CALL TO ORDER: A regular village board meeting by President Crubaugh.
PRESENT: Dave Crubaugh, Chris Hodges, Stephanie Wojtowicz, Rich Stuczynski, Pat Strelitzer, Bob Rausch, Rebecca Roberts, Jodi Patoka & Travis Stuczynski
ALSO PRESENT: Judy Emerson, Kris Yehling, Brian Swan & Dale Petersen
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
MINUTES OF MARCH 25, 2025: Approved as presented
PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: N/A
PAYMENT OF BILLS: M/S Stuczynski/Roberts approve payment of the bills including the add’l list. Roll call vote. Ayes all. M/C.
VFW – HALL AT GUYANT PARK: Judy Emerson & Kris Yehling addressed the board on the recent break in at the Hall at Guyant Park. Two of the parade rifles were stolen, one of them was retrieved from the river south of the dam. They also retrieved 12 boxes of ammunition, which were all blanks. President Crubaugh had previously asked the VFW to remove all their guns from the hall. Emerson and Yehling are asking the board to reconsider this request. They have taken all measures to securely lock up the guns and ammunition so that this theft won’t happen again. Crubaugh feels that the village would be liable if something were to happen because of the stolen guns & ammunition. Yehling said that he has permission to store the guns at OK Hardware in the store’s basement. Yehling said that he can have the guns removed by Thursday, April 10, 2025.
The date for the dedication of the new military memorial at Guyant Park has been set for Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. The village will prepare a proclamation. Time is TBD. Exit Yehling & Emerson at 6:07pm.
ROARK WAY DRAINAGE: The Public Works Committee will be reaching out to the Blenker’s because they had at one point agreed to work on the drainage issue. R. Stuczynski will reach out to Peter & Justin Blenker to set up a meeting.
FENCE ISSUE AT 215 WAKE ISLAND DRIVE: Village staff & R. Stuczynski went to the property today and discovered that if the fence is moved to the property line, the village’s curb stop will still be in the fenced in area. In talking to the property owner, he might be agreeable to moving the fence further in from the property line as long as he maintains the same square footage of fenced area. The other option would be to move the curb stop closer to the road, so it is outside the fenced area. Staff will gather the costs for both options. Action on this item is postponed until estimates for both options are in.
UPDATE ON NELSON ESTATES SUBDIVISION – CHAD NELSON: Nelson came before the Plan Commission today; he is still in the process of gathering costs for getting the water and sewer across Hwy B. He did get two different estimates, but they weren’t apples to apples. Basically, the development doesn’t pencil out in its current format. Nelson is possibly looking to the village for assistance with the water & sewer installation or he would add density, meaning he would make the lots smaller to get more saleable lots in the subdivision.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USE OF EXCESS FUNDS BUDGETED FOR WASHINGTON STREET REPAVING PROJECT: Staff is working on getting the costs of a possible bike lane instead of sidewalks. There is difficulty in planning a sidewalk on either side of Washington St. and crossing over the bridge/river. This item is postponed.
LOT SPLIT FOR 418 & 428 MAIN ST. NORTH – ALAN & CATHY KIRSLING: The Plan Commission recommended the lot split at today’s Plan Commission meeting. M/S Rausch/Hodges approved the lot split as presented. Ayes all. M/C.
EXTRATERRITORIAL LIMITS – BORGEN/ENGEBRETSON – 10891 COUNTY ROAD V (LAND SWAP): The Plan Commission recommended the land swap at today’s Plan Commission meeting. M/S Stuczynski/Roberts approve the proposed land swap as presented. Ayes all. M/C.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REVIEW – WAYNE BORGEN, 10844 CTY RD V: This was recommended by the Plan Commission at their committee meeting today. This is what is called a “flag lot.” M/S Rausch/Hodges to approve the lot as presented. Ayes all. M/C.
MEMORIAL DAY PROCLAMATION: M/S Hodges/Roberts approve the Memorial Day Proclamation as presented. Ayes all. M/C.
BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR THE 2024 GENERAL ACCOUNT BUDGET: There are no budget amendments at this time. This is postponed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Plan Commission:
- Roberts talked about the Bike Ped Safety Committee that she serves on through Portage County’s Safe Streets for All program. There will be a walk audit for Amherst on Monday, May 19, 2025, from 3-4 pm. The county is putting together a press release that will be run in the Community Spirit.
Utility:
- Storage capacity study
- Utility operations: Well #1 & #2 Upgrades – just received a change order of $129,000 for the well project. The change order specifically talks about upgrading the electrical in well #2 because it is not up to code. Asked Angel at AECOM to get a more specific breakdown of the change order. T. Stuczynski, Lea & Peterson all attended the WRWA annual conference last week which was held at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
- The Opera House had Bob’s Plumbing grind out the sewer, Bob’s had a hard time getting through because it was full of water. Eventually the water drained but not sure where the water went. Will need to do some research to find out where the water goes. Everything is working fine as of now.
Safety:
- April 1, 2025, was the deadline to license your dog for 2025. There are currently 48 dogs in the village that were licensed last year that have not been licensed this year. Patoka will mail out a letter to those village residents asking them to update their dogs.
- A village resident requested that the speed sign be moved to Pond St. because he is concerned about driver’s speeding. Pond St. will now be in the rotation of where the speed signs are placed. Need to order another bracket for the speed sign which is approximately $60. There may be more requests to have the speed sign at other locations. The village will purchase the needed brackets as the requests come in.
Finance:
- Future Treasurer’s Reports
Personnel:
- The library would like to update their Library Assistant job description as it is very outdated. The auditor is asking for clarification about a section of the old employee policy manual that allowed employees who retired to use their unused sick leave to put towards their health care costs. This section was deleted in the newly revised policy manual. Was this deleted in error?
Administrative:
- Amplified sound/music ordinance
- Update Library personnel job descriptions
- Had 475 voters at the April 1, 2025 election which equates to a 60% turnout.
- No Mow May – started in Appleton a few years ago and they have now backed off from it, they have now changed it to Slow Mow May.
Public Works:
- Freddie’s Home Plate update – now have the coolers and all but one of the tables. Still need storage racking. Staff started work on the infield today. The first game is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Working with Faulk Bros. in Waupaca.
- Greenwood Cemetery acquisition – still no word from the DSPS. May just move forward with the acquisition and send the information to the state with the new ownership information.
- Roberts brought visuals of the three wildflower garden sites that will be planted in the village in the next two months as part of the DNR grant.
Tree Board:
- Meeting Thursday, April 17, 2025 – 4:30pm – meeting to wrap up the Arbor Day details and the tree giveaway during Swap-O-Rama.
Library:
- Received $500 in donations in March.
- The Summer Reading Program theme is “Color Our World. The “Friends of the Library” have donated $1,100 to be used for the Summer Reading Program. There are 219 new patron accounts.
Fire District:
- n/a
Thank you to Stephanie Wojtowicz for the past two years that you have served as a village trustee. Brian Swan will now serve as village trustee effective the April 22, 2025 meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Jodi Patoka
Clerk/Treasurer