Village Board hears reports on Economic Development and Community Branding
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BOYCEVILLE — The Village Board heard reports not only from Village officers, but from Eric Turner of the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation, Tobi LeMahied of the West Central Regional Planning Commission and Amanda Rydel, representing the Boyceville Area Community Branding.
Turner spoke to the village board about the Broadband high speed Internet for the entire Dunn County area. He mentioned where there are good internet connections in the county, but also where there is poor or no internet available to some county residents.
He noted that work on the Broadband is coming very slowly, but he informed the board, “If we are to continue to grow we need to take care of Broadband,” continuing, telling the board that “without Broadband it’s back like when we did not have electricity.”
LeMahied, who is a Fund Manger for the Regional Planning Commission addressed the board about the Regional Business Fund, which is a “Flexible source of Financing supporting business expansion, start up companies and building façade renovations in the seven-county area.”
She discussed the Downtown Façade Loan Program, which offers no interest loans of up to $30,000 to “encourage property and business owners in core downtowns to revitalize downtown commercial buildings within local cities and villages.” She also noted that Village President, Gib Krueger, is a new member of the Regional Loan Fund Board.
Rydel appeared before the board to ask for the village’s support of the “Build a Better Boyceville (B3) Committee”. She handed out a piece stating, “The Committee has been bringing community members and organizations together to enhance the community and show that the Boyceville area is a great place to live, work and play.”
She asked that the board approve their logo and mission, which the board was happy to do.
In other reports, Erick Evenson of MSA engineering firm addressed the board to inform them that they will be opening bids for the Main Street Project on March 7th and will have a presentation for the village board at their March 11th meeting. It also noted that they also would be opening bids for the Charlotte Street extension.
In his report to the board Public Works Director Don Rose stated that he is monitoring the water temperatures at many residences in the village. He indicated that the new meters have sent back readings of 32 and 33 degrees. He noted that the frost line is down 64 inches at a manhole on Main Street.
Rose also informed the board that the price for the new front end loader, with the tire upgrade has been set at $132,200. Gib Krueger asked if the delivery is still four months out and was told it is.
Rose also made a request for the public to help out with keeping fire hydrants shoveled out so they can be found in time of an emergency.
In his monthly report, Police Chief Greg Lamkin noted that the department had 128 calls in January. “We responded to 27 traffic calls, nine criminal calls and 60 service calls, this was due mostly to our campus walks and presence at athletic events,” his report indicated. He also stated that six traffic citations were issued last month and three arrests were made. The department also cleared out a sexual assault case with a criminal referral.
His report also noted that a grant was received for the crossing guards and purchased LED lighted stop signs to help them in low light conditions. Lamkin stated that they had opened the community center during the recent extremely cold weather and had received a lot of positive feedback from the community.
During the time when the board approved paying of the bills, President Krueger questioned if any more had been added since the committee had approved the bills. Clerk/Treasurer Darlene Lee indicated that a bill from MSA for work on the Main Street project for $18,000, payment to the auditing firm of $9,400, Xcel Energy was at $13,265 and a couple of smaller bills.
They also approved on a six-to-one vote to publish the meeting agenda of each monthly meeting in the Tribune Press Reporter.
