Village Board

Village of Withee Phone: 715.229.4319 Fax: 715.229.4451 511 Division * P.O. Box A * Withee, Wisconsin 54498 The Withee Village Board met on October 30, 2023, at 6 pm in the Municipal Building, Conference Room for a Budget Meeting. ROLL CALL President Lindgren called the meeting to order. Roll call was answered by Trustees Lindgren, Shelton, Frankewicz, and Kalepp. Clerk Niemi recorded the meeting. Also, in attendance were DPW Derek Schad, Cindy Cardinal, Kevin Looker, and Library Director, Brandon Hardin. BOARD MEMBER A Shelton/Kalepp motion to accept Gary Gehrke’s resignation as trustee due to moving out of the municipality carried with all ayes. A Kalepp/Frankewicz motion to approve the appointment of Kevin Looker as trustee to the Village Board to fill the vacant seat carried with all ayes. Trustee Looker took the oath of office. O-W POLICE COMMITTEE MEMBER A Frankewicz/Shelton motion to approve the appointment of Kevin Looker to the O-W Police Committee carried with all ayes. LIBRARY BUDGET PRESENTATION The Library Director, Brandon Hardin, presented the 2024 budget for the Withee Public Library. He mentioned reducing printing costs, using a credit card, and not renewing the movie license to save money. The county will finalize their budget and the library hopes to receive more than last year. Hardin felt that if the Village board appropriated the same amount as last year it would work for their budget. The board thanked him for his work. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DPW Schad presented a comparison sheet prepared by John Deere (JD) sales representative, Tony Siverling, which listed the features of three Caterpillar and three JD endloaders. Schad drove the City of Greenwood’s JD and really liked how it handled. Greenwood traded in a Caterpillar for their current JD and liked the JD better. A Looker/Frankewicz motion to purchase from McCoy Construction Forestry the 544P John Deere loader for $180,000 with trade-in of the JD 544K loader carried with all ayes. When the endloader is delivered in 2024, the Village will pay with savings and budgeted monies and obtain a loan for the remainder. YELLOWSTONE COMPUTING ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT CONTRACT Yellowstone Computing increased the Business Service Plan for the five computers by $5 each per month and the security by $1 per month as their costs have increased. It is the first price increase since 2019. The contract covers offsite backup, anti-malware protection, regular updates, system cleaning and maintenance, Microsoft Office Suite, email hosting, and discounted labor for direct support. A Shelton/Frankewicz motion to approve the increase to the annual maintenance and support contract with Yellowstone Computing and pay the monthly rate of $206 per month carried with all ayes.  HEALTH INSURANCE Clerk Niemi presented the renewal from Security Health Plan which came in at a 7.26% increase. A Kalepp/Looker motion to renew with Security Health Plan with option H02025X2-UMB-T which has a $6,000 family deductible for the monthly premium of $3,733.93 for the two full-time employees, carried with all ayes. REVIEW OF 2024 BUDGET The board reviewed the budget proposal for the year 2024. The increase for the tax levy this year will be 1.79% for net new construction. TIF amounts are not known yet but were decreased by $35,000 by the auditor’s estimate, as the Village doesn’t receive the full tax increment. TID #1 real estate is now part of the regular tax levy so that amount increased. The state shared revenue increased by $41,718.89 because the legislators passed an increase for all municipalities. Legal was increased because of increased legal expenses in 2023. Elections were increased due to four possible elections in 2024. The state increased the pension from 13.6% to 13.8%. The auditor amount decreased due to closing the TID in 2023. The assessor cost is the average price over the last three years for the revalue scheduled for 2024. Insurance premiums stayed almost the same. Office expenses increased as the various software fees and Yellowstone Computing increased. The police line item was increased and won’t know the amount until the 11/06/23 police meeting when the budget will be finalized. The cemetery stayed the same at $6/resident. The budget continues the trend of setting aside monies into the savings accounts for the fire department, police, ballpark repairs, equipment, and Progress Street development. Debt service is lower due to paying off the Industrial Park loan. Debt service also includes $16,000 for paying on the endloader loan. Money was added to engineering savings for updating the comprehensive plan. A Frankewicz/Kalepp motion to accept the current numbers in the proposed 2024 budget and postpone finalization of the budget until final numbers are received carried with all ayes. CLOSED SESSION PER §Ch. 19.85 (1)(c) CONSIDERING EMPLOYMENT, PROMOTION, COMPENSATION OR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION DATA OF ANY PUBLIC EMPLOYEE A Kalepp/Frankewicz motion to convene into closed session at 6:34 p.m. carried with all ayes. A Shelton/Kalepp motion to reconvene into open session at 6:41 p.m. carried with all ayes. A Frankewicz/Kalepp motion to approve a 3% wage increase for Derek Schad, a 3% wage increase for Ellen Niemi, and a 1% wage increase for the David Laabs effective January 1, 2024, carried with all ayes. NEXT BUDGET MEETING A Kalepp/Looker motion to set the next budget meeting for November 13th at 6:15 pm and the budget hearing for November 30th at 6:30 pm carried with all ayes. A Kalepp/Shelton motion to adjourn at 6:48 pm carried with all ayes. Ellen Niemi Village Clerk