VILLAGE OF HOWARDS GROVE VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 I. Call To Order. Meeting was called to order by President Jim Scheiber at 7:02pm. II. Verification of Meeting Duly Noticed and Roll Call. Clerk-Treasurer Athorp verified that the meeting agenda was posted as required. Present were Dan Binversie, Mike Stoeckigt, Jim Scheiber, Ed Pahl, Jeff Plass, Jim Meinnert, Lee Kunze, Jim Schuette and Lavonne Athorp. No others were present. III. Public Meeting Notices: A. Finance Committee, Tues., Aug. 16, 2011, 5:30pm B. Personnel Committee Meeting, Wed., Sept. 7, 2011, 6:00pm C. Personnel Committee Meeting, Wed., Sept. 14, 2011, 6:00pm D. Public Works Committee Meeting, Thurs., Sept. 15, 2011, 6:00pm IV. Public Comment: Discussion Only. None. V. Approval of Meeting Minutes: Aug. 16, 2011, Aug. 23, 2011, and Aug. 30, 2011. After review, motion Meinnert/Binversie to approve the Aug. 16, Aug. 23, and Aug. 30, 2011, meeting minutes as presented; carried 7-0. VI. Finance: A. Consideration of Village & Sanitary Vouchers. The Finance Committee recommended approval of Village and Sanitary vouchers to the Board. Motion Plass/Meinnert to approve the following vouchers as presented: Village Checks #12647-12668, and automatic payments for a total of $40,585.86 and Sanitary Dept. Checks #4368-4383 and automatic payments for a total of $22,713.91; motion carried 7-0. B. Consideration of Application for New Operator s (Bartender s) Licenses: A. Fintelmann, J. Garbe, V. Helmts, L. Hermann, B. Radder, N. Ross. Upon recommendation for approval from the Finance Committee, motion Meinnert/ Plass to approve 2011-12 operator s licenses for A. Fintelmann, J. Garbe, V. Helmts, L. Hermann, B. Radder, and N. Ross; carried 7-0. C. Consideration of Amendment to Developer s Agreement for Harvest Homes TID No. 2. The Board reviewed the amendment to the Developer s Agreement drafted by Atty. St. Peter. It incorporated the developer s requested changes, and the additional changes the Board had as conditions to accept the developer s requests. Motion Plass/Binversie to approve the amendment to the Harvest Homes Developer s Agreement as presented; carried 7-0. VII. Parks: A. Update on Soccer Club use of Village Property. The Parks Committee approved the use of village property for Soccer Club games, however, since the Parks Committee meeting, the Club realized there is a manhole in the area they wish to use, which may prevent them from being able to use it. B. Update on Tree Donation. The Parks Committee approved a maple tree donation from the Norbert Sommer family in his memory, to plant at Memorial Park. Public Works Director Schuette reported that the tree has been planted, and the family would also like to place a bench there as well. He is working with them.
C. Update on Request for Dog Park in Village. The Committee has reviewed this request, and investigated how the City of Sheboygan does their dog parks. They will be dicussing further at a future meeting and report back to the Board. D. Update on Preliminary Architectural Plans & Demolition of 3 rd Base Dugout. Chair Meinnert met with Eric Jensen to review preliminary plans. The Committee also discussed using Schmidt Excavating to demolish the old dugout. Committee will be continuing to review. VIII. Public Safety: Consideration of Stop Sign at Alcott and South Washington. Per the request of several residents, the public safety committee recommends the yield sign be replaced with a stop sign corner of S. Washington and Alcott. Due to Sec. 10-1-8 of the Village Code, Clerk-Treasurer Athorp noted that to change the traffic sign the Board must amend the ordinance. After lengthy discussion, motion Kunze/Pahl to adopt Ord. 05-2011: Relating to Traffic Control Signs and Official Traffic Map, as discussed (see attachment #1); carried 7-0. After further discussion, motion Kunze/Pahl to change the yield to a stop sign on the northwest corner of S. Washington where it intersects with Alcott Avenue following the effective date of Ord. 05-2011; carried 7-0. IX. Public Works: A. Consideration ofsanitary Department Sludge Issue. Chair Binversie noted the Committee reviewed possible contracts for sludge hauling and holding tank pumping at their last meeting. After brief discussion, the Board determined that the agenda should have noted the possible awarding of contracts for these items, and deferred a decision to the next meeting. B. Consideration of Eastern Pines, Pigeon River Meadows and Parkway Subdivions Final Blacktop Installation Deferral. Chair Binversie noted that since no lots have been sold in these subdivisions in the last year, the Committee recommends approving another one year deferral. Motion Binversie/Plass to authorize a one year deferral for all three developers, but requiring that the developers file a letter of credit with the Village; carried 7-0. C. Consideration of Retaining Wall Repair on County Road A. Chair Binversie reported an estimated cost of $8,790 to repair the wall. Director Schuette noted he has not received the final proposal from the contractor. Motion Binversie/Kunze to authorize the repair, as long as the proposal does not exceed $9,000; carried 7-0. D. Consideration of Cost-sharing with Town of Herman for Road Repairs on Millersville Ave west of Appletree. Chair Binversie reviewed the request from Town of Herman to repair a shared section of Millersville Avenue. Our portion is estimated at $11,060. Motion Binversie/Stoeckigt to authorize payment of the road repairs on Millersville Avenue at a cost of $11,060; carried 7-0. Clerk-Treasurer Athorp and Director Schuette will review budgeted funds to cover the expense. E. Consideration of State/Municipal Agreements for Highway 32/42 Reconstruction in 2013. The estimates that we ve received in the past were about $90,000-$120,000. The most recent estimates showed a cost of about $200,000- $234,000. The agreements provided by the State dated Aug. 25, 2011, show a total cost to the Village of $328,389. The Board would like the State to further explain why there is such a significant increase in the estimate prior to approval of the agreements. Public Works will schedule a meeting to review the issue. F. Consideration of Changes in Yard Waste Collection Procedures. Clerk-Treasurer Athorp reported that Larry s Hauling moved their drop off location for yard waste
and notified us of the move on Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Since then, about a dozen residents have complained about the distance to the new location, which is about 30 miles round trip. The Board asked Public Works to review alternatives at their next meeting. The Committee scheduled their next meeting for Sept. 15, 2011. X. Correspondence & Village Department Reports: A. Public Works Director s Report: Update on Roads and other Maintenance/ Building Items. (1) Harvest Homes infrastructure is progressing. (2) The work on Alcott & S. Washington began about one week ago. The contractor was pulled off the job for an emergency job elsewhere, but should be back thisthursday. (3) No new information on the progress of the Millersville sidewalk project. B. Clerk-Treasurer s Report: 1. Update on Website Development. Clerk-Treasurer Athorp informed the Board that the website should be live by Sept. 9, 2011. Also, there is no Village website available right now, as our current site is already down. If they have any changes they should let her know as soon as possible. 2. Update on Special Referendum Election. The official notice has been sent to the paper, and we are working with the Sheboygan County Clerk to get ballots and programming for the machines. A separate notice is going out with the newsletter to provide information about the special election. C. President s Report. Special Referendum Election. President Scheiber read into the record his notes regarding the purpose for the referendum (see attachment #2). He encouraged residents to attend the information sessions to become informed about the referendum question. The Board directed Clerk-Treasurer Athorp to determine costs of advertising the election in local papers and report back to the Board. XI. Personnel: Consideration to Convene in Closed Session regarding Review of Engineering Firms. The Village Board may, by roll call vote, convene into Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(e) for the purpose of deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session. Motion Plass/Binversie to go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(e); Meinnert-yes, Plass-yes, Pahlyes, Scheiber-yes, Kunze-yes, Stoeckigt-yes, Binversie-yes. Jim Schuette left the meeting and the Board went into closed session at 8:27pm XII. Reconvene in Open Session to Take Action on Items Discussed in Closed Session: Consideration of Engineering Firm for Village Engineering Services. Motion Plass/Meinnert to reconvene in open session to take action on closed session discussions; carried 7-0. Motion Plass/Meinnert to contract with Kapur &Associates effective Jan. 1, 2012, with SMS continuing with all projects they are currently contracted for; carried 4-2, with Kunze and Pahl against and Scheiber abstaining. XIII. Adjourn. Motion Kunze/Pahl to adjourn; carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:24 pm. Respectfully submitted, Lavonne Athorp, Clerk-Treasurer
VILLAGE OF HOWARDS GROVE RESOLUTION NO. 12-2011 SUPPORT FOR EXCEEDING LEVY LIMIT Sept. 6, 2011, Board Minutes Attachment #1 WHEREAS, the Village of Howards Grove Village Board has considered the input of residents in determining that it may be in the best interest of Village tax payers to use general levy monies to pay for some types of public works improvements which are now partially funded by special assessment to the tax payer; and WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin has imposed limits on town, village, city and county property tax levies for 2011 and beyond under Sec. 66.0602, Wis. Stats.; and WHEREAS, Sec. 66.0602, Wis. Stats., limits the increase of the local property tax levy in 2011 to no more than the greater of (a) 0% of last year s actual levy or (b) a percentage equal to the percentage change in equalized value due to new construction less improvements removed; which for the Village of Howards Grove is 0.44%; and WHEREAS, the Village Board has determined that to manage costs of proposed public works projects within the State imposed property tax levy limits would result in a drastic reduction in other services offered by the Village, therefore it is in the best interest of the Village to exceed the state levy limit by a percentage greater than 0.44%; and WHEREAS, the Village of Howards Grove s actual levy in 2010 (collected in 2011) was $718,226, and the state limit would allow only $721,386 in 2011 (collected in 2012); now THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village Board hereby supports an increase in the village tax levy for 2011 to exceed the state levy limit. The Village Board intends that the levy increase be applied on an ongoing basis by including it in the base used to calculate the limit for 2012 and beyond. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Board directs that the question of increasing the village tax levy for 2011 by 48.7% which would increase the village levy up to $350,000 over the past year s levy, for a village tax levy of $1,068,226, shall be submitted to the electors in a referendum at a special referendum election to be held on October 12, 2011. Adopted this 30 th day of August, 2011. James T. Scheiber, Village President ATTEST: I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Howards Grove, Sheboygan County, at a legal meeting on the 30 th day of August, 2011. Lavonne Athorp, Village Clerk-Treasurer
Road Improvement Referendum Sept. 6, 2011, Board Minutes Attachment #2 - A number of residents over the last few years have expressed an interest in having road improvements funded through the general tax levy. - Because there are many factors to consider that affect each resident differently the Village Board felt this policy decision will be best made by the residents through a referendum. - The referendum asks residents to decide between Special Assessment (current method) and the general tax levy (alternative method) for funding road improvements. - There are many factors residents have to take into consideration in order to make an informed decision. Some of the major factors are: timing (year) of road improvements; property value; and linear front footage. - What are the tax implications? - Special assessment (current method) asks homeowners about once every 20 years to dig deep in their pockets to fund road repairs along their property frontage. Homeowners can pay special assessments one time in full or through a payment arrangement. Because special assessments are paid direct by the homeowner the general tax levy is unaffected. - Funding road improvements through the general tax levy asks all homeowners to dig a little way into their pockets every year. Funding road repairs through the general tax levy would have an affect of increasing property taxes every year. - The Village Board does not advocate one method over the other - Every resident is encouraged to attend an informational meeting scheduled for Saturday, October 1, 2011, 9:30am to 11:00am and Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 6:30pm to 8:00pm.