Public Works — Minutes

VILLAGE OF FRIENDSHIP PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING – Wednesday, September 4th, 2024– Page 1 The Public Works Committee meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building. In attendance were Chairman Jason Pierce, President Tony Sindelar and committee members Melvin Waller and Bob Berry; also in attendance was Public Works Director Brent Frank. The agenda for the meeting was: 1} Roll Call 2} Approve meeting minutes from July 31st, 2024 3} Citizen input 4} The Committee will depart from the Public Works building to conduct a drive around the Village to identify and inspect nuisance properties 5} Upon return, the Committee will reconvene immediately following in the Public Works building and continue with the agenda 6} Discussion on Village drive around 7} Update on Hwy 13 road project and light replacement 8} Discussion on commercial lease with emergency management 9} Discussion on Family Affair property cleanup progress 10} Discussion on mowing fees for recurring properties and possible higher fees for those properties 11} Discussion on mowing of unimproved or vacant lots 12} Adjournment A majority of the Village Board may be present but no Board action is contemplated. Approval of July 31st, 2024, Minutes Motion by Berry, second by Pierce to approve the July 31st Public Works Minutes, motion carried. Citizen Input No Citizen input. The Committee will depart from the Public Works building to conduct a drive around the Village to identify and inspect nuisance properties Upon return, the Committee will reconvene immediately following in the Public Works building and continue with the agenda The Committee returned and continued at 5:30 Discussion on Village drive around Pierce asked about the fence at 205 Raymond Street? Frank stated that it’s already being taken care of. Pierce asked the committee if they wanted to send a letter or do anything about 108 East Lake Street? Frank stated that they received a letter for garbage in the yard, and the resident did a good job cleaning it up. The committee is going to look into seeing if there’s an ordinance for how many boats you can have on a property, or if it doesn’t matter as long as they’re all registered. The boats just need to be moved out of the road right away. The committee decided that they would put 108 East Lake Street on the watch list. Berry asked for an update on 207 East Lake Street. Sindelar stated that Fenner’s has us penciled in for the week of September 30 – October 4. Sindelar has called and left messages with the property owner to sit down and go over what needs to be cleaned up. Berry asked how much will be cleaned up, or has that not been decided? Sindelar stated that everything he has put on the property since the last clean up. Sindelar has reached out to the Village attorney to see if the trailer and vehicles can be removed if they’re not registered. If Fenner’s removes them, they will go to his location and be charged a storage fee per day. Berry asked in the past before we started trying to work with the landowner better when we were fining them how much were we fining them, and how often? Sindelar stated that he was unsure of the number of the fines without looking them up. Every time we took them to court for the fines it all went to the court cost, and it was costing us more to do it that way. The Judge finally said he wanted us to handle this in house and did not want us to go back and see him. That is the reason why we’ve gone through the abatement agreement. Berry asked at what point do we start going back and trying to fine them? Sindelar stated that he was told that, if possible, to keep this in house and to do our best. That’s why we PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING – Wednesday, September 4th, 2024– Page 1 have the abatement agreement. In the abatement agreement it states that we do have the right to come back and do a cleanup again with the same process and put the cost on the taxes as a special assessment. Update on Hwy 13 road project and light replacement Frank stated that he had a meeting on Wednesday afternoon where they said they will finish milling the road at the end of this week . Then on Monday they will start paving the driving lanes . They will get the driving lanes done Monday and Tuesday then Wednesday and Thursday they’ll do the parking lanes. And then possibly Mer kel will start installing streetlights next we ek. Originally the shipment of lights was supposed to ship out at the end of August, but nothing has been confirmed on if they’ve arrived yet. Berry asked how many of the old streetlights were gone? Frank stated that all the lights with a bases were gone. And he has 3 people interested in the lights without bases. Frank thinks around 30 with the bases were sold. Discussion on Family Affair property cleanup progress Pierce asked the committee what their opinion was on the cleanup of Family Affair? Berry stated that it didn’t look as bad as he thought it was going to, compared to what it did awhile back. Waller asked if we’ve heard anything on what their plans are? What’s the hold up? Frank stated that they’re supposed to be rebuilding it. They were waiting to get permission from the DNR to see if they could build on the existing foundation. The last he heard was they’re now waiting on permits. Frank stated that after the last board meeting the back side is better than it was. They did cleanup more after he talked to them. Pierce stated that maybe we should contact Jeremy and ask him to go look and inspect it. See if it needs to fence off. Discussion on mowing fees for recurring properties and possible higher fees for those properties Frank stated that the City of Adams mowing fee is set at $75.00. Property Works mowing fee is $65.00 a person per hour. We are more than everyone else is. Frank thinks the 12 inches grass height needs to change. The City of Adams is 8 inches. Pierce asked if we want to suggest an ordinance change to 6 inches? The committee agreed that 6 inches is a good grass length and are going to recommend that to the board. The committee discussed mowing recurring properties and decided to leave the fees as they are for now. Discussion on mowing of unimproved or vacant lots Berry asked how many do we have? Pierce stated that there are quite a few of them. There’s some on Superior, Godwin Cr, Roberts, Quincy, Lakeview Court. After the last board meeting, he talked with Flanagen, and he said people will just say it’s wildflowers. Pierce doesn’t mind then. After the discussion the committee decided to leave it alone and not address it. Adjournment Motion by Waller, second Berry to adjourn the meeting, motion carried. ___________________________________ Rebecca Reuter Deputy Clerk