would be to wait for the election until a year from now to fill Abraham’s position, to hold a special election or to appoint someone to the position for one year.
Cynthia Abraham, who was serving as a village trustee on the Elk Mound Village Board at the time of her husband’s death, ran for re-election in the April 5 election.
All together, five candidates ran in the April election to fill three positions on the village board.
Incumbent Greg Kipp received 56 votes, while challenger Patrick Lien received 55 votes and incumbent village trustee Tim Benjamin received 53 votes, resulting in Benjamin, Kipp and Lien filling the three open positions up for election.
Incumbent village trustee Cynthia Abraham received 44 votes, and challenger Kat Degre received 38 votes in the April 5 election.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved appointing Cynthia Abraham to the open position.
Cynthia Abraham was absent from the April 18 meeting.
Steve Abraham was first elected as Elk Mound Village President in 2017.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Learned that the new department of public works truck had been picked up from Monroe. The village board approved at the April 4 meeting replacing Truck No. 3 for the public works department in the amount of $58,993, using unspent 2021A general obligation note proceeds, and selling the existing truck outright with the snowplow for a minimum bid of $6,500. The village would have received a trade-in of $6,500 from the dealer on the existing truck.
• Learned that the Elk Mound Police Department had 78 calls for service in March. The police department has eight different investigations currently at the three group homes in Elk Mound, including for sexual assault and strangulation, said Police Chief Chad Weinberger. Other cases under investigation include students selling amphetamines at the high school, a sexual assault at the high school, disorderly conduct, theft, gas skips and criminal damage to property, he said.
• Learned that the Elk Mound fire department had responded to seven calls in March and that Elk Mound Fire Chief Les Shafer has received an estimate of $450,000 for a new fire engine and is looking into grants to help pay for it.
• Learned that the Elk Mound Plan Commission will meet at 5 p.m. May 2. The meeting will include a public hearing on an application from Brian Knospe to rezone 550 University Street from A-1 Agricultural District to R-1 Single Family Residential District.
