Granton Village Board Discusses Road Project
Monday, March 15th, 2021 -- 11:05 AM
The Granton Village Board heard an update on the road project at their meeting.
According to the unofficial minutes from the meeting, Cedar Corp has not heard anything regarding the PERF scores to date. There was a phone meeting during the week with Brian Duelle the County Road Commissioner.
Brian was concerned about the project and the amount of money that may have been allocated to the County. He did reference that an estimated cost per mile for the County is $183,000.
This estimate does not include pulverizing or the additional costs incurred to remove the concrete sub-base. The Village did advise that the current estimate being used by Cedar Corp was $257,800 from Kirk to 5th Street.
That estimate includes the pulverizing, the removal of the concrete sub-base and is for 22 feet of road instead of the 24 feet the county is planning on. The Village forwarded the current plan outlining the 4 options being considered with estimated costs and grants.
Brian noted that if the Village is awarded grant money toward the road project that he would only pay for the road minus the awarded grants but would not contribute money toward the grant writing or engineering fees required to obtain the grant.
As the project gains momentum, the board will be altering the road project if the properties on highway 10 do not submit annexation papers as the Village will not incur extra expenses to run water, sewer and sidewalks to properties outside the Village limits.
The Board also discussed the Board of Review. The Village will be undergoing a revaluation this year so the assessment roll will not be available for review by the 4th Monday in April.
The clerk will publish the Board of Review notice for May 12th at 6:30pm with the sole purpose of postponing the Board of Review until August 11th when the assessment roll will be available for review. The board also discussed the Park Finance Plan.
As participation numbers continue to fall so does the revenue. Several ideas have been discussed to try to help generate income but the final decision belongs to the Park Committee. The board also discussed the issues with the pond.
Numerous repair options have been discussed with the most costly being a replacement of the entire reservoir with an estimated cost of 75,000. Unfortunately, until the pond is drained and the system inspected it is impossible to know what costs will be involved.
The Village worked with the engineers to install a temporary fix. With the spring thaw and recent rain, the water level in the reservoir has reached the top and the overflow is holding.
The board decided to continue to monitor the current fix and start a pond repair fund to try to save up some money for the repairs. The clerk will contact Listeman Foundation and give them the option to leave their donation in the repair fund or ask if they would like it returned.
The Board also discussed using the old Police Office as a school store. The Board agreed to allow the school to use the office space for the school store, provided there is adult supervision.
The office space is available for rent and should a party come forward and want to rent the space, the store will need to be emptied. The Clerk will contact the insurance company to assure there are no issues.
The Village also decided it will host a community wide garage sale event June 3rd-5th, which is the weekend of the sweet treat auction. The Clerk will put a notice in the news letter, post flyers around town, collect addresses of interested parties, and create a map.
The event will be published in the paper for 2 weeks prior to the event. The board also discussed adding an SSL security to the Village Website. An SSL Certificate is a process completed by the web server to make the website secure and is required by law if payments are taken over the website.
The Village does not take money, so it is not required, but without the SSL Security, users will be notified the site is not secured and will be asked if they would like to continue. This message can make users uneasy.
The Clerk did note that the website has been up for a year and that she has received no comments regarding the security. The cost to add the SSL Security is $100 per year. The board discussed options and, in the end, approved adding the SSL.
Also, the DNR is requiring the Village update their Recycling and Composting Ordinance and to create a Compliance Ordinance. The Clerk presented a draft of both ordinances for review.
Some changes were noted. Clerk will update and send for the final review. Once review is signed off, the Clerk will publish and post the Ordinances and the date for the public meeting. The Board heard the Water Report. They worked with the DNR regarding the sanitary survey.
The DNR identified 8 deficiencies needing immediate attention. Several have already been completed including a site monitoring plan is now updated and available, the bad battery for the emergency power at Well 5 was replaced, the electrical outlets used by the chemical pumps have been labeled, the non residential Cross-Connections records have been updated, and an eye wash station has been ordered and will be installed in Well 4.
Disinfection By-Products samples are scheduled to be done in August. The water tower is scheduled to be inspected this year. The only thing left to complete is to change the direction of overflow so it terminates in a downward direction. This will be completed by the April 17th deadline.
The PSC Report was completed and submitted. A burial was completed. They repaired the Pond aerator that had tipped over and was frozen in the pond and completed and submitted the updated address list for the emergency fire response team.
The Board heard the Sewer Report. They ordered and applied lift station degreaser, cleaned the lift station basket, started sampling for the spring discharge, installed a block heater at the lift station, reviewed the environment fees, and signed and returned the required forms.
A new battery was installed in the Well 5 generator. They ordered and started installing a required eye wash station in Well 4. They contacted Over the Top Roofing for an estimate to re-roof Well 4.
They dug a grave for the Zion Church Cemetery. And they’re working with Suda Plumbing to try to identify the sewer leak. The Board also heard the Clerk’s Update. She completed the 2020 Audit with Hawkins Ash.
The spring election is April 6th. They will need to replace their Chief Inspector for the 2022 elections as she is no longer living in the Village. She created the required Recycling/Compost Ordinance and the Compliance Ordinance samples for board review.
The Clerk presented the Xcel energy bill and the charges for the Pull track. The fire department does not want the light so if the Village does not want it, it can be disconnected. The charge for this light is $27 per month.
The Board will look at the location and determine what they want to do with this light. Finally, the board heard the Treasurer’s Report. The Deposit and Expense report was presented.
A transfer of $100,000 from the Money Market to the Checking was made so February Settlement checks could be sent. The Checking balance is $116,347.39, the Money Market balance is $641,031.61, the Cemetery CD is $16,927.29, and the CDBG balance is $32,199.29.
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