Village Board

EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 1 of 6 Call Meeting to Order; Pledge of Allegiance Administrator Suhm verified the meeting was posted according to law. Roll Call: President Seager called the meeting to order at 8:13 p.m. Present: President Scott Seager, Trustees John Alexander, Alexander Alger, John J. Jacoby, Matt Johnson, Forty Renucci, and Ann Zess Excused: Others: Chief Boyes, DPW Director Equitz, Administrator Suhm, Attorney Gray Citizen Participation Butch Rabay, 1672 Thomas Drive, has some concerns about the roads in the Lake Bluff subdivision. He believes he is a citizen but feels he is not given all of the amenities the Village has to offer. The roads in the Lake Bluff subdivision are not a part of the Village of East Troy because Bielinski is responsible to maintain those roads, but is doing a poor job. He wants to bring it to the Board’s attention that there are some problems with the maintenance of these roads and he would like the Village to maintain the roads. He also discussed that he feels there is a breach of contract by Bielinski and the Village of East Troy. When Bielinski put the roads in they were supposed to install a wedge from the road to the curb and that was never done. He has surmised that back in 2006 to 2007 there was a lot of building and it was overlooked. Now it has been over ten years and he asked when the Village will start enforcing the contract. Consent Agenda (One motion and second will approve all of the following items. Any item may be pulled from the list and voted on separately.) 1. Approval Minutes – 6/26/2017 2. Operator’s Licenses – Ashley E. Vogel, Noah R. Risen, Jennifer M. Walenton 3. Consider approval for Police Department disposal of property 4. Consider approval for Police Department to be designated as an Internet Purchase Exchange Location 5. Consider approval of Temporary Class B Retail Beer License for East Troy Chamber of Commerce for August 4 First Friday’s Food Truck Event, contingent upon receiving updated Certificate of Insurance Motion by Trustee Alexander, second by Trustee Zess to approve the consent agenda. Trustee Jacoby commended the Police Department on making the Police Department an Internet Purchase Exchange Location. Motion carried. Miscellaneous Business 1. Discussion of grass maintenance at Airport (Chief Boyes) Chief Boyes explained that the Police Department has received anonymous complaints about the height of the grass at the airport. An inspection at the airport found the actual height of the grass at 20-24 inches. Residents and businesses must keep grass cut to eight inches or less per Ordinance. Chief questioned if we need to enforce this or change the ordinance, but the  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 2 of 6 ordinance shouldn’t be changed just for the airport. The Village requires hangar owners and residents to maintain grass so to have the airport property not maintained is not acceptable. This also presents a safety concern regarding animals living in the grass, on the runway or digging holes. Other concerns include the deep grass impeding any search efforts needed in emergency situations and fire hazards in dry conditions. Chief Boyes stated the Board has to options, to change the ordinance exempting the airport from the grass height requirement or enforce the contract that is in place with the manager at the airport. Trustee Zess stated there is an area that has been contracted with a farmer to cut and she believed the farmer has not been mowing the area. Chief Boyes stated the issue was between the taxiway and runway that has become overgrown. Walter Watkins, Airport Manager, distributed aerial pictures of the airport taken last month. Mr. Watkins presented the history of Airport Manager position that started in 2011. He stated past Village President Timms told him he did not have to cut as much as was cut in the past, there are a number of areas leased to a farmer for crops and that if he could make an agreement with a farmer to allow for a hay crop that wouldn’t be a safety hazard then maybe the budget numbers would work. Mr. Watkins indicated that he had spoken with Randy Timms earlier that day and he assured Mr. Watkins that everybody knew about this arrangement at the time including prior Public Works Director Miller and the Village Board. He thought it was not a big deal at the time to find a farmer and allow this to be harvested as a hay crop two to three times per year. The first two years that did not happen. Sean McCarthy approached Mr. Watkins about the airport and they entered into an agreement. Mr. McCarthy has not mowed as frequently as agreed but no one protested, except Mr. Watkins. He has not had any complaints. Mr. Watkins has filed an open records request with the Police Department to find out details of the recent complaints. President Seager asked if 24-inch tall grass is a safety issue and how that was going to be addressed. The Village has a contract that states grass cutting is supposed to be performed by the airport manager and if there is an agreement regarding farming on that property we need an agreement for that as well. Mr. Watkins stated he does not know of any incidents that have occurred with animals other than burrowing animals and that was mostly on the grass runway which is cut regularly and kept at the height stated in the contract. He stated that the six-inch height was not part of his original contract but he has no issue with it. It was introduced 3-4 years ago, and it was his understanding it was to control the number of times the grass was cut to maintain it under the 8 inches in the areas he was cutting at the time, and everyone knew he wasn’t cutting the hay field. Mr. Watkins stated he would be more than happy to cut all of that. At this time, the grass has been cut. It was asked if there is a way to have the contractor come more frequently so this does not become an issue. This is the same farmer that is leasing the farm land at the airport in a separate lease. The areas of the airport land that Mr. Watkins is maintaining and the area that has been left to grow longer were explained. The question of the longer grass presenting a safety issue was again discussed. The grass height is below the runway lights and Mr. Watkins does not feel there are safety issues with the grass height.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 3 of 6 This situation was summarized to consider from the viewpoint of if the height of the grass allows for safe aviation for pilots and if so, then how to move forward to meet realistic expectations together and keep the airport as attractive as we can afford. DPW Director Equitz informed the Village Board that the Bureau of Aeronautics (BOA) had contacted him about the Runway Object Free Area, which is 250 feet from the centerline of the runway, that needs to be maintained. Andy Trimble, of the BOA, stated he felt if the FAA had been on site the same day Mr. Trimble was there, the airport would have been shut down because of the round bales being within the Runway Object Free Area. Mr. Watkins indicated that he had moved the bales to an acceptable distance and has spoken with Mr. McCarthy who has agreed to remove the bales the same day as they are baled in the future. Motion by Trustee Johnson, second by Trustee Jacoby, that staff work with Walter to determine if ordinance changes are needed, provide a full accounting of responsible parties for the work being done at the airport and bring hard recommendations back to the Board with suggestions to address these issues and, at minimum, make sure that we are in compliance with FAA regulations. Mr. Watkins stated he and DPW Equitz are scheduled to meet to discuss the contract. Chief Boyes agreed that in the short term the complaint has been remedied and clarified the complaint did not include any of the leased farm land only the land between the runway and the taxiways. Trustee Zess reminded the Board that before this contract the Village DPW was charging the airport $50,000 to maintain the airport and Mr. Watkins has been doing it since 2012 for $24,000. Motion carried. 2. Consideration of approving participation in Walworth County Crowd Control Unit (Chief Boyes) Chief Boyes stated Walworth County is putting together a special events Crowd Control Unit team with training and we have the opportunity to include 1-2 officers. There would be some impact with wage costs and the team could be outfitted with seizure funds. Everything else will be handled through a Memorandum of Understanding with the sheriff’s department. This would benefit the department with expanded training and expertise, allow participation in a trained unit for specialized situations and expanded role outside of the department. Motion by Trustee Alexander, second by Trustee Jacoby, to approve the Village East Troy Police Department membership in participation in the Walworth County Crowd Control Unit with up to 2 members from the department on the team and to approve and release of $2,500 in funds seized by the Police Department to outfit and equip the officers. Ongoing expenses can be covered in the operational budget per Chief Boyes. Motion carried. 3. Consideration of terminating four Conditional Use Permits where the property owner is requesting voluntary termination because the current use is now permitted or the business is no longer operating (Care More Performance Inc., Timothy and Chris Barr, Class Tool and Die, Kinove, LLC). Motion by Trustee Renucci, second by President Seager, to approve termination of the four Conditional Use permits. Motion carried.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 4 of 6 4. Consideration of Narcan Training and Equipment Request (Chief Boyes) Chief Boyes has been opposed to Narcan for a period of time as it is medication the police officers could be administering. In June he went to training himself and learned it is pretty simple to administer, the liability on the officers administering it is extremely minimal and he has changed his opinion after taking the training. If he purchases six units of Narcan, it can be in each squad with spares. He stated he is able to cover the cost within budget. There is no actual expiration date on the Narcan but it can be affected by heat and cold in squad cars. Having the Narcan would also be beneficial for officer’s safety as well. Motion by Trustee Johnson, second by Trustee Alger, to approve the purchase of six units at approximately $300.00. Trustee Johnson amended his motion, second by Trustee Alexander, by adding to maintain an inventory of six units. Amendment to the motion carried. Motion carried. 5. Consideration/Review of economic development services request for qualifications to be issued Motion by Trustee Zess, second by Trustee Johnson, to move forward with requests for qualifications and financial proposals for economic development support, to select three candidates to give presentations to the Board at a meeting in September 2017. Motion carried. 6. Consideration of awarding bid on Well 8 rehabilitation The Well 8 Maintenance Bid had three bids came back. The low bidder made a mistake on their bid and they were substantially less. The Engineer reached out and confirmed they had made a mistake. The Village Attorney was consulted and advised we should rebid the process and it will likely cost $1,000 to do this. Alternate bid also did not comply with equipment requirements in the bid. DPW Equitz felt that the work would be able to be completed within the year. Motion by Trustee Alexander, second by Trustee Zess, to reject all the bids and rebid for Well 8 maintenance. Motion carried. 7. Consideration of awarding bid on Public Works Shop Parking lot reconstruction DPW Equitz plans to repave the parking lot in front of the DPW Shop on Austin Street. They will remove existing asphalt and there will be a new base and repaving. They also added to this project the patching needing to be done on Division Street prior to the resurfacing. Motion by Trustee Johnson, second by Trustee Alexander, to approve the bid from Asphalt Contractors Inc. for $35,241.40. Motion Carried. Ordinances & Resolutions 1. Resolution 2017-06 - Granting exempt status to two railroad crossings, Main Street and Young Street Motion by Trustee Renucci, second by Trustee Johnson to approve Resolution 2017-06. Motion carried.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 5 of 6 Reports 1. Booth Lake Minutes – 05/17/2017 – Playground construction is moving along slowly. The location for the playground has changed several times. 2. Park & Recreation Minutes – 05/16/2017 3. ET Emergency Services District Minutes – 05/23/2017 – Note regarding Charges and Compensation Review that Trustee Johnson is forgoing compensation because he does not believe it is appropriate and feels it needs to be discussed and included in the agreement by the Village Board. Wage compensation and voting rights were also discussed. 4. Police Department 2nd Quarter 2017 Report – prepared by DC Swendrowski – Chief pointed out the data on the accidents occurring at the Village Square. Total accidents since 2008 in the Village are 802 accidents - during that period 17 accidents were on Square – of those 10 were property damage, 5 hit and run (no injuries) and only 2 accidents resulted in injuries. 5. Library Minutes – 05/09/2017 6. Library Minutes – 06/13/2017 7. Municipal Court – June 2017 8. Verbal Report from Director of Public Works on Storm and Dam Issues – DPW Equitz reported issues began about 1:30 am on July 12, with losing power. He made the decision to come in and realized with road conditions on his commute that there could be issues and began calling in his staff. The first check of the dam showed no issues. The Honey Creek lift station had a power outage and can only run one out of three pumps on the generator. With the increased flow the one pump could not keep up and resulted in a sanitary sewer overflow at a manhole near the Honey Creek lift station. The Police Department started reporting flooding and the need for barricades, manhole covers popping off due to pressure and tree limbs down. By 4:00-4:30 am the dam issue became apparent and DPW Equitz and Chief made the decision to close the street. At first light he discovered ground water had rushed into the sanitary sewer manhole through the concrete casting, bringing stone and debris, which plugged a pipe downstream. This required setting up a temporary pump to pump around the blockage for about 54 hours. The spillway worked and the dam held. He recommends after this major event to perform a structural inspection to see if there are any concerns. The DNR has identified a “boil” in the downstream bank, about a 4-5” diameter hole that water was bubbling out when the water level was high. The DNR has made the call to keep the road closed. Since then the water has lowered it has stopped flowing out of the hole. The water level needs to be taken down three feet prior to opening road and then assess the banks and dam to determine if there are any issues we need to deal with. The water levels have not come down much after the initial foot due to upstream flowage and excess water draining to our dam, so this will take some time. He stated the Village also needs to be careful and work with Town of East Troy and the Hillburn Mill dam so we do not flood out other locations. He also reported everything is working great at the treatment plant even with the significantly increases volume. In 24-hours there was 7.2” of rain at the plant. DPW Equitz commended his staff for all their efforts and thanked other departments for their help and thanked Chief Boyes for his support. 9. Plan Commission – DRAFT Minutes 7/10/17 – for approved site plan information see http://www.ecode360.com/documents/EA2090/public/375499316.pdf Adjourn Motion by President Seager, second by Trustee Alexander, to adjourn at 9:50 p.m.  EAST TROY VILLAGE BOARD MINUTES July 17, 2017 Page 6 of 6 Respectfully Submitted, Eileen Suhm Administrator