2025-09-03 VofA Board Minutes

PROCEEDINGS - VILLAGE OF ARGYLE - MONTHLY MEETING Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025 The regular monthly meeting of the Argyle Village Board was called to order by President Thomas Moore on September 3rd, 2025 at 7:02 pm. Roll call was taken with King absent. Proper posting of the meeting was acknowledged. Hinojosa made a motion for approval of the minutes, Rossing seconded, motion carried. Webster made a motion to approve the agenda, Helfvogt seconded, motion carried. CITIZEN COMMENT None. OLD BUSINESS Ben Heidemann from Town & Country Engineering presented Pay Request #2 from Maddrell Excavating for the Fairview Street project and Lead Service Line replacement in the amount of $302,242.06. This includes water main work, storm sewer, excavation, asphalt paving, and road construction. Curb and gutter has also been installed on Fairview Avenue. Helfvogt motioned to make the payment to Maddrell for Pay Request #2, Johnson seconded, motion carried. Heidemann also updated that the DNR is looking for more documentation, such as LIDAR footage of water leaving the barnyard to the creek at Gabioud Farms. He noted that some level of phosphorus treatment will possibly be required in the future. An estimate was acquired for the refurbishment of the terrazzo floors in the Community Building by Rossing. Rejuvenators has quoted $5,400 to grind and refinish the floors , which would be a multi -step process over the course of two days . The Community Building was renovated in 2004 and the floors were left out of the renovation s completed at that time. Southern WI Community Foundation has grant funding available, currently, the grant deadline is October 1, 2025. Johnson motioned to put the cost on the 2026 Budget and apply for the grant, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. The Argyle Park account currently has $3,100 in donations received in 2017 specifically for playground equipment. Johnson motioned to donate this money to the Argyle Community Parks Foundation fundraiser for playground equipment, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. NEW BUSINESS The PSC has selected and approved the Village’s new water rates to go into effect after meter readings on September 30 th, 2025 and will be seen on October bills. Public Fire Protection will be added in the amount of $64,000 to the resident side of uti lity billing which will add around $10 to each bill. The last full water rate case performed was 24 years ago in 2001. Bill inserts will be added to assist residents on water and energy saving tips with this rate increase. Helfvogt motioned to approve the new water rates, Rossing seconded, motion carri ed. The repair of Well #2 cost comes to a total of $33,424. Clerk Flannery received a quote from Woodford Bank for a 3 year loan at 4.5% inter est for this repair. Helfvogt motioned to approve the financing and proceed with the repair , Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. Computer Know How has submitted a suggestion to purchase more hours. The email system has been migrated from .org to .gov domains and all of the pre-paid hours purchased from Computer Know How have been used. Clerk Flannery will request a quote for 10 hours and confirm that the hours do not expire and this will be tabled for a future meeting. Principal Life & Disability Insurance has provided a renewal cost for insurance coverage with only the disability side having an increase in premium from $190.55 to $218.10, a total increase of $337.80 for the year. COMMITTEE BUSINESS Hinojosa updated that Well # 2 is currently waiting on parts for repair, including a new meter. The St. Joseph’s Catholic Church has had a new water service installed in the house located at 313 N Lafayette Street with the property split of the house and church. Previously the water service was shared. Johnson contacted Electric Superintendent Koch to help clean up at the park, includ ing raking mulch and cleaning and raking the sand box. A bar came loose from the wooden playset at the park and it has been re -attached. This will be investigated for safety as well. Johnson contacted Park and Rec Coordinator Slater in regard to the driveway to be added down behind the base ball field. Base material was saved from the Fairview street project for this drive area. Plans are moving forward with the Re -Dedication of the Community Building. Monday, September 8th at 6:00PM a meeting will be held to finalize the plan for the Re -Dedication Ceremony. The ceremony will take place on October 4th, 2025 after the Homecoming Parade. A few invited speakers will be here as well as a few refreshments . Poster boards will be around $218.00 that include history of the building to be placed inside . The Clerk’s Office is putting together refreshments for visitors, decorations in the building, and are helping set up a self-guided tour of the history of the building for the event. Webster relayed that Electric Superintendent Koch needs assistance for lineman work while he completes his last year of lineman school. Currently assistance is received from Brodhead Electric, however Koch suggested hiring a retired lineman as a limited -time helper to assist in jobs in an on -need basis. This would remove the rental cost of equipment and travel time incurred when hiring Brodhead to assist in jobs such as pole replacements, and would also be a back up for Koch if he was out of town finishing up schooling or for other reasons. This person would max out at around 200 -250 hours a year, and would be on-call only. Webster motioned to allow Koch to work with this lineman, Rossing seconded, motion carried. This will be finaliz ed at a future Personnel Committee meeting. A stack test was completed on the Diesel generator for emissions. The generator passed with em issions produced around 1/5 of the allowed amount. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT The 10th Annual Chili Cook -off will be held on October 18 th at the Argyle American Legion Park from 12PM to 3PM. Schutte is looking to expand the event by providing more for the community with additional activities such as pumpkin painting, a bounce house, and more family friendly activities. The Village’s .org to .gov domain upgrade sparked issues at the Power Plant as backups were set up for computer data and email. Current internet provider Brightspeed quoted a week to send a tech to fix, Schutte set up the power plant on his personal Verizon 5G internet until he assisted in switching their provider to Verizon as it is around 20 times quicker and is $30 cheaper each month. Schutte suggested an audit on all tech contracts to see where money can be saved. With the BEAD funding for Fiber internet to be put into Lafayette County, the PSC has approved Fiber to be put into the Village. This project date has not been decided yet. The Argyle Open Market will be cancelled on October 4 th due to the Homecoming Parade and the Community Building Re-Dedication. Three dates remain for the market this year: September 6 th, September 20 th, and October 18 th at the Chili Cook -off. Market vendors have been lost due to lack of purchases and low attendance, so Schutte was originally looking to switch weekends for the markets, but is possibly looking into switching to a night market for next year. Schutte and the Village Clerks will be serving breakfast sandwiches this weekend a t the market to raise money for local organization fundraisers. Everyone is invited to attend and share their thoughts on the future of the Village at the open house for the Smart Growth pl an which will be held from 4 -7PM at Argyle High School on September 24, 2025. There is an anonymous online survey as well that was sent with all utility bills and can be found on the Village website and Facebook page. PRESIDENT BUSINESS An estimate for the half -wall in the Shelter House was presented by Keith Helfvogt for cement work. This likely will not be completed this year due to scheduling. The payroll report for July 2025 overtime paid to full-time: Johnson – 11.02 hours, Ritschard – 7.72 hours, Koch – 12.26 hours, Flannery – 2.68 hours, McGuire – 1.00 hours, Saalsaa – 1.95 hours. Rossing made a motion to approve overtime, Webster seconded, motion carried. A celebration of life was held for Butch Dowling, former Village employee, that President Moore attended. A Personnel Committee meeting has been scheduled for September 24th at 6:00PM to discuss employee yearly contracts for 2026. CLERK BUSINESS Building Permits approved by Total inspection are St. Joseph’s Church at 313 N Lafayette for water lateral, Dan Godfrey at 110 Spruce for a deck porch addition, and Beth Fransen 205 Breeze Terrace for an HVAC. Helfvogt requested an update from Total Inspection on Jason Riley’s property at 811 Monroe Street as ordinance violations have not been corrected. Johnson Block & Company submitted an engagement letter for the 2025 Audit which includes an audit of all funds with a total cost of $35,500. The rate for the 2024 Audit was $32,500. Helfvogt motioned to approve Johnson & Block to audit this year , Webster seconded, motion carried. Helfvogt requested the Clerk’s office obtain quotes from other companies for the 2026 Audit. An Excavation Permit has been taken out by Bill Crist & Son for the St. Joseph’s Church for the water lateral installation. The 2026 Recycling Grant to Responsible Units Application has been submitted on behalf of the Village by Faherty. The Village attorney is currently working on the Development Agreement Addendum for the Daycare and will update when they have more information. Clerk Flannery stated she is currently preparing for the Preliminary Budget 2025/2026. Helfvogt made a motion to approve total August 2025 accounts payable checks $443,118.51, September 2025 invoices paid to date $365,020.15, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. The next mon thly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1st, at 7:00 pm. Helfvogt made a motion to adjourn at 9:17PM, Hinojosa seconded, motion carried. Mallory McGuire Deputy Clerk