Village Board

VILLAGE OF HORTONVILLE VILLAGE BOARD JANUARY 16, 2025 MEETING MINUTES APPROVED FEBRUARY 6, 2025 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, Shauna Keel (arrived at 6:13 pm], Jim Moeller, Jane Olk, 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 Brian Bahr, Library Director Alexandrea Krause, and Attorney Ashley Lehocky. Consent Agenda Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Moeller] to approve as outlined. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. A. December 19, 2024 Regular Board meeting minutes B. Presentation of accounts and other claims against the Village Agenda Changes None Preregistered Citizens to be heard Todd Timm, the district administrator for the HASD. I appreciate your time. I am here to thank the board and Nathan for their promotion of Sergeant Bahr to Chief. Representing 4,400 students and parents, 700 employees and citizens that have worked with Sergeant Bahr as our school resource officer for fifteen years. Thank you again to the Village Board and Nathan on this decision. And it goes beyond this and our partnership with this school district, we have a great appreciation for this board and all the amount of time and care they have put into decisions for the Village of Hortonville. To watch this board and administrator promote someone who has dedicated his professional life to kids and parent and community members is exciting. We have had the opportunity to work with Brian for fifteen plus years. I have directly worked with him for twelve. He was integral in our management system upgrade raptor when no other schools were doing it. There was a safety referendum eleven years ago. The department of justice drills, district safety planning with our safety director Mr.Tom Ellenbecker, safety audits, not only safety drills from the department of justice, but our mental health and trauma teams. His relationship with regional first responders has made our school safe and healthy for students. He has helped us in the worst of the worst tragedies, we are not immune to those. Car deaths, sextortion cases, suicide, and the follow-up care in each of those situations. And most important if there was a student support concern or a family concern, none of the administrators at the HASD in the last fifteen years have looked at the clock to see what time it was, we just called. And Sergeant Bahr has always done the same. He is dedicated, I commend you on this decision. I will miss my teammate, but I know this Village is in good hands. We are proud of him, thank you. Committee Reports None Unfinished Business from previous meetings None New Business Discussion and possible action on updating the Police Chiefs Job Description President Bellile stated that one thing that was brought to her attention would be to add the timely communication to the Village Board regarding issues that we need to be informed of before it goes out to the public. Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Olk] to approve the Police Chief’s Job Description. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, nays, 0 motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Police Chiefs Contract Agreement Motion [Arendt Vanden Heuvel/Moeller] to approve the Police Chief’s Contract Agreement. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Swearing in of Sargeant Bahr as Chief of Police Clerk Booth held the official swearing in of Brian Bahr as the Chief of Police. Discussion and possible action on Sale of Police Truck starting amount Administrator Treadwell asked what the starting point should be for the auction site. Motion [Moeller/Olk] to set the starting bid price at $25,000 for the police truck. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Water and Sewer Rate Study Proposals DPW Director Steber said these were proposals from our financial consultant to look at our water and sewer to give us options on how to fund our ongoing obligations as well as future obligations and the main street construction and if we should take out a loan and what our options are. Motion [Olk/Arendt Vanden Heuvel] to approve the contracts as presented with both not to exceed the amount of $14,500 limit. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Vinton Construction Pay app #2 (Alonzo Park) Motion [Moeller/Olk] to approve payment #2 to Vinton Construction in the amount of $350,733.71 for the Alonzo Park Playscape. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Discussion and possible action on Park Construction Pay app #3 (North Mill Street) Motion [Moeller/Jewell] to approve the payment of $305,548.04 to Don E Parker Excavating, Inc. for the 2024 N Mill Street Reconstruction. This is the final payment for the project. Roll call vote, 6 ayes, 0 nays, motion carried. Report of Village Officials Clerk-Treasurer: The report is in the packet. Director of Public Works: The report is in the packet. We did conduct interviews this week and hope to have that taken care of by the end of the week. Chief of Police: The report is in the packet. The only thing I wanted to add is that I did find a crossing guard, so we are full there. We will be holding interviews for the full-time vacancy next Thursday, so hopefully by the next board we will have a recommendation. Library Director: The report is in the packet. The year end statistics was in the packet. As always, we are always shining above our past. Our service population is increasing exponentially higher than our municipal population. So, what that means for us is that we have to keep increasing the materials and services that we offer. That does provide a challenge for a rural fringe library. But this also shows that we are holding our own and really succeeding. Attorney: No update, and I apologize for being late. Administrator: The report is in the packet. Dealing with updating the zoning code and rewriting that. Our utility Clerk is retiring so we will be holding interviews for that position. Any other miscellaneous topics for future discussion None Communications and Miscellaneous Business Black Otter Lake District news: Next meeting is February 5th at 5:00 pm. Building permit report: The December building report was submitted. Hortonville-Hortonia Fire District news: We met last night, and the fire department ended their year with $612.00. They had 95 calls for the year, EMS has 251 calls, which is down significantly. Gold Cross Ambulance run reports and news: The December run report was submitted. Hortonville Civic Association: We have officially signed on to the circus Sunday, June 29 with two performances. We will be setting up advanced ticket sales very soon. Senior Activities Committee: Minutes and update were submitted Comments and suggestions from citizens present None Adjournment Motion [Moeller/Olk] to adjourn. Unanimous voice vote, motion carried. The Board adjourned at 6:25 p.m. Minutes submitted by, Jane Booth, WCMC Village Clerk/Treasurer