VILLAGE MEETING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a meeting of the La Farge Village Board will be held on Monday, November 11, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at the Emergency Services building, located at 201 S. Cherry Street.
AGENDA:
-
Call to order/Roll Call
-
Verification of Meeting Posting/Publishing
-
Approval of previous meetings minute
-
Correspondence
-
Public Comment
UTILITY BUSINESS:
-
Regular Utility Business;
OLD BUSINESS:
-
Any old business;
NEW BUSINESS:
-
Action on a request for a variance to exceed 2 chickens;
-
Winter Festival 20th Anniversary January 10-11, 2020;
-
Update on LAPA and their needs;
-
Action on operator license applications;
-
Review the 2020 proposed budget, approve it for publication, and set a Public Budget Hearing date;
-
Police report/update;
-
Committee reports and updates;
-
Approval to Pay the Bills;
-
Adjourn.
Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer
Posted 11/8/2019
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VILLAGE OF LA FARGE
Regular Board Meeting Monday, November 11, 2019
*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. Roll call was taken with all board members present: Purvis, Aaron Nemec, Aaron Appleman, Terry Jensen, Frank Quinn, Barbara Melvin, and Reggie Nelson. Also present was news reporter Lonnie Muller, Public Works Manager Wayne Haugrud, Police Chief Jonathon Brown, two Tesla Representatives, Samantha Laskowski, Jacob Sell, Francis Hynek, Marcy West, Earl and Debra Nelson, Patsy Alderson, and Clerk Kimberly Walker.
*Verification of meeting publishing in the La Farge Episcope and posting at the Bank, Post Office, and Village Office on November 8, 2019 was given.
*Quinn moved, Jensen seconded to approve the previous meetings minutes: (10-14-19/Medical committee meeting; 10-14-19/Regular board meeting; 10-16-19/Police committee meeting, 10-22-19/Streets and Utilities committee meeting; 10-22-19/Parks, Grounds, Buildings, and Cemetery committee meeting; and 11-4-19/Finance & Personnel committee meeting). (Carried).
*Correspondence: Received a thank you from Bethel Home for the use of the community center for the annual fundraiser for Bethel Parkside. And received a “big” thank you card from the school kids for the donation the board made to the after-school program.
*Public Comments: Joel and Josh, from Brookfield, WI, were present to talk on the Tesla walls they’ll be installing in the Library. The devices are like a backup generator, to store solar power if the grid goes down. They can also be used in the evening when they’re not producing solar and can be programmed with the weather service. If a storm is moving in, it can self- program to store more power for emergency situations. The install is set for Wednesday, with a program in the evening for the public to view.
*Jacob Sell, P.O. Box 282, La Farge, was present, as he has several pressing issues/problems facing La Farge. He brought these to the attention of officials, board members, and press before.
#1. The brush dump right at the rivers edge. Every rain, you have phosphate rich fertilizer going into the river. He’d like to see another place picked further from the river.
#2. An issue with the municipal utility pumping raw sewage onto the ground. He has video footage and it needs to stop. And hopefully it has. And local septic companies are dumping concentrated septage into the sewer system without a permit and not paying. The DNR came, and it supposedly stopped.
#3. Topsoil mining. Been going on in the floodplain for years. Private individuals go in and mine this. The county was made aware of this, and they seem to be ok with it. The DNR was to come out and never did.
#4. Allowing building in the floodplain. A house owned by Christy Graber was redone that got flooded.
**At this time, President Purvis told him he needed to wrap it up (as his three minutes were over).
#5. He went on to state the library continues to flood, there’s illegal incarceration of people without due process, and with the village policy, he can’t get names and salaries of village employees. Even local judge Rood said she wouldn’t accept the case, as what he was asking for wasn’t records. At this time, he was again told his 3 minutes were up by Jensen and Purvis. Cheryl told him if he wants discussion, he can be on the agenda and come back in December. He replied that he thinks he got it all off his chest mostly.
*Francis Hynek was next. He’s been a resident of La Farge for 30 years and looks at the condition of our village and sees things he doesn’t like. He’s had numerous comments brought to him on certain businesses.
Naming Jacob Sells area was one big concern, and one by the river. If this board needs any help, he will offer his services. He served on the county board for a few years and would be happy to help the board out.
*Utility Business: Ryan Thurin, who was hired to do electrical boring in the Lakeview Addition area, is over ½ done. To finish the job, there will be a 4-hour power outage in that area on Thursday and Friday.
**The backup generator is back in service. The radiator and fan were repaired, which was $22,706.
**Wayne attended a “Constructed Wetlands” presentation in Readstown on November 4th.
**The school is having a facilities committee meeting November 12th at 6 p.m. to review their solar.
*No old business.
*The variance request to exceed 2 chickens was tabled as the party that asked was not present.
*Marcy West was present to talk about the upcoming 20th Anniversary of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Winter Festival, which is January 11th. They’re reaching out to La Farge to help, as they’d like us to host a Friday night opening ceremony. Some ideas that have been brought up include a lighted parade, basketball alumni game, bonfire, ice skating rink, and bonfire. Organic Valley is also planning something at their retail store. Barb, Frank, Cheryl, and Kim agreed to work with them, and Chief Brown for the parade route.
*Patsy Alderson was next on the agenda for an update on LAPA. They’re a small group and the members are getting “burned out”. They talked about planning a social event for the public to get members. They may just have 2 meetings and one project a year. They have good feedback from Bingo but need workers. She’s looking for input from the village. Cheryl said when LAPA was first formed, it was to give businesses support. The group has done numerous fundraising over the years, has done a lot for Main Street and created the Farmers market. The things LAPA does is great. Maybe get various groups to help share events. Mary Shird is stepping down from the Farmers market, but Marcy has someone interested in helping.
*Quinn moved, Jensen seconded to approve an operator license for Linda Rood. (Carried). She completed the schooling 10-24-2019.
*The finance committee met November 4 and put together the proposed budget for 2020. Clerk Walker gave a short review of the budget. No one had any questions, so Jensen moved, Quinn seconded to approve the 2020 proposed budget for publication, and set Monday, December 2, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. for the Public Budget Hearing, with a special meeting to follow for adoption of the 2020 budget. (Carried).
*Police report/update: Chief Brown had 89 calls for service in October. No arrests. Had an in-service training with the Sheriff’s office, and no new municipal court cases. Handed out hand warmers and candy to about 170 kids on Halloween. Had a great night.
*Committee Reports:
**Police: Frank said the police committee will be getting together soon for a meeting.
**Cheryl reported she attended the League of WI Municipalities conference in Green Bay in October. It was very good, and she learned a lot. Will be putting together some info to share for the board.
*Quinn moved, Appleman seconded to approve payment of the bills. (Carried).
*Appleman moved, Jensen seconded to adjourn. (Carried). Adjourned at 7:26 p.m.
__________________________________
Kimberly Walker, Village Clerk/Treasurer