VILLAGE MEETING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a meeting of the La Farge Village Board will be held on Monday, January 11, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. at the Emergency Services building, located at 201 S. Cherry Street.
All participants, including the public, can join using Zoom:
https://zoom.us/j/91821460871?pwd=alN4ejc4TG9xVDJZa0xzTlhkUld4UT09
Meeting ID: 918 2146 0871 Passcode: Cpx9fT Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ayLuUEj3f
AGENDA:
1. Call to order/Roll Call
2. Verification of Meeting Posting/Publishing
3. Approval of previous meetings minutes
4. Correspondence
5. Public Comment
6. Utility Business
**Regular Utility Business
7. Discussion on Main Street Reconstruction project
**Approval of Delta 3 Engineering contract for the Main Street project
**Review and approval of preliminary Main Street plans
**Discussion/Possible action to hire a Main Street project street lighting engineer
8. Discussion on the EDA grant:
**Update on anticipated Village Board review timeline
**Discussion/Action on approval of EDA grant application for Sub-station relocation
9. Any old business
10. Discussion/Action on a request for proceeding with a closure of a platted – but not open street
11. Discussion/Action to approve submitting a letter of support for the Vernon County Energy District
12. Action on an operator license application
13. Police report/update
14. Committee reports and updates
15. Approval to pay the Bills
16. Adjournment
Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer
Posted 1/08/2021
-----------------
VILLAGE OF LA FARGE
Regular Board Meeting Monday, January 11, 2021
*Village President Cheryl Purvis called the regular meeting of the La Farge Village Board to order at 6:30 p.m. at the Emergency Services building. (Meeting was posted for participants to join using Zoom or attending in person).
Roll Call - Present at the meeting:
All Board Members: Cheryl Purvis, Barbara Melvin, Reggie Nelson (via Zoom), Aaron Nemec, Frank Quinn, Aaron Appleman, and Terry Jensen (Call-in).
Also present: News reporters Lonnie Muller and Bonnie Sherman (via Zoom), Police Chief Jonathon Brown, Brad Steinmetz, Samantha Laskowski (via Zoom), Bart Nies from Delta 3 Engineering (via Zoom), Utility Clerk Greg Lawton, and Clerk Kimberly Walker.
*Verification of meeting publishing in the La Farge Episcope and of posting at the Bank, Post Office, and Village Office on January 8, 2021 was given.
*Melvin moved, Quinn seconded to approve the previous meetings minutes: (12-14-20/Streets and Utilities committee meeting; 12-14-20/Regular Village board meeting; 12-21-20/Economic Flood Recovery committee meeting; and 1-6-21/Main Street Planning committee meeting). (Carried).
*Correspondence: Julie Greenland, who has cleaned the Community center and Park restrooms for 3 years, has decided to leave at year end. She wrote a note thanking the village for the job. For now, the village personnel will be doing the work.
*Public Comment: Samantha Laskowski was present. She is a member of a newly formed Vernon County Energy District group. They are a 501C3, formed in April 2020, to keep energy in Vernon county. She would like to put the desire for community solar back on the radar, that was looked at in 2016. She had an updated estimate of $550,000 for an 800kw system, just south of the Emergency Services Building. She would like to see this put in the economic recovery plan reports.
*Utility business: PWM Wayne Haugrud was absent. No updates to report.
*Main Street reconstruction project: Bart Nies, owner of Delta 3 from Platteville, WI, was present via Zoom. Their firm has been hired for the engineering services for the water and sewer. He has met with Wayne, staff, and the Main Street committee, and reviewed the plans in depth with them. He gave a brief review tonight with the board. The project is from the intersection of Hwy 82/131 on Main from Mill Street to Maple Street. Plans are for construction and completion in 2021. He explained some sanitary sewer pipe changes. If individual property owners want their laterals replaced, they can talk with the contractor and this is their cost. When connecting to the new water main, everyone will stay on the old system until the new system is all in place. There will be planned water outages, but at least a 48-hour notice will be given, unless an emergency occurs.
*There are 16 areas for the storm sewer. This will help collect and discharge more to help with the excess. He reviewed the areas they are proposing. Street lighting is also a part of the project. A separate firm will do this, and they will work with them. The Main Street committee will be selecting the fixtures and decorative poles.
*He reviewed the travel lanes, bike lanes, and parking areas. In 2023, the DOT is repaving Main street, so the bike lane markings will be put in after this. The village is saving money not paving all this now, since the DOT is coming.
*Main Street is not going to be detoured from traffic. The water mains will be on the North side and the sewer on the South. They will do each side separate, and transfer traffic. No parking will be allowed on Main Street. The existing sidewalk will be left in as long as they can for the businesses. The project bidding will be out and awarded before the April 14th TIF funding deadline. Looking at construction to begin the first week of May and go 5 months.
*Estimated cost is $2,632,575, which includes construction, engineering, a 10% contingency, and grant administration. Looking at an additional $250,000 for street lighting. A grant was received for $1 million dollars. Once the bids get in, will know more precise numbers. The final design will be brought to the February meeting, then can look at getting it bid out.
*Delta 3’s engineering contract was discussed last fall, but not approved as the scope of things were not all there. It’s been a rushed timeline, with getting things done before the April TIF deadline. Their bid of $264,000 was in the CDBG budget previously approved by the board. The contract includes meetings, the bid process, having an engineer on site, helping with funding, and taking care of everything on the project. Quinn moved, Nemec seconded to approve the Delta 3 engineering services contract for $264,000. (Carried).
*Quinn moved, Melvin seconded to approve the preliminary Main Street plans. (Carried).
*Discussed a street lighting engineer. Received a bid from Vierbichers of $20,000 for the admin, plus $16,997 from Kale Engineering. Forester Electrical Engineering bid $26,000. Purvis moved, Quinn seconded to make a motion, based on the Village of La Farge Procurement policy, that the board waives the bid requirement and approves the contract for Forester Electrical Engineering to do the street lighting improvements of $26,000. (Carried).
*Discussion on the EDA grant: Cheryl gave an update on the December 21st Economic Flood recovery committee meeting. No comment sheets were turned in from the public workshop on December 9th, so the plan is moving ahead with what they’ve presented. Consensus was to do a substation relocation instead of just doing a flood barrier, looking at safety of our employees. The levee is down the road, could be 5-10 years. Also discussed housing and light business industry. No changes were made on this, just reviewed the info for long-term planning. The next meeting is January 25th, to discuss the final draft. Then it will be presented to the village board at the February meeting.
*Discussed an EDA grant application (for the substation relocation). In late July, the MRRPC was applying for an 80% match for us, but they ran out of time and this didn’t happen. Now we’re looking at one for 50%. Need to hire a consultant to pursue this. The longer it’s prolonged, the more risk of another flood. We have Vierbicher and Delta 3 submitting proposals, but we don’t have Delta 3’s yet. Tabled this to next month.
*Old business: None.
*A request has been submitted for the closure of a platted, but not open street. The info was presented to our Attorney, and passed his review, but there are a few more questions we need resolved before proceeding with the closing. Will table this until the next meeting to find out a few more answers.
*Samantha Laskowski has asked the village for a letter of support for their Vernon County Energy District group. They are looking to apply for an Energy Innovation Grant to the PSC and are working to keep energy dollars in our county. The purpose of the letter is to support their efforts. Melvin moved, Appleman seconded to approve submitting the letter of support to the PSC. (Carried).
*Quinn moved, Nemec seconded to approve an operator license for Marronda Appleman. (Carried 6-1, with Aaron Appleman abstaining). She previously held a license with the village, expiring 6-30-2020.
*Police report/update: Chief Brown had 91 calls for service in December. There have been burglaries in the area recently, so Jon is doing overnight patrolling to keep watch. He reviewed a few arrests and Municipal court on January 7th included a person showing up, not on the docket, and getting arrested for being unruly.
*Committee Reports:
**Finance/Personnel: Quinn said they will need to have a meeting soon.
**Purvis mentioned she is learning more on Zoom meetings. There are more guidelines to follow, which she is getting info on from the League.
*Quinn moved, Nemec seconded to approve payment of the bills. (Carried).
*Melvin moved, Appleman seconded to adjourn. (Carried). Adjourned at 7:46 p.m.
Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer