CALL TO ORDER: A regular village board meeting by President Crubaugh.
PRESENT: Stephanie Wojtowicz, Rich Stuczynski, Pat Strelitzer, Bob Rausch, Rebecca Roberts, Dave Crubaugh, Chris Hodges, Jodi Patoka & Travis Stuczynski
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
MINUTES FEBRUARY 11, 2025: Approved as presented.
PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD: N/A
PAYMENT OF BILLS: M/S Hodges/Strelitzer approve payment of the bills including the add’l list. Roll call vote. Ayes all. M/C.
POSSIBLE UTILITY BILL ADJUSTMENT FOR 241 WASHINGTON ST: This property is a 4-plex where each tenant is billed separately for their water usage plus there is a water only meter that is billed to the property owner, Shawn Lea. In December 2023, it was discovered that the meter information was incorrect in Work Horse and the tenants were not being billed for their correct usage but rather one of their neighboring tenants usage. Patoka updated the meter information in Work Horse at that time but only updated one of the two required fields, so tenants continued to get billed incorrectly. One of the tenants complained about her billed water usage again in February 2025. After reviewing the meter information in Work Horse with the actual meter numbers at the apartment building, it was discovered that the tenants were being billed incorrectly. Three of the four tenants were affected by this error. One tenant is owed a credit of $284.84, the other two tenants each owe add’l money. One tenant owes $51.03 and the other owes $233.81. Also, property owner Shawn Lea paid an outstanding balance of $314.00 for one of her tenants in November 2024 to avoid this amount being added to the tax bill with a 10% penalty. The reason the tenant had a balance of $314 is because she was only paying $40.00 each month because she felt that she was being overbilled for her water usage. The property owner is requesting that she be reimbursed for the $314.00 she paid on her tenants bill in November 2024 and she doesn’t believe the other two tenants should be billed now for previous month’s usage that was not billed at that time. The tenant who is owed a credit doesn’t feel that she is due the credit and believes that she is being billed correctly.
M/S Strelitzer/ Roberts to credit property owner, Shawn Lea’s water only meter account for $314.00 as reimbursement for the payment she made on her tenant’s past due account in November 2024. There will not be any other adjustments to any other tenants accounts. Ayes: Hodges, Wojtowicz, Stuczynski, Strelitzer, Rasch & Roberts. Nay: Crubaugh. Motion passed.
BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR THE 2024 GENERAL ACCOUNT BUDGET: M/S Roberts/Hodges approve the budget amendment as presented. Ayes all. M/C.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Plan Commission:
- Did we not meet in February, there may be a meeting in March.
Utility:
- Discovered a water main break on Laconia St. in front of the United Methodist Church with the help of Todd from WRWA. The repair will take place on Thursday, February 27, 2025. Haven’t received any bills yet for any of the three main water breaks that have happened in 2025. Will need to take the money from the Contingency funds in the Water Account. May need to start a fund in 2026 for future water main break repairs.
- Storage capacity study
- Utility operations: Well #1 & #2 Upgrades
Safety:
- Junked vehicles at 378 N. Main St. – no response from the property owner as of yet
Finance:
- Roberts would like to review the list of bills that Lindsey from POB has accounted for in the Freddie’s Home Plate Project and compare it to the list of bills that the village has as there is a discrepancy in the numbers.
Personnel:
- n/a
Administrative:
- Amplified sound/music ordinance
- Auditors from CLA are here this week to finalize the audit for 2024
- Only had 93 voters turn out for the 2025 Spring Primary on February 18, 2025
Public Works:
- Minutes from February 19, 2025, the next meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 from 6-7pm.
- Freddie’s Home Plate update – need to meet with POB to close the books on FHP. Also received a generous donation of $10,000 this week from Diane Stroik, previous owner of the Amherst Café. Need to add Diane’s name on the FHP donor board.
- Greenwood Cemetery acquisition – Approximately 2 weeks ago, Butch Pomeroy along with Jodi Patoka reached out to the contact at the DSPS looking for an update on the transfer of the cemetery to the village. The DSPS contact was going to reach out to the head of the cemetery association. As of today, there is no update. If there is still no update after another week, Crubaugh will reach out to State Representative, Vincent Miresse.
- Meeting Tuesday, March 11, 2025 – 2pm will be bid opening for Washington St. repaving
Tree Board:
- Planning a meeting in March.
Library:
- Meeting on Monday, March 3, 2025
Fire District:
- Report on February 17, 2025, meeting – Don Spierings from the Town of Amherst has resigned from the fire commission. Gerry Zastrow will fill in until board appointments in May 2025. Looking for an administrative assistant, approximately 20 hrs. a week. The fire departments books are now in balance. 431 ambulance runs in 2024. 64 runs YTD. Hired two new EMT’s. Next meeting is March 17, 2025.
M/S Stuczynski/Roberts to adjourn at 6:35 p.m. Ayes all. M/C.
Respectfully submitted,
Jodi Patoka
Clerk/Treasurer