December Council Meeting

COLBY COMMON COUNCIL December 3, 2024 Page 1 The regular meeting of the Colby Common Council was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by Mayor James Schmidt. On roll call: T Schmidt, Baumgartner, Hesgard, Hederer and Lindeman. O’Brien was absent. Also present were Mayor James Schmidt, Clerk Connie Gurtner and DPW Harland Higley Jr. Agenda was posted by the clerk. The agenda will stand as the order of the meeting. Minutes of the November 4th meeting were pre-read and reviewed. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Hesgard to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Financial Statement and Bills were discussed. Motion was made Schmidt, seconded by Hederer to approve the financial statement and bills which includes the final payment to Haas Sons in the amount of $14,509.99. The amounts approved are as follows: General Fund $79,687.23; Capital Fund $42,552.67; Water Department $27,033.76; Sewer Department $54,346.16; TIF Fund $4,062.00; Net payroll $26,034.81. Motion carried with a voice vote. Personnel/Labor Relations met on November 6th. The meeting was held in closed session and items will be discussed in closed session at the end of this meeting. Colby/Abbotsford Police Commission met on November 11th. The commission approved minutes and expenditures. Health Insurance Renewal for 2025: Chief Bowman presented the 2025 health insurance renewal from Security Health, calling for a 23.75% increase in the premium cost. He said the benefit consultant from Security Health said the main reason for the large increase was the cost of transplant surgery for someone in the group plan. He said options for health insurance coverage were explored with other companies, including setting higher deductibles. He said some other companies had received poor reviews for their coverage and service. He said once the CAPD dropped out of Security Health, they may not be able to get back in. He said there was enough money in the 2025 budget to cover the premium cost. The commission voted to recommend to the Abbotsford and Colby city councils renewal of Premium Plan health insurance coverage for 2025 from Security Health at a cost of $124,242.84. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hesgard to approve this recommendation from the commission. Motion carried with a voice vote. Update on Officer Training Procedures: Chief Bowman reviewed officer training procedures. He said each officer is required to have 24 hours of training per year to maintain their certification. He said new officers get a thorough review of COLBY COMMON COUNCIL December 3, 2024 Page 2 policies and procedures before they go out on the road with field training officers Lemay and English. The process includes observation, evaluation and shadowing on calls. Chief Bowman explained the policies and procedures offered in the Lexipol program and how updates are communicated. He said he keeps a spreadsheet for each officer showing training hours. He offered a list of required training procedures as follows: All officers come to us with the 720 hour training academy or 520 depending on when they went to academy. Once hired at the Police Department all officers are required to go through and review all our departments Policies and procedures in Lexipol. Lexipol is basically our online training manual and expectations. All Officers are required to review all policies and procedures prior to being able to start road shifts with their field training officer. Electronically acknowledge all policies and procedures. All Policies apply specifically to our agencies. Officers are required to re-acknowledge all policies annually. Officers then complete the 8-week FTO process where they field train with an FTO. Any new officers have to complete EVOC and Firearms with their new agency. Also Firearms is required annually and EVOC/DAAT biannually. All officer training records are kept online in Acadis through the training and standards bureau. Every Law Enforcement Officer in the state of WI is required to have 24 hours training within the fiscal year. If you are an instructor in order to keep your status must complete instructor update once a year and teach one training class per year. Our agency requires new officers to attend RUSH training, Intox training, interview and interrogation, basic swat and Crisis Intervention Team training. SRO’s are required to go through Basic SRO and active shooter response training, ALICE Instructor. All Officers have access to Lexipol portal to sign up for any online training classes. Continued special training offered to officers annually. Chief's Report: K-9 Hemi was deployed six times in October, resulting in five arrests. Chief Bowman said there is a focused effort to get methamphetamine off the streets. He said Hemi is super smart, and that the CAPD couldn't ask for a better police K-9 or a better handler than officer Eric English. Chief Bowman said he was still researching the subject of a therapy dog program for the Abbotsford and Colby schools and some potential fundraisers to cover the cost. He said officers were investigating break-ins at All-Metal Stamping and at several residences. He said doors were left unlocked at both homes. He said a letter was sent to area businesses seeking a total of $229,000 over three years to cover wage increases for CAPD employees. He said a donor had agreed to fund an additional $22,000 in expenditures not covered in the 2025 CAPD budget. Chief Bowman said the number of CAPD activities continues to rise. There were 1,076 total CAPD activities reported for the month of October. There have been 9,169 total CAPD activities reported for the first 10 months of 2024, compared to 7,135 activities for the first 10 months of 2023. Central Fire & EMS District met on November 21st. The commission approved minutes and bill. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL December 3, 2024 Page 3 EMS Battalion Chief Travis Nixdorf addressed the request for the purchase of body armor vests which is ballistic protection vests for EMS responders. An application has been submitted for a donation toward the purchase of body armor vests, but as of the date of this meeting no word has been received if the application has been approved and funds will be received. It is the request that three sets of body armor vests will be placed in each med unit and a set in the command vehicle for Chief Mueller. BC Nixdorf asked that the board approve funds for this purchase if the donation application is not approved or make up the difference if partial donation is received. The commission voted to pay the difference should the donation application be approved for an amount lesser than the purchase price or pay the price in full on 9 sets of body armor should the donation application be rejected. The district member holiday gathering has been scheduled for December 18, 2024 at the Colby VFW beginning at 5:30 social hour, 7:00 meal. Pat Tischendorf suggested that the Board members donate toward the purchase of gift cards for the members/volunteers. This suggestion is completely voluntary. Mayor Schmidt: Mayor Schmidt reported on his meeting of the United Communities of Clark County. Clerk Gurtner: Clerk Gurtner reported that the Clark County tax bills are in the office and ready to be mailed, but is waiting for Marathon County to mail them out. DPW Higley: The following building permits were issued: Jason Evert, 102 N Main St, 16’ x 10’ shed; Robbie Smazal, 109 S 1st St, new roof; Doug Blunt, 906 N Division St, re-roof, fence; Cynthia Kallstrom, 312 N 7th St, 14’ x 10’ shed. DPW Higley reported on the precipitation and flows for November 2024 at the STP. He also reported on the pumpage of water for November 2024. Johnson Block 2024 Audit Contract: The city received an engagement letter from Johnson Block for the 2024 Audit. The fee is $25,000 compared to last year of $24,000. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Lindeman to approve the contact. Motion carried with a voice vote. Water/Sewer 2025 Budgets: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Schmidt to approve the Water/Sewer 2025 Budgets as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Employee Christmas Gifts: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Hesgard to give each employee a $50 AbbyColby Crossings Chamber gift certificates. Motion carried with a voice vote. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL December 3, 2024 Page 4 2025 Property/Liability/Auto/Workers Comp Renewal: The city has not received a renewal from Spectrum Insurance Group at this time. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Lindeman to give authority to Mayor Schmidt to approve our Liability, Auto, Building/Equipment, Workers Compensation Insurance renewal with Spectrum Insurance Group – League of WI Municipalities/MPIC. Motion carried with a voice vote. Committee meetings for December: Colby-Abbotsford Police Commission will meet on December 9, 2024 at 6:30 P.M. at the Police Department. Central Fire & EMS District will meet on December 19, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. at Station 2. Closed Session: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Baumgartner to go into Closed Session per Wisconsin State Statute 19.85 (1)(c) Considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. PURPOSE: Employee Wages/Benefits. Roll Call Vote: Yes – Schmidt, Baumgartner, Hesgard, Hederer, Lindeman. Noes – none. Motion carried. Reconvene into Open Session for Action: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Baumgartner to reconvene into open session. Roll Call Vote: Yes – Schmidt, Baumgartner, Hesgard, Hederer, Lindeman. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Schmidt to approve wages listed below and to update the Employee Handbook Article 9), Section 5 to allow unused vacation time accrued during the current calendar year to be carried over to the following calendar year, up to a maximum of 40 hours. The vacation carried over will not exceed 40 hours at any time. Health Insurance offered to employees is the Security Health Plan Enrich HMO and Premier HMO with $3,500/$7,000 deductibles. Motion carried with a voice vote. Employee Name 1/1/25- 7/1/2025 - 2024 Wage 1/1/2025 7/1/2025 12/31/2025 Increase Increase 7/1/2025 Wage Wage Harland Higley $34.53 $2.00 $36.53 $0.00 $36.53 Connie Gurtner $32.25 $2.00 $34.25 $0.00 $34.25 Allan Raatz $28.79 $1.00 $29.79 $0.50 $30.29 Clint Smith $28.79 $1.00 $29.79 $0.50 $30.29 Craig Lieders $28.29 $1.00 $29.29 $0.50 $29.79 Merlin Schaefer $28.29 $1.00 $29.29 $0.50 $29.79 Callie Weber $24.00 $1.00 $25.00 $0.50 $25.50 COLBY COMMON COUNCIL December 3, 2024 Page 5 Adjourn: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Lindeman to adjourn at 7:31 P.M. Motion carried with a voice vote. Approved _____________________ James W Schmidt, Mayor Attest _________________________ Connie Gurtner, Clerk