Public Works

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE APRIL 25, 2024 MEETING MINUTES Chairperson Shauna Keel called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center at 531 N. Nash St., Hortonville, Wisconsin. Members present: President Jeanne Bellile, Trustees Grace Abitz, and Julie Arendt Vanden Heuvel Members excused: James Moeller Officials/Staff present: Administrator Nathan Treadwell, Director of Public Works Aaron Steber and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Lauren Prochnow APPROVAL OF MARCH 21, 2024, MEETING MINUTES Not in packet, will approve at a future meeting. PUBLIC HEARING – FULL ROAD RECONSTRUCTION OF N MILL ST Call of public hearing opening - motion [Bellile, Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to open public hearing – unanimous vote. DPW Aaron Steber deferred to the MSA Engineering. Full reconstruction – storm, new sewer & water to village residents, matching with draining on both sides. Access will be inconvenient when digging, but contractors are providing access. There should be no inconvenience with mailboxes and mail being delivered. There may be slight inconveniences with access to driveways, but residents should be mindful when going around the block. There will be a fair amount of concrete being poured in during the project so again, access will be limited. The southern block down closer to main street will be a grass terrace. The need for this project is cracks and holes in the sewer, disjointed storm sewer and manholes not connected and past the lifetime of the street and maintenance, and recently there were problem areas, sink holes developing and these will be rectified by the project. Are they connecting sewer lines up to the house? Yes up to the right away, same for water and sewer. There will be water shutoffs, temporary water provided. Less water pressure but should return to normal based on different pipe materials. No storm laterals being run to the property. Will this have any factor on properties, copper levels? DPW Steber spoke on the reason for notices in the Village. Property Tax? Possible special assessment for the scope of the project. Large portion should be paid for by utility and CIP, some portion does get charged to the homeowner. There are areas to find more funding. Administrator Treadwell spoke on the differences between assessments. When will we know the amount? At the end of the project. Why isn’t there a wheel tax? It’s been discussed but currently no movement. How old is the road? 40-50 years old Grass north end of Mill? – Where businesses are it will be a grass terrace to the North. We spec what DOT provides; it will be sprayed with hydra-mulch. All animal safe, people safe. With costs as high as they are it’s more efficient to do it all at once. Abitz: Can we be creative with fronting the money? Due to the age of the road – can we break up the cost of it? Water and sewer will help fund along with money from the CIP, if we can find other legal ways to help offset the costs with this project, we will. Will the width of the road change? Speeding up there is a problem. Can we accommodate all of this? Width may shift slightly but should stay relatively the same. If we received a wheel tax – could it offset immediately? It probably would not affect this project, there are set terms that need to be followed when paying out per year, it is more likely a monthly payback. We have about 10 streets that need water/sewer reconstruction. Do we know what rates will be in 10 years? We are seeing prices settle down, prices were lower, they are more consistent, there will always be an increase but not consistent. 3-4% inflation may not keep occurring. The nice thing is it is a local contractor, which helps with costs as well. Some of the aprons are steep. Will they be changing? We’re doing our best to decrease this, some may stay the same, others may improve. What if we did a small tax increase – would those funds be boosted for what we’re capable of doing? Yes – the board controls it, but for this project, it is what it will be. Motion to close public hearing [Arendt Vanden Heuvel, Bellile] vote 4-0, motion carried. Public hearing closed. FENCE AT THE OPERA HOUSE There are photos in the packet – a section of the fence blew over and the location it’s in is a strange area – the property line extends past where the fence was and we own property where the fence was, we could replace the section to put it back where it was, or other panels of the fence, or we could replace the entire fence, or we could have it surveyed. We are trying to find the best way to move forward. The issue with just patching it is a highly decaying fence, even behind the Loose Wheel. Do we need the fence? Is there a purpose, other than privacy for the homeowner? We don’t want the snow pushing down on the neighboring property, could we do some creative fencing? Does the neighbor have a thought? Peter Gitter - I like privacy, and I’ve been maintaining the area this whole time for the Village. We could do a CSM and give you the portion. It makes no sense to maintain, why does the Village want this? If you go to sell the property there is no contesting who owns this. Gitter - I would prefer not to own property on the backside of the fence, we have a good landowner who takes care of it, but it shouldn’t be his responsibility. Could you ask the church if they are willing to take it on? Is this public works or public facilities? Good question, Survey to find the lot line, propose a new lot line, pricing for fence/landscaping, bring back to the PW committee. COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM CITIZENS PRESENT None. Adjourn Motion [Bellile, Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Public Works Committee adjourned at 6:21 p.m. Minutes submitted by Lauren Prochnow, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer.