Granton Village Board Approves Village Levy
Saturday, November 12th, 2022 -- 10:01 AM
The Granton Village Board approved the Village Levy.
According to the unofficial minutes from the meeting, the proposed Levy for $69,971 was presented. A motion to add the loan payment and approve the $69,971 Levy was made and approved.
The Board also discussed the proposal for the Professional Design Engineering for the County K project. The board reviewed the proposal for $112,000 for a Biddable Plan required for the Principal Forgiveness Grant.
The Board questioned the statement, “Additional work, not included in the Scope of Services, will be billed on a time and material bases.” The Board asked what additional services may be needed and what the time and material rate is.
The engineer did not know the billing rate and was not sure what could fall outside the scope but advised the proposal is a standard contract. The Board discussed at length the cost of the design fee and what would happen if they spent the money and did not get the grant.
Cedar Corp advised that the Village owns the biddable plan and could use it in the future. The Board asked the engineer to verify that the $112,000 would be able to be applied to the grant and would be eligible for reimbursement if the grant is awarded.
Engineer, Brian Chapman confirmed it was. The Board was uneasy about spending this kind of money with no guarantee of a grant award. After much discussion, a motion was made to sign the Client Request for Services with Cedar Corp.
The Clerk will request an updated analysis for the project which will include the Biddable Plans and the updated grant information so they are all on the same page. The following date projections were given regarding the project:
- Field Topographic & Data Collection Survey & Base Map- November 2022;
- Preliminary Design Engineering January 2023;
- Design Engineering April 2023;
- And Specifications & Bid Documents April 2023.
The Clean Water Fund Program is a principal forgiveness program. The amount of forgiveness money is based on population, gross medium household income, and on the amount of money available for the year.
Deadlines include submit Facility Plan for approval 6 months prior to application date; Application deadline September 30 2023; and Per Lisa with the DNR Environmental Loans (608)358-3330 the Facility Plans should be approved provided they include all the required components.
The Safe Drinking Water Loan Program is a low interest project loan for the balance that remains after all grants have been applied. Application with required documentation deadline is June 30th; PERF Score re-evalutation requests deadline up to 45 days after the application deadline.
The Board also approved the Village President, with 2nd option trustee, to sign closing papers, on behalf of the Village, for the sale of the Highway 10 Triangle for the future site of the Dollar General made by Vine.
The Board also had a discussion regarding a resident’s failure to remove a dog from their premise, but no further action was taken as the dog has been turned over to the Humane Society for adoption.
The resident was notified that due to the number of complaints received and police involvement regarding her dog, that the dog had to be relocated outside of the Village. Complaints addressed included barking, running at large, failure to vaccinate, and most recent, attacking another dog.
The Board also discussed taking the owners of the property of 127 Oak Street to court to have costs reimbursed for razing the house. The State inspector, on August 31st, 2021, inspected a vacant home at 127 Oak Street and it was found to be unfit for human habituation.
The residents were notified and told they had 30 days to raze the property or the Village would move forward, raze the building, and assign costs to the owner. All contact was ignored.
In May of 2022, Wood County Sheriff’s Department served the owners with official papers advising the house would be razed and costs assigned. The cost to raze the property was $9,456.80.
The owners of the property have been given ample time to pay the bill and were offered a payment plan to assist and the notice was ignored. The Board approved to take owners of the property of 127 Oak Street to small claims court for the amount of $9,456.80. The Village attorney will be notified.
The Board also had a discussion of a Town of Grant Resident’s request to annex into the Village and have water hooked up to the house. Noted was the horrible condition of the location and the inability to service the location.
The Village Junk Ordinance would require the clean up of this location prior to moving forward. The Village did advise that installation of a curb stop would cost the resident around $500 and the resident would need to hire a plumber to run water from the curb stop to the house.
The Board also reviewed and mended the 2022 budget. The following non-budgeted bills have been presented, the cost for the engineers to submit the CDBG Grant is $5,608.
The cost to raze the house at 127 Oak Street was $9,457, and the cost for legal fees for the sale of Village property on the Hwy 10 triangle was $647. The Board approved to transfer $15,732 from the Money Market Administrative Fund to cover the shortage until the funds are collected.
The Board also heard the Library Update form Librarian Janet Boh said the library continues to shelve books, help with inventory, and this summer she helped with story time and activities.
Janet is coming up on her 1 year anniversary with the Village and says she has learned where everything is and focuses on customer service. She said there is always something new to learn. The book fair runs this week through Friday during normal business hours.
The Board also heard the Water & Waste Water Report. Monthly samples and general maintenance were completed. They met with the WRWA and located the Eastern Extension Water Line by the church and confirmed it is a 2” line. It was located 8’ 2” down in the right of way.
Old water lines have been mapped and they met with the consultant on dissolved oxygen and blowers in the water water treatment plant. They dug two graves. Fall cleaning is going on around town. The “No firearms” and “Residents only” signs were put up by the compost area.
They started discharging on November 1st. They started taking the sample required for the discharge permit. They picked up salt, plow blades, and prepped equipment for fall. The furnace in well 5 was repaired and air drier installed.
They worked with the school kids for fall clean up and collected leaves. They met with Haupt to discuss the well 5 failure, well 4 kicks on when 5 fails, 3 technicians from Haupt diagnosed a bad sensor and it was reset.
The Board also heard the Clerk’s Update. The 2nd annual Turkey Trot, The Young’s and McConkey’s are hosting the second, is a 3 mile Turkey Trot in Granton. Registration starts at 8am and the race will start no later than 9am on Thanksgiving morning and start at the Granton Community Center.
No cost just bring those non-perishable food items and help stock the Granton Food Pantry. She prepared the Levy for the budget hearing and presented the budget. She certified 5 election workers at a certification workshop in Neillsville and scheduled workers for the election.
Sheryl Young worked her first solo election as the chief inspector and had an election inspector show up. They passed and Sheryl did great. She sent a certified letter to a resident regarding the removal of her dog.
She sent a letter to renter advising rate increase at the apartment and sent another bill for the cost of razing the house on Oak with a payment plan option as the payment due date is passed. She contacted and set up an appointment with Jewel for possible assistance with biddable plans for SDWL.
She updated the website with minutes and agendas, worked with the County on TID projections, and continues to work with the District Administrator regarding the annual Library report. She started the paperwork for property assessments and will complete by the end of November for the submission to the County.
She began collecting the data required to complete the mill rate, sent sidewalk letters to Fredrickson, Brody, Hanson, and Vine, prepared and submitted the DOT report, and reviewed and presented the Insurance proposal from EMC.
The Board also heard the Treasurer’s Report. The Deposit and Expense report was presented. The Checking balance is $77,068.87, the Fund Reserve balance is $636,566.32, the Cemetery CD is $16,927.29, the CDBG balance is $10,339.93, and the Library balance is $28,723.31.
During the open forum, they reviewed the updated animal ordinance. Some suggestions were made and, once updated, it will be posted for public comment. A resident also stopped in to ask the Board to reconsider the “No Shooting” rule in the Village.
Target shooting was allowed for years and he would like to continue shooting.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.