May Council Meeting

COLBY COMMON COUNCIL May 2, 2023 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: O’Brien, T Schmidt, Baumgartner, Hesgard, Hederer and Lindeman. Also present were Mayor James Schmidt, Clerk Connie Gurtner, DPW Higley and Kevin Hanson. Agenda was posted by the clerk. The agenda will stand as the order of the meeting. Minutes of the April 18th meeting minutes were pre-read and reviewed. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hederer to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Financial Statement and Bills were discussed. Motion was made by Hesgard, seconded by Lindeman to approve the financial statement and bills. The amounts approved are as follows: General Fund $269,692.77; Capital Fund $28,525.00; Water Department $274,637.60; Sewer Department $26,883.09; Net payroll $25,144.39. Motion carried with a voice vote. Kevin Hanson permission to use city parks: Kevin Hanson attended the meeting to let the city know that he is trying to coordinate a music event downtown on Monday nights. He is asking also for some barriers out on the street to warn people driving down the street. He is hoping to do it once a week. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hesgard to allow Kevin Hanson to use the 1st Street Park for these events in June, July and August. Motion carried with a voice vote. Kevin Hanson – updates from the AbbyColby Crossings Chamber: He reported to the city on a meeting held a couple months ago to try and improve business retention, housing, daycare and overall quality of life in the area. The chamber had met with students at to both the Colby and Abby schools with a survey to get ideas from them. The students had asked for more activities in our area. Colby/Abbotsford Police Commission met on April 10, 2023 There were no comments from the public. Schmidt called for a moment of silence to recognize police officers Hunter Scheel and Emily Breidenback of the Chetek and Cameron police departments, who were killed in the line of duty on Saturday. Schmidt thanked the current CAPC members for their service, stating new mayoral appointments would be made at the respective organizational meetings later this month. The commission approved minutes and expenditures. Chief's Report: Chief Bauer said deployment of the K-9 last month resulted in three arrests. He said the K-9 squad car was out of service for the weekend, and COLBY COMMON COUNCIL May 2, 2023 Page 2 it has now been repaired. He said a new set of tires was put on one squad car. Chief Bauer said training this month would include use of shields on traffic stops and timing to engage an active shooter. Concerns abound about mental health issues and how to address them. He said CAPD officers are doing their best to address ATV complaints. He also explained why officers will be enforcing violations of cracked windshields and windshields tinted at more than 40%. Hederer noted there was a lot of junk and junk vehicles that may be unlicensed sitting around the area. Chief Bauer said the police secretary would look into those issues. There were 364 total CAPD activities reported for the month of March, 2023. There have been 2,225 total CAPD activities reported for the first three months of 2023, compared to 2,245 activities for the first three months of 2022. City Planning Committee met on April 18th. Advertising & Marking of City of Colby Land: Mayor Schmidt is talking with Sheala Nyberg to get information to help with marketing. Lindeman had information from an organization called Momentum West. The city has sent information to them to advertise, but these are not showing up on their website at this time. The Clark/Marathon county line is the end of the service area for this company. Mayor Schmidt will contact someone in Marathon County to see if they have a similar site. The city also has some examples from Jessica Lieders for a new signs to put on our lots on Highway 13. The committee suggested changes and will ask Jessica to provide a new draft by the May council meeting. The city does not have any addition economic development money available, but will check to see if TIF funding qualifies. Jasen Lindeman also found a site called LoopNet to advertise properties. The cheapest package on that site was $130/month, but is discounted for an annual subscription. Development Agreement with S C Swiderski: The committee reviewed the draft development agreement with S C Swiderski that was provided by Gamoke. There were a couple questions and Clerk Gurtner will review those with him prior to the next council meeting. The committee voted to recommend approval to the council after questions are answered by the attorney. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Baumgartner to approve the agreement with the clarification on Page 1 that the city will include municipal utilities rather than just utilities to present to S C Swiderski. Motion carried with a voice vote. The council made a few amendments to the green/gold sign including removing “A”, changing Development Opportunity to Development Opportunities and making green the main color, change City of Colby to dark green, and remove one of the Hwy 13 wordings and keep one up and down to match the others. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hesgard to approve the purchase of a sign not to exceed $600. Motion carried with a voice vote. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL May 2, 2023 Page 3 Central Fire & EMS District met on April 20th. Possible purchase of ladder truck: Kurt Robida and John Austin discussed the possible purchase of a ladder truck to replace the current ladder truck which is a 1991 Pierce. A truck committee has been formed comprised of 3 members from each of the stations. At the present time, there is no truck being considered for purchase. The truck committee is requesting that the district approve a dollar amount that the truck committee can spend within a certain time. The current problem herein lies that if a truck is found that the district would be interested in purchasing, the truck is sold prior to getting Board and municipality approval. Purchasing a new ladder or platform truck is cost prohibitive with an estimated price coming in at a minimum of $1,500,000. Discussion followed on the possible amount needed to purchase a good quality used platform truck with it said the newer the year the higher the price. Consensus was that up to $400,000 was adequate to purchase a good used platform truck; Tom Carter stated that he was against $400,000 and was agreeable to $350,000. It was noted that there would be no cost of this purchase passed on to the municipalities as the district has money to cover the purchase. The commission voted to send a letter to the municipalities seeking advance permission to bid up to $400,000 on a platform truck with this permission to expire 12/31/2023. A motion was made by O’Brien, seconded by Schmidt to approve this request. Motion carried with a voice vote. Election of officers: The commission elected Larry Oehmichen for Board President, Pat Tischendorf for Board Vice President and Nancy O’Brien for Board Treasurer. Mayor Schmidt: Mayor Schmidt reported on his meeting of the Clark County Economic Development Clerk Gurtner: Clerk Gurtner reported on her meeting of the Wisconsin Municipal Treasurer’s Association. DPW Higley: Cedar Lane Apartments, 206 S Division St, demo and siding; Larry Frane, 311 N 4th St, shingles; Greg Sterzinger, 403 E Wausau St, driveway improvements. DPW Higley reported on the precipitation and flows for April 2023 at the STP. He also reported on the pumpage of water for April 2023. Higley also reported that he attended the Wisconsin Rural Water training with Lieders earlier this month. Engineer Mike Voss: Voss reported that there will be a walk through of the N 2nd Street project on Friday to look for what needs to be done or replaced. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL May 2, 2023 Page 4 Hire Summer Help: Harland Higley recommend hiring Noah Schraufnagel as the city’s summer help at a wage of $13/hour. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hesgard to approve the recommendation. Motion carried with a voice vote. Change Order #1 from American Asphalt for Paving Rail Road: Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Lindeman to approve the Change Order # from American Asphalt for paving rail road crossing at Broadway at a cost of $11,694.60. Motion carried with a voice vote. Chip Sealing of N 7th Street: The city received two bids for chip sealing N 7th Street from Spence to City Limits – Fahrner Asphalt Sealer- $37,486 and Scott Construction - $41,834. Motion was made by Hesgard, seconded by Lindeman to approve bud from Fahrner Asphalt Sealers in the amount of $37,486. Motion carried with a voice vote. Committee meetings for May: Colby-Abbotsford Police Commission will meet on May 8, 2023 at 6:30 P.M. at the Police Department. Central Fire & EMS District will meet on May 18, 2023 at 7:00 P.M. at Station 2. Adjourn: Motion was made by Lindeman, seconded by Hesgard to adjourn at 7:41 P.M. Motion carried with a voice vote. Approved _____________________ James W Schmidt, Mayor Attest _________________________ Connie Gurtner, Clerk