20240904 Village Board Minutes

PROCEEDINGS - VILLAGE OF ARGYLE - MONTHLY MEETING September 4th, 2024 The regular monthly meeting of the Argyle Village Board called to order by President Thomas Moore on September 4th, 2024, at 7:00 pm. Roll call was taken with Green, Hinojosa, and Johnson absent. Green reached out to Moore to step down from the Village Board due to personal reasons. He will provide a resignation letter to the Village Clerk’s Office. Proper posting of the meeting was acknowledged. Fransen made a motion for approval of the minutes, King seconded, motion carried. King made a motion to approve the agenda, Fransen seconded, motion carried. CITIZEN COMMENT There were no citizen comments presented. OLD BUSINESS Moore mentioned that Green was the head of the Recycle Committee and was looking into the PKK increase in charges for e -waste and batteries before his resignation. Flannery suggested that the village board wait to explore raising any recycling prices until the end of the year audit and budget so the fees, recycling and garbage charges can be c ompared. Helfvogt provided an update on the ATV/UTV access to County Road G; Helfvogt and Johnson are currently in communication with the DOT to extend the 35 mile per hour speed limit farther outside of the Village heading West on Highway 81. The area would need to be considered a sub-urban area to qualify for a speed reduction; this would require a specific number of buildings and residences within a specified distance. Specific paperwork will need to be filled out to apply for the area to be classified as a sub -urban area by the DOT to begin the process of extending the 35 mile per hour speed limit. The ATV/UTV ordinance can be changed at any time by the village board, and they will be looking into re -writing the ordinance to add the main intersection. The Argyle Public Library has decided to separate the open Library Director position from the open Economic Development position for the Village of Argyle. It was previously decided that the position would be combined to create a full -time position with the employee working 30 hours for the library and 10 hours for the village. The village is currently working on the job description for the position as a Community Development position that would report to the village board and work flexible hours as needed for community events up to 40 hours a month . The Personnel Committee will be discussing the rate of pay and hours, and they will update the Village Clerk’s Office with their decision so the position can be posted. Helfvogt motioned to approve the separation of the position from the library position, Fransen seconded, motion passed. Helfvogt provided an update on the shelter house project in the park; she stated the tear -out will begin on September 16 th, and the new concrete will be poured on September 24th. She had also stated that all the plumbing and electrical work will need to be completed before the concrete is poured. It was also suggested to the board that the holding tank be put in first as well so the new concrete can be poured all at once. NEW BUSINESS Flannery updated the board on the Lead Service Line replacement project. Town and Country Engineering created Ordinance 2024-5 Creating Section 655-47 Lead and Galvanized Water Service Line Replacement for the village to begin the process of the LSL replacements. Helfvogt motioned to adopt, King seconded, motion passed. Principal Insurance provided renewal rates that will begin on November 1st for village employees. Flannery informed that the life insuranc e increase in cost will be $0.25, and the other cost increase was adding Mallory Tyler to the insurance. Helfvogt motioned to approve, Fransen seconded, motion passed. The League of Municipalities 2024 Safety Grant is available to the village again this year. Helfvogt suggested that in preparation of opening the main intersection to ATV/UTV access that See Me Flags be added to the stop signs. See Me Flags are safety flags secured in buckets attached to stop signs that residents can hold while crossing the street to help people be more visible when crossing the sidewalk. King will be speaking with the street department to see what is needed to implement this at the main intersection and at the park crosswalk area. A note has been added to utility bills this month instructing residents to not remove locate flags from their yards. The Clerk’s office was alerted by village workers that they have had to contact Digger’s Hotline mul tiple times for locates at residences that are removing or destroying locate flags in their yards. Without the locates clearly marked village workers c annot perform the jobs they plan which results in employees having to put off jobs for days while they have the locates completed again. Village employees will begin using more paint for locates as well rather than relying on flags . A meeting has been scheduled on September 25 th at 7:00PM for the board to meet regarding employee contracts. A meeting for the 2024 Budget Payable 2025 will be scheduled after the September 25th meeting. COMMITTEE BUSINESS King disclosed that the electric department has been working on putting power in for Melanie Carius’ property on Lafayette Street in preparation for buildings she plans to build in the future . This project has been put on hold as four power poles in town needed to be replaced; the Lafayette Street project will continue when the poles are replaced. Currently two poles have already been replaced. King has been looking into tapping the diesel fuel tank to prevent loss of product as diesel fuel over time can go bad. The first option was to update the system and tap, bringing it to new diesel fuel standard s which would cost around $15,000. The second option is to have 4,000 gallons of fuel pumped by Bowen Oil, sold to farmers before fall harvest, and have 4,000 gallons of new fuel pumped in. This option would cost $730.00 and was also suggested to be done once a year or once every other year to prevent any diesel fuel loss. King motioned to proceed with pursuing this option with Bowen Oil, Helfvogt seconded, motion passed. King mentioned to the board that the Recycle Center light has been repaired as well. Helfvogt reviewed park business in Johnson’s absence. The golf cart used by the park needs repair; Kevin Slater had suggested rebuilding the engine for $1,000 rather than looking for a new used golf cart which is used for dragging the ball fields and moving park equipment. Slater has stated he would like to replace the fence at Field 2 which needs repair as well. A larger project that has been investigated is with Crist Fencing for a new fence at the baseball field, replacement of four bad posts and pounding all posts in quoted at $8,960. A few other things that the Park and Recreation has been looking into are new anchors for the bases, a new drag head for the ball field, new bases for Field 1, pu ddle sponges for prepping the fields, and repainting the upper bathrooms. The park committee is looking into possible help from the Booster Club or other community organizations for these projects . The village board is also looking into possibly budgeting for a park replacement fund, having a fundraiser or tournament to help support our park and recreation department. PRESIDENT BUSINESS Moore spoke to the surveyors from the future Highway project; they mentioned that the sidewalk approaches do not meet State standards currently. It will be investigated to be included in the 2028 Highway Project . A notice of non-compliance was issued to the sewer department. Currently Ritschard, who is the current wastewater treatment plant operator in charge, is testing to comply with the state requirements. Shullsburg’s sewer department operator Tom Kleiber will be covering the Village of Argyle while Ritschard completes all required tests. Street and water department operator Jared Johnson will also begin the process of becoming certified as a n operator in charge . President Moore will be sending a letter to the DNR to develop the plan to secure a licensed OIC . There are currently five tests needed to pass to comply with the DNR requirement. The payroll report for August 2024 overtime paid to full -time: Johnson - 6.45 hours, Ritschard - 5.82 hours, Koch – 13.62 hours, Flannery – 4.92 hours, Tyler – 1.08. Helfvogt made a motion to approve overtime, Fransen seconded, motion carried. The Annual Chili Cookoff is scheduled for October 19 th. The board discussed whether the shelter project would be completed before the cookoff takes place, and it was determined that it should be done prior to then as it will be used for Homecoming on October 12 th. King stated that he will be in contact with Kevin Slater and Keith Helfvogt to confirm that the shelter project will be completed prior to these events. CLERK BUSINESS Total Inspections approved building permits for James Coffey property at 202 N Green St for a fence. Randy Berg property at 907 Elm St for a shed and 208 S State St for a shed. Jeff Johnson property at 503 E Milwaukee St for basement entry cover. Dewayne Moss property at 302 Galena St for a shed. The utility bills this month have been noted with a reminder for residents about the village ordinance regarding burning and disposal of leaves. It is prohibited in the village to burn leaves or rake debris into the streets; leaves and grass cli ppings can be disposed of behind the village shed located at 400 S State St. The board was provided with the June 2024 Lafayette County Housing & Workforce Study and June 2024 Village of Argyle Housing Study put together by Southwest Regional Planning for their record. Flannery noted that payroll company Paychex had reached out to offer their service in creating a handbook for village employees. The cost would be around $2,000. It was decided that the offer would not be taken, and the village currently had sufficient employee documentation. Helfvogt made a motion to approve total August accounts payable c hecks $116,920.94, September invoices paid to date $31,369.20, King seconded, motion carried. The next monthly meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 2nd, at 7:00 pm. King made a motion to adjourn at 8:19pm, Helfvogt seconded, motion carried. Mallory Tyler Deputy Clerk