VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
January 3,2024 – 7:00pm
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held at Elmwood Village Office
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. Chair Person Renee Holland called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. Holland stated that a current copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act was posted.
Roll Call: Becky Kicak, Patric Euse, Tony Greise, Heather Scott & Renee Holland
Minutes: Motion by Scott, second by Euse to approve regular meeting minutes for December 6,2023. RCV: Yes: Approved 5-0
Claims and payroll: Motion by Euse to approve claims and payroll for December 2023, second by Greise RCV: Yes: Approved 5-0
Claims Key: Bond Debt(BD)Contract Labor(CL), Electricity (E), Education(ED)Natural Gas (NG), Monthly Allotment (MA), Refuse (R), Fuel (F), Supplies (S) Publication (P), Telephone (T), Mile Reimbursement (MR), Labs (L), Attorney (A), Cellphone(CP), Postage(PO), Payroll Tax(PT), Capital Improvement(CI), Simple IRA(SI), Dues(D), Payroll (PR) Education (EDU) Workman’s Comp Audit (W) Petty Cash Reimbursement(PR), Engineer (EN) , Sales Tax (ST), Truck Repair (TR)
Claims: NE Public Labs (L) 15, Cline Williams (A) 145, Midwest Valve (S) 249.33, Midwest Lab (L) 141.20, JEO (EN) 1000, Meeske (S) 16.81, NE Generator (CL) 815.36, WireBuilt (D) 29, Black Hills (NG) 310.20, NE Dept of Rev.(ST) 1068.38, American Funds (SI) 231.16, Payroll (PR) 9651.90, Intuit (D) 21, IRS (PT) 3247.11, NE Digging (CL) 2195, Safeguard (S) 463.69, Menards (S) 72.90, USABlueBook (S) 33.46, OPPD (E) 3671.45, CC Refuse(R) 75, Voice News (P) 84.90, Frontier (F) 221.97, Municipal Supply (S) 47.87, EMMA (D) 25, Keckler Oil (TR) 169.95, Johnson (CL) 975, NE Snow Equipt (TR) 430, Windstream (T) 199.82, Elmwood Library (MA) 2833.33
New Business
Discussion Board Training
Board training with Midwest Assistance Program will be held at 4 PM on February 12th. This training is for all board members and utility supervisors. MAP will be sending materials for clerk to assemble a board packet. No action taken.
Discussion/Action Village Goals to be shared with Cass County Economic Development Council
Josh Charvat with CCEDC has asked for the village goals so that he can help facilitate finding funding and getting projects started. Each board member submitted the goal that they’d like to see completed for the village. Hollands goals: Training for all board members, emergency preparedness, recycling area, community education on ordinances. Kicak’s goals: Sidewalk repair incentive, next phase of the park project, main street cleanup. Euse’s goals: Board training and comprehensive knowledge of our utilities. Greise’s goals: Board training, equipment list and maintenance schedule, community awareness and involvement. Scott’s goals: Updating water restrictions, installing a gate at the brush pile, main street clean up. Kicak states that there is a comprehensive plan for the park in place. This plan includes more adult activities, fitness equipment and landscaping. Greise stated that the board could work together with the high school students who need volunteer hours for graduation to clean up main street, plant flowers, collect garbage, ect. Greise is working on an equipment list and maintenance schedule with Huxhold. Scott will reach out to the GAR hall to see what we can do to collaborate for Memorial Day. The board discussed all listed goals at length. Scott motioned to submit 1.Sidewalk incentive, 2. Brush pile regulations and 3. Main Street Clean up to CCEDC as our village goals, Kicak seconded. RCV: Yes Approved 5-0
Discussion Intuit payroll fee increasing
Intuit Direct Deposit fee is increasing to $4 per employee. No action taken, information only.
Discussion Clerk School for Alicia on March 17th – 22nd, 2024
Alicia is registered for clerk school in Columbus on March 17-22nd. No action taken.
Discussion/Action Rock Alley for 209 East F Street
Rock has been displaced due to construction at a neighboring house. Board discussed creating a schedule for alley’s being rocked. Huxhold and Euse will work on that schedule. Holland instructed Huxhold to get a bid on what it will cost to rock the alley. Tabled until next meeting.
Discussion/Action: Sewer bill 208 West E street- Payton & Justin Petersen
When reading the meter in November it read continuous flow. Huxhold contacted the residents and they proceeded to investigate where the leak was. Huxhold re-read the meter and checked that it was operating correctly, which it was. Core/Main was called to run a report and it showed that the continuous flow stopped after November 24th. After receiving their water bill, the residents contacted the office to find out if the board would provide a recourse on their sewer bill since the issue was a leaking outside spicket and they did not use the water for sewer purposes. Scott motioned to adjust the sewer bill for 208 West E Street to the average amount of usage. Kicak seconded the motion. RCT: yes Approved 5-0
Discussion/Action Safety Madison Zoz delinquent water/sewer bill
Zoz contacted the village office via email stating that she did not have the money to pay for her water bill and requested that the service be taken out of her name. Zoz states that she is trying to receive state aid but it has not come yet. Zoz rents the property from Chadd and Lindsey Bornemeier who have been notified of the delinquency. This townhouse only has one shutoff for the property. Kicak states that the same thing happened with Zoz last year. Jena Mahin (village attorney) mentioned placing a lien on the property for the overdue amount. Euse motioned to send a certified letter to Zoz and Bornemeiers giving them 14 days to pay the account in full or the village will move forward with placing a lien on the property. Scott seconded. RCV: yes Approved 5-0
Discussion/Action Lot Split Application 120 S 2nd Street
Updated drawing provided by Grace Ronhovde after receiving recommendations from Planning & Zoning. Scott motioned to approve the lot split for 120 S. 2nd Street, Kicak seconded. RCV: YES Approved 5-0
Unfinished Business
Discussion/Action screws found on C Street- update
2 screws were found yesterday but not near as many as were found prior. Will continue to monitor. No action was taken.
Discussion/Action Letter from Cass County Rural Water
Information only-Updated costs for tapping into rural water. It will cost between $1-2.2 million to connect to rural water. This is not something the village can undertake at this time. No action was taken.
Reports/Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Library: Kicak motioned to approve Library claims, bills & payroll for December 2023, seconded by Scott. RCV: 5-0 Approved: yes
Park: ECA took down lights and decorations. Holland asked Blunt about an existing security camera that is at the park. Blunt thought it was on a previous chairperson’s phone. Kicak stated she would investigate it and see if the app still exists as the board would like to use it at the brush pile.
Streets: Hand control purchased for the blue truck. Light pole is loose at 116 N 4th street. Huxhold will contact OPPD. White truck plow realigned and adjusted
Water: still collecting soffit bids, aquamatic replaced and there is no drip
Sewer: Blockage cleared from the south clarifier
Planning/Zoning: Next meeting on January 9, 2024 at 7 PM and March 11th, 2024 at 7 PM. Grace Ronhovde term ends 2/2/2024 and the Planning & Zoning committee is in need of a replacement. Josh Kothe has shown interest. Scott motioned to approve Josh Kothe as Ronhovde’s replacement if he is interested, Greise seconded the motion. RCV: yes 5-0 approved
Public Comment:
Ed Blunt – 104 Rail Road Ave. Mr. Blunt defined the difference between an accidental burn and a controlled burn. The board is still responsible for haul away. If you burn a house, its going to take water and our water supply is low.
Grace Ronhovde 120 S 2nd Street: I just want to express my appreciation for the board members doing what they do to help the community.
Correspondence: Kicak states that a village member shared an ordinance from another community regarding ATVs and golf carts on public roads.
Executive session to discuss Reinke nuisance properties: Scott motioned to move into executive session to discuss Reinke nuisance properties at 8:14 PM, seconded by Greise. Regular session ended at 8:14 PM. RCV: 5-0 Approved: yes
Scott motioned to adjourn executive session and resume regular business at 8:34 pm, Greise seconded. RCV: 5-0 Approved: yes
Regular business resumed at 8:35 PM.
Discussion/Action Reinke nuisance properties
Scott motioned to put demo bids on hold until we have a court order decision on judgement. Kicak seconded the motion. RCV: yes Approved 5-0
Future Agenda:
Demolition bids for Reinke Nuisance properties
Village Goals
Alicia 90 day review
Kevin 1 year review
Adjournment: 8:38pm
