Administration Committee

The Village Administration Committee met on Monday, March 11 at 5:00 p.m. in the Village Board room, 316 Brad Street S, Grantsburg, WI 54840. Present: Chairman/President Terrance Kucera Trustee Greg Peer Others: Clerk/Treasurer Sheila Meyer DPW John Erickson Chief Mitch Olson Leo Janke Kim Hallberg, Ben & Niki Peterson, Knute Norenberg – GRO Watercross Rachel O’Brien, IWA Dan & Dawn Kegley, Beth Hedstrom – REM Inspecting Absent: Trustee Hank Java President Kucera called the Administration Committee Meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The committee chose to rearrange the agenda and hear the road closure request first. Road/Alley Closure – Mike Janke for Squirrels Unlimited Banquet June 15th Mike Janke requested the back alley to the south of Madison Avenue West be closed June 14th at 3 pm through June 16th at 11am. As done in past years, this request would stop thru traffic for the section directly behind Hummer’s Rendezvous and Event Center. In the event of an emergency Janke said all tables and chairs could be removed immediately. Photos were provided in the packet detailing the closure. Motion by Trustee Peer second by President Kucera to approve the alley closure for the Squirrels Unlimited Banquet June 14th at 3pm through June 16th at 11am. Motion carried. Memory Lake update 1) Grant agreement 2) Next steps Clerk/Treasurer Meyer announced that the Village of Grantsburg was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Wisconsin DNR to pay for an Aquatic Lake Management Plan. This plan is required to allow for mechanical weed removal in Memory Lake and would also be required for any future dredging projects. SEH has the plan and application cost at $55,000. This plan requires updates every 5 years. The GRO Watercross group has committed $10,000 to the project and will discuss potential for annual contributions. Rachel O’Brien with the IWA has been working on the wild rice concerns. She is waiting for a response from the Tribe. Clerk/Treasurer Meyer added that SEH has reviewed a dredging pre-application and would be able to submit that but suggested to save on engineering fees by having volunteers put together data on the estimated amount of material that needs to be removed and from what areas. Clerk/Treasurer Meyer commented that a loan would be needed to pay for the Village’s portion of the Aquatic Lake Management Plan less donations and grants. Motion by Trustee Peer second by President Kucera to recommend the Village Board approve the agreement with the Wisconsin DNR to accept the $10,000 grant. Motion carried. The GRO Watercross group left the meeting. Authorization to purchase payloader wheels. DPW Erickson approached the board for final approval to purchase 2024 budgeted payloader wheels since the amount is over $10,000. Motion by Trustee Peer second by President Kucera to recommend the Village Board approve the purchase of payloader wheels for up to $16,000. Motion carried. REM Inspecting 1) Verisk letter 2) inspection process/ordinance. Beth Hedstrom with REM Inspecting presented a power point reviewing Uniform Dwelling Code requirements and review of current Village ordinances. Following the power point REM suggested that the Village expand UDC permitting to include all homes, additions to homes, and accessory buildings. They also reviewed the Village’s ability to add permitting requirements for residential plumbing, residential electric, and commercial electric projects. REM reviewed the Verisk letter stating the Village has an ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grading score of a 9, with a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst. REM explained that the entire state of Wisconsin has low scores because Federal agencies say Wisconsin UDC code standards are too low. Low scores could result in things like increased homeowners’ insurance and/or loss of FEMA or BRIC grant opportunities. The committee asked Village staff to reach out to the League and other agencies to find out what the Village’s requirements are and to present any updates at a future committee meeting. No motions made. Motion by Trustee Peer second by President Kucera to adjourn the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Motion carried. Allison Longhenry Deputy Clerk/Treasurer