Village Board

OFFICIAL MINUTES – MEETING OF October 16, 2023 Village of North Fond du Lac – BOARD OF TRUSTEES Board Present Staff Present Mike Streetar – President Nick Leonard- Administrator John Duffy- Trustee Darren Pautsch-Police Chief Chuck Hornung- Trustee Jake Flaherty-Fire/EMS Chief Ann Price – Trustee Mitch Vis- Dir. of Public Works Mike Will-Trustee Kris Ruch-Deputy Treasurer Laurie King-Pool Director Others present: A. ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS Streetar called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Duffy, Hornung, Streetar, Price and Will present. B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE C. CITIZENS PARTICIPATION D. ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. The Board recognized Peter Fetters and his 20 years of service to the Village. E. PRESIDENTS BUSINESS AND STAFF REPORTS 1. Administrator Leonard and present Department Heads gave a summary of the weekly report. F. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approve the minutes of the following Village Board Meeting: 10/02/2023. 2. Approve invoices and authorize checks to be drawn on the respective funds as indicated. Motion to approve by Will, second by Price. Hornung mentioned 2 corrections to the minutes in the roll call votes for Ordinances as he was listed, but not at the meeting. Leonard will correct the errors. 4 ayes. Hornung abstained. Motion carries. G. ADMINISTRATIVE 1. Pool Director Laurie King presented the Board with a summary of the pool operations and attendance from 2023. King stated that she thought they had a great year. Trustee Will asked if Laurie would be looking at the rates for next year. King stated that at this point she doesn’t believe we need to increase rates, but she will continue to look at them every year. 2. The Board had a brief discussion on the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). Chief Pautsch gave the Board an update on the FLOCK cameras and mentioned there were 3 ordered that will be installed shortly. The cost for the 3 cameras will be $9,000 annually. 3. The Board discussed the 2024 Fond du Lac County Tax Collection Agreement. Leonard pointed out the $.05 increase per parcel. Motion to approve by Hornung, second by Duffy. 5 ayes, motion carries 4. The Board discussed and was presented with the 2024 Department of Public Works budgets. DPW Director Vis presented the budgets. Some highlights included the reallocation of hours to more closely reflect past years. Also, Vis explained an increase in gas and electricity in most facilities' budgets. There is a $21k increase in sanitation for bulky waste pickup in 2024. The Board asked Leonard to gather some more information on the Shared Ride Program. Additionally, Vis proposed adding a position to the department. The proposal was for a full-time Crewperson/Maintenance. Vis explained the need for a position to clean and maintain our facilities as this work is falling on the DPW crew to do and pulling them away from their normal tasks. This position would replace a combination of the existing vacant janitor and vacant long-term seasonal. The Village has struggled to hire these positions for quite some time. The proposed increase to the budget is around $20k to the General Fund. Trustee Will asked for the position to be 37 hours to have savings on the benefits  and if the Village couldn’t find a candidate to come back to the Board to move it to full-time. Duffy asked if moving to this position would create problems with lawn mowing without the long-term Seasonal. Will also asked if we could look at contracting the lawn mowing. Vis stated that the 1,200 hours that are still in the budget for summer help would be adequate to keep up with the mowing. Price asked staff to update the job description to include a more robust list of tasks including lawn mowing. The Board approved moving forward with a 36-38 per week position for now and asked Vis to come back if he couldn’t find anyone. Vis then also explained the need to move one of the current Crewperson positions to a Crew Leader position. Vis explained that with the rearrangement now with a Superintendent we still need a lead person who is working in the field the majority of the time. Vis stated the Superintendent needs to be in the office more to help alleviate his workload and we need a lead crewperson to be on the job. Duffy asked about the pay grade and where it fits into the rest of the DPW. Will asked why the Superintendent couldn’t take care of this. Vis explained that the Superintendent needs to be in the office more to alleviate duties that Vis is currently doing and the Superintendent is not in the field all the time. Duffy asked if adding the Maintenance person would take care of this. Leonard and Vis both agreed that this was still necessary. The Board approved to move forward with both positions. 5. The Board discussed the 2024 General Operating, Debt Service Fund, Capital Projects Fund, Spillman Library, Outdoor Rec., EMS Fund, and Tax Increment District #2 Budgets, and setting the Tax Levy for the Fiscal Year 2024. Chief Flaherty discussed the need for adding paid on-call firefighters from 7PM to 7AM Thursday through Sunday. He proposed adding 3 individuals to be on call. The impact to the budget would be approximately $15,000. Will thought this was a good idea, but asked if it could be delayed another year. After discussion, the Board asked for this to be put into the budget. Leonard also proposed increasing poll worker pay from $10 to $12 per hour and Chief Inspector pay from $12 to $15 per hour and the Board agreed. Will also asked for the per diem amount for Boards and Commission to be increased from $25 to $30 and Leonard had adjusted the budget to reflect that and the Board agreed. Leonard also informed the Board that the Library budget had changed significantly since the last time due to health insurance. The Library budget expenses increased by about $19k. The Library Board will meet to discuss at a future meeting. The Board then discussed the levy amount for 2024. Leonard presented the Board with some scenarios that kept the levy the same and also with some reduction. Will asked for these to be provided and thought that the Board should split the increase in Shared Revenue with taxpayers and reduce the levy by $150k which would reduce the tax rate by 8%. Streetar agreed with a reduction. Hornung, Price, and Duffy thought a 0% tax rate increase was appropriate given the increase in expenses. After discussion, the Board agreed on a $50k reduction to the levy or a 3% reduction to the tax rate. Price and Hornung thought the 0% was still appropriate. Leonard will move forward with including the $50k reduction to the levy. 6. The Board discussed the 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan. Chief Flaherty discussed the ambulance that had been ordered over 2 years ago and that a chassis was available. This amount would need to be adjusted to $305k due to the increase in cost, but this was a far cheaper option than starting over with an order and would allow a much quicker turnaround. Leonard mentioned that the Capital reserve fund balance was over $600k and that the current project list was about $200k over the target amount of $1.375 million for the 2-year borrow. Leonard recommended using $200k for the McKinley St. Bridge out of the reserve account and the Board agreed. Motion by Duffy to approve the purchase of up to $305k for the Ambulance, second by Hornung. 5 ayes. Motion carries. H. RESOLUTIONS 1. The Board discussed Resolution-13-2023 a resolution authorizing the designation of American Rescue Plan Act Funds of up to $5,000 to purchase a portable speed detection sign. Motion to approve by Will, second by Price. 5 ayes. Motion carries.  2. The board discussed Resolution-14-2023 a resolution acknowledging Mitch Vis as authorized representative for water and wastewater management system improvements. Motion to approve by Price, second by Duffy. 5 ayes. Motion carries. I. UNFINISHED BUSINESS J. NEW BUSINESS L. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Price with a second by Hornung to adjourn at 9:13 P.M.- 5 ayes. Respectfully submitted, ______________________________ __________________________________ Michael Streetar, Village President Nick Leonard, Village Administrator