VILLAGE OF LA FARGE

Economic Flood Recovery Committee Meeting

 

 

The Village of La Farge Economic Flood Recovery Committee will meet Monday, January 25, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. at the Emergency Services Building, located at 201 S. Cherry Street, La Farge.  

   

                    All participants, including the public, can join using the option below:

                                                     Join Zoom Meeting                    

         https://zoom.us/j/99312942403?pwd=NE5vMUpocnQ3aUd6aGVvdkhMVjB5dz09  

                    Meeting ID: 993 1294 2403                   Any questions, please call 608-625-4422.

                

 

Agenda:

1. Call to Order, Roll Call

2. Verification of meeting posting

3. Discussion of Final Draft Document

4. Recommend Draft Document to Village Board for Review

5. Adjournment

 

Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer

Posted 1/22/2021  

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        VILLAGE OF LA FARGE

                   Economic Flood Recovery Committee Meeting

                              Monday, January 25, 2021

  

*Chair Brad Steinmetz called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. at the Emergency Services building.

(A Zoom option was offered for participating).                   

        

1). Roll Call - Present at the meeting:

All Members: Brad Steinmetz, Kris Gabrielson, Greg Lawton, Dean Steinmetz, and Barb Melvin.

Also: Sarah Pittz and Gary Blazek from Vierbichers, Public Works Manager Wayne Haugrud, news reporters’ Lonnie Muller and Bonnie Sherman (via Zoom), Dave Bonifas from MRRPC (via Zoom), Marcy West from the Kickapoo Valley Reserve (via Zoom), and Clerk Kimberly Walker.         

    

2). Verification of posting at the Bank, Post Office, and Village office on January 22, 2021 was given.    

    

3). Discussion of Final Draft Document: Sarah gave a recap of the calendar time frame. This document will be presented to the village board February 8th. A Public hearing is scheduled in March, which is the last public input for the plan, and then the board will consider adoption. The public hearing has been published in the paper for the February meeting since all is going well. If the committee feels we should wait until March, that is no problem, otherwise we will move things up. Sarah said if anyone has any changes or sees any typos to please let her know.                

           

*For informational purposes, a sheet was reviewed on an economic recovery implementation plan. It stated the program, what is eligible expenses, funding amounts, and timeframes. The village has been awarded a 1-million-dollar grant for the Main Street reconstruction. The village is currently in talks with CDA, Inc. on applying for a CDBG-DR (Disaster recovery) grant due in March. They’re also looking at another EDA grant, at 50% match, for the substation relocation. These are to be decided at the February board meeting.        

Also looked at programs for flood infrastructure funding sources. After this plan is adopted, Vierbichers will submit it to the Army Corp of Engineers and FEMA to see what funding options may be available.  

   

*Brad mentioned possibly including a plan on a solar farm that the village had looked at awhile back. Samantha Laskowski and the recently formed Vernon County Energy District is looking for future economic development initiatives. We could document it to keep it alive. The committee agreed to have it in the plan. Sarah will talk with Cheryl Purvis and Samantha on this further, then send out an article for Kim to distribute to the committee for review ahead of the February meeting.  

 

*Some questions were asked by members and reviewed. The goal is to move forward on what’s in this document and present it to the village board. After the public hearing, the board can adopt this, revise it itself, or send it back to the committee.     

  

*It was asked about the role of this committee in the future. It was established last July for this process. It’s up to the village after this.   

 

4). Recommend Draft Document: Greg Lawton moved, Dean Steinmetz seconded to recommend the draft document be sent on to the Village Board for review. No further discussion. Roll Call Vote. Motion passed unanimously.  

 

5). Barb Melvin moved, Kris Gabrielson seconded to adjourn. (Carried) Adjourned at 5:42 p.m.

    

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Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer