Village Board

Village of Withee Phone: 715-229-4319 Fax: 715-229-4451 511 Division * P.O. Box A * Withee, Wisconsin 54498 The Village of Withee Board met on March 13, 2023, in the Municipal Building, Conference Room at 6:30 pm for the regular board meeting. ROLL CALL President Lindgren called the meeting to order. Roll call was answered by Trustees Lindgren, Shelton, Gehrke, Frankewicz, and Kalepp. Clerk Niemi recorded the minutes. Also, present were Derek Schad, Police Chief Patrick Fehlman, Officer Jacob Haugstad, and Cindy Cardinal. MINUTES A Frankewicz/Kalepp motion to approve the minutes of the February 13, 2023 regular meeting, February 16, 2023 special meeting, February 20, 2023 special meeting, and February 23, 2023 special meeting carried with all ayes. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS A Shelton/Gehrke motion to approve the monthly financial statements for the General, Water, and Sewer Accounts carried with all ayes. PAYMENT OF BILLS A Frankewicz/Shelton motion to approve paying the General Account checks 36045 thru 36089; Water Account checks 7189 thru 7201; and Sewer Account checks 2542 thru 2543 carried with all ayes. PAYROLL REPORT The board reviewed the employee time cards and payroll report. COMMUNITY INPUT There was no community input. COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no committee reports. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS The Village Board thanked Baehr Electric and Bo and Scott Baehr for donating and hanging a new flag at the shop in memory of Troy Hatlestad. President Lindgren reported that the plow blade sheared most of the bolts after hitting a manhole but Dave Laabs repaired it, and Lindgren helped plow the streets last weekend. A Gehrke/Frankewicz motion to appoint Derek Schad as the full-time Director of Public Works at $29 per hour with benefits of one week vacation upon hire, one week vacation after six months, eligible for holidays upon hire, eligible for five sick days upon hire, and eligible for HSA contribution paid for the remaining three quarter of 2023 deposited in amounts of $875 for a total of $2,625 effective 3/14/2023 carried with all ayes. Clerk Niemi swore in Derek Schad. POLICE REPORT Chief Fehlman plans to present at the April meeting or a special meeting the final report for the board to decide how to proceed for the residence continually cited for junk ordinance violations. He talked in-person with the resident and sent correspondence. He has a timeline documented with letters and progressive photographs of the property. Fehlman will meet with Attorney Wachsmuth for her direction. President Lindgren reported that the O-W Police Department welcomes anyone to ride-along with signed waiver. The police chief’s contract will be sent to Wachsmuch for final review. City of Owen committee members were paid for meeting attendance from the police account in error. The monies will be refunded from Owen into the account. Paperwork has been filed for the grant reimbursement of police items. A Frankewicz/Shelton motion to approve the bills paid 2/08/2023 thru 3/08/2023 carried with all ayes.  JAKE BRUNETTE FOR CLARK COUNTY JUDGE Candidate for Clark County Judge, Jake Brunette, was unable to make the meeting as he was still at the City of Thorp council meeting. GENERAL DEPARTMENT The special legislation to extend the life of TID#1 will not happen. Clerk Niemi worked with the past auditor, Larry Soyk, and Dave Rasmussen from MSA to supply figures to Senator James and Representative Hurd for the legislation and arranged representatives from the taxing jurisdictions to testify. The Department of Revenue (DOR) TID division and Rep. Hurd were supportive of our request. However, Senator Stroebal and committee were not supportive of reopening a terminated TID as they felt other municipalities would try to reopen closed TIDs that had underperformed. According to the current auditor, we will receive approximately $35,000 less for our 2024 budget. The board was informed that virtual Open Book will be April 18, 2023, when Bowmar Appraisal can be contacted by phone or email. The Board of Review (BOR) will be held April 25, 2023, from 5 to 7 pm at the Village Hall. Clerk Niemi will order the BOR training and will complete it to meet the state mandated annual training requirement for at least one person on the board. A Frankewicz/Kalepp motion to approve operator licenses for Sandi Maguire-Petke and Robin Sixberry carried with all ayes. The state assesses personal property tax on manufacturing property. The DOR sent a Correction of Error Notice for the manufacturing personal property assessment for Country Forest Products. The correction is due to their erroneous reporting of an exempt loader as taxable. A Kalepp/Shelton motion to approve reimbursing the amount of personal property tax paid in error by County Forest Products in the amount of $3,320.95 carried with all ayes. Clerk Niemi will then file a PC-201: Request for Chargeback of Refunded Taxes form to receive the refunded amounts from the other taxing jurisdictions. A Kalepp/Shelton motion to adjourn at 7:04 pm carried with all ayes. Ellen Niemi, Village Clerk *** These minutes are unofficial and will be formally approved at the next regular board meeting*** *** Next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 10, 2023, at 6:30 pm. ***