Village Board

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE VILLAGE BOARD APRIL 18, 2024 MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MAY 2, 2024 President Jeanne Bellile called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center at 531 N. Nash St., Hortonville, Wisconsin. Trustees present: Grace Abitz, Bob Jewell, Jim Moeller, Jane Olk, Shauna Keel, and Julie Arendt Vanden Heuvel. Trustees absent: Officials/Staff present: Administrator Nathan Treadwell, Clerk-Treasurer Jane Booth, Director of Public Works Aaron Steber, Chief of Police Kristine Brownson, and Library Director Alexandrea Krause. Officials Excused: Attorney Ashley Lehocky Consent Agenda Motion [Moeller/Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to approve as outlined. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. A. April 4, 2024 Regular Board meeting minutes B. Presentation of accounts and other claims against the Village Agenda Changes None Preregistered Citizens to be heard Grace Abitz, 213 W Main Street, said that I have been reflecting on my past year as a trustee and I would like to take a moment to share observations and concerns unobstructed. I have concerns in two critical areas. Meeting decorum and the quality of communication with our communities’ businesses. Regarding meeting decorum, the conduct I have observed in board and subcommittee meetings is discouraging. No matter the issue or exchange, the decorum can be civil and professional. As community representatives it is our responsibility to set the standard for how issues are explored and discussed, welcoming collaboration and transparency. Procedurally it is confusing how items are chosen to be discussed on the agenda. I believe it is imperative to document how the board processes the agenda items from the very beginning to the end. Not only to protect the integrity of this board, but also to aid in informing our residents and businesses. The potential that one undocumented complaint holds is alarming. My second concern is about selective communication with our local businesses. I have observed what I can only describe as favoritism. Some board members and the president seem quick to tout their ability to call some business owners while not knowing other ones exist. I have not observed the same initiative and care extended to all business owners. We must prioritize collaborative and professional discussions not only about issues but also about the goals and growth that lie ahead. We need to look to the new comprehensive plan for guidance as it reflects the short- and long- term values of this community. Thanks for your time and attention. Committee Reports None Unfinished Business from previous meetings None New Business Discussion on Nye Street Parking Issue Administrator Treadwell said this was initially discussed at a Public Safety Committee meeting. The plan was to invite the residents along Nye Street and the idea from the meeting was to come up with a solution for the first responders and cars to get through there. Basically, we need to shift the center line to the south to allow for parking on the North side, while still having a suitable driving lane. Trustee Arendt Vanden Heuvel asked Fire Chief Kuhnke what his thoughts were. He said that he prefers it on the South side for the parking. Chief of Police Brownson said that there are no sidewalks in this area. The easy fix for now will be to paint new lines and shift them to the South. Trustee Abitz asked if it is a problem all the time, Fire Chief Kuhnke said that only when cars are parked there, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Discussion and possible action on Resolution R-12-24 Amending Senior Activities Commission Structure Administrator Treadwell said this is to remove a Village Board member from the committee. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Moeller] to approve Resolution R-12-24 amending the Senior Activities Commission structure. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Appointment of Citizen Members of the Commission President Bellile said to appoint Barry Hoff for the Planning & Zoning Commission. Library Trustee would be Jane Olk. Zoning Board of Appeals would be Joanne Mueller and Mike Hansen as alternate 2. Board of Review – Bob Jewell as the alternate member. Hortonville/Hortonia Fire District – Tom Banker and Mike Bellile. The Senior Committee will be appointed at the first meeting of May. We would also be appointing Shauna Keel to sign vouchers. Jane Olk will be stepping out of Black Otter Lake District and Bob Jewell will be in for trustee. Motion [Moeller/Keel] to approve the appointment of citizen members on the commissions. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on RFP bid results for Towne Drive Lighting Project – Lights Administrator Treadwell said that this was bid out and we had two submittals. Motion [Moeller/Olk] to approve the lighting in the cost of $34,962.77 plus freight to Jeremy Bellile for Towne Drive Lighting. Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on RFP bid results for Town Drive Lighting Project – Light Installation Administrator Treadwell said that we received 2 bids for this project. Bodart Electric was the cheaper bid and that is our recommendation. Motion [Moeller/Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to accept Bodart Electric in the amount of $43,428.52 for the Towne Drive lighting installation Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion on Reserve Liquor License Administrator Treadwell said that there was a memo in the packet regarding reserve license. The state has changed the ruling on the reserve licenses and contiguous. The new law must be in the County. Discussion and possible action on RFP bid results from 2024 Hortonville Street Maintenance – Crack Filling Project DPW Director Steber said that we received a bid from 4 bids. Asphalt Seal and Repair was the low bid. Motion [Moeller/Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to approve the bid from Asphalt Seal & Repair, LLC in the amount of $9,930.00 Roll call vote, 7 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion on the Sex Offender Ordinance Chief of Police Brownson said that we were in the process of updating our sex offender map. The current ordinance is 2,000 feet that a sex offender can live from a school. We need to update our map every year and we found a discrepancy in the state map. Attorney Lehocky put something out to all board members reducing the footage from 2,000 to 1,500 feet. We would then be compliant, and we would be making a good effort in lowering the footage. This would include the Wio-wash trail, and all the parks are included. This will be brought back to the board after the attorney has taken a look at our ordinance. Discussion and possible action on Board Room AV equipment Administrator Treadwell said he handed out a copy of the quote for the equipment. The question is whether or not you want to move forward with it. This solution would make it so that anyone can set it up and would have preset functions for activities and would fix the hearing loop that has never worked here. It would all be between teams, and would be streamlined so it would record, and one file that we could directly upload to youtube. This would also amplify so the audience could also hear better. The service agreement was additional and not necessarily needed. President Bellile asked if we could put it in the budget for 2025.Potentially get RFPs for it late in 2024 and then put in budget for 2025. Trustee Abitz said that she is for this for a couple of reasons, it would help employees focus on other areas, and the cost will be higher in the coming years. The Library Director said that the hearing loop would be really helpful, the speaker system for the movies will be enhanced. Trustee Moeller said that the amount quoted was not cringe worthy. I would like to see it go out for bids. I am hesitant to spend money when we don’t really know where it is coming from. Administrator Treadwell will get more quotes on this and bring them back to the board. Report of Village Officials Clerk-Treasurer: The report is in the packet. Director of Public Works: The report is in the packet. I did hear today from our contractor regarding the village wide street sweeping and that should be next week. Chief of Police: The report is in the packet. We had a power failure and a large failure to the municipality on Tuesday evening and we had a contractor come in. The electrician came in and he feels that our municipal building was hit by lightning. We had three surge protectors that blew up, eight breakers were popped. The library had some surge protectors that popped as well, and one of her computers was fried. The surge protectors did protect the equipment and did what they were supposed to do. Library Director: I have been working on the electrical outage the last couple of days. Our Library Board is meeting on Tuesday, at 4:00 pm. Administrator: Our slab was poured this week for our kayak rental station and the kayak rental station will be installed by the end of the month. I have been working on future planning for next year’s CIP. Court Report: Court report was in the packet. Any other miscellaneous topics for future discussion Trustee Abitz would like to see the design of a procedure where all the members can see a complaint. I would like to revisit the variance that got put off for 120 days, as that puts you in the middle of the summer. I visited with them, and they agreed for collaborative communication. Administrator Treadwell said that they were instructed to bring solutions to us for that meeting. Communications and Miscellaneous Business Black Otter Lake District news: There is a meeting next Tuesday, at 5:00 pm. Building permit report: None Hortonville-Hortonia Fire District news: We had a meeting on Wednesday, the 10th of April. We discussed the Fire and EMS budgets today. The 23 fire calls were average, and 59 EMS calls were average as well. Chief Kuhnke talked about the purchasing of a new fire tender. Pierce gave us a quote of $1.1 million and there is an incentive to pay early if you pay within 30 days of the order. It is roughly a 49 month build date. They are in the process of getting two more quotes. The new pickup truck and trailer are in service. The old trailer got sold. Radios from the grant are being programmed. The next meeting is Tuesday, July 9th at 6:00 pm. Gold Cross Ambulance run reports and news: The March run report was submitted. Hortonville Civic Association: We have decided we are going to revamp the Octoberfest event and it will be September 21, 2024 at Commercial Club Park. Donations will go towards the park fund. It will be called the Ernie Broeniman Annual Memorial Octoberfest. The polka band will be there playing, and it will be a lot of fun. We will need lots of volunteers. Senior Activities Committee: No report tonight. Comments and suggestions from citizens present None Adjournment Motion [Moeller/Keel] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Board adjourned at 7:25 p.m. Minutes submitted by, Jane Booth, WCMC Village Clerk/Treasurer