VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
March 6,2024 – 7:00pm
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held at Elmwood Village Office
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, March 6, 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 February 2024. RCV: 5 Ayes, 0 Nos. Motion carried.
Claims and payroll: Motion by Kicak to approve claims for 2/8/24-3/5/24 and payroll for 2/14 & 2/28/2024, second by Scott RCV: 5 ayes – 0 nays Motion carried.
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), Dog License (DL), Street Surface Supplies (SSS), Tech. Repair (TR)
Claims: American Funds (SI)222.88, IRS (PT) 2,666.74, NE Dept of Rev (PT) 415.89, Intuit (D) 32, Staff 8752.89 (PR), MADS(TR) 869.99, AMGL (Audit) 9035, VOE (PR) 19, Verizon (CP) 55.70, Utility Service (CL) 2803.80, WireBuilt (D) 99.85, USABlueBook (S) 305.31, Voice (P)154.70, SEACA (D) 10, Core & Main (S) 13, OPPD (E) 3818.28, Menards (S)101.40, Meeske (S) 110.89, Form 10(ST) 1080.63, TACSS (D) 180, USPS (PO)227, Black hills(NG) 966.84, Windstream (T) 199.61, CC Refuse (R) 75, Library (MA) 2833.33, Solheim (A) 2910, Quill (S) 384.59, Frontier (F) 185.56, Midwest (L) 361.82, Michael Todd (S)112.20
New Business
Discussion New Meter with shut off valve for 421 West F Street:
Holland gave background about the situation with Ms. Zoz. She had recently emailed a purchase agreement to the village. She reached out after seeing the agenda on Facebook. Does not want a shut off put on. She is currently two months behind on her bill. Bornemeiers paid her last overdue amount which was almost a year behind. Core & Main provided a solution with a meter installed on one side instead of shutting off the whole duplex. The email states that she is purchasing the home and will close on April 1st. Holland is concerned that she is still two months behind, regardless of who purchases the home, there needs to be a shut off options because it is two separate dwellings. The village needs to be able to shut off each individual water source. Or the purchaser can pay to have a secondary shut off put in. Scott mentioned that she would need to go to P & Z to change this address to one meter. She could not do that before because she was not the homeowner but now that she is the owner, she states that she wants one meter. Discussion continued as the board went over the options. Kicak noted that the purchase agreement is not a signed contract. Concerned that this is a pattern and that we should move forward using our process to shut off her water. A new meter would need to be installed in order to do that. The meter is our property and will have a lock & key. The quote was provided at 505.25 for the meter with the shut off valve. Euse asked if Zoz is responsible for the fee for the meter. It would be at the expense of the village. Scott noted concern about how we are to get access to the basement to install the new meter. The board will contact the current homeowner. If we are not granted access to the equipment, then it is in our ordinance that we can get a sheriff involved to do what we have to do. Greise motioned to install the new meter with shut off valve to the address 421 West F Street, Kicak seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion passed.
Discussion of Ronhovde Lot Splits:
Ronhovde lot split from single tract to four divided lots. The clerk spoke to what had happened after last months meeting. The clerk had reached out to JEO for advice on what the village would be responsible for regarding getting utilities to within of 150 ft of these new lots. Jena Mahin from Solheim Law is here to help explain the process. JEO had explained that the process of anything over two lots should have gone through the subdivision regulations that comes with a big conversation about splitting utilities and things like that. Jeff Ray from JEO made suggestions about back tracking the lot to one lot. David Solheim suggested that moving forward it might not be worth everyone’s time to go back and correct it, do the front-end stuff, and then do it again. The problem now is that we have to figure out how we are going to do the utilities through JEO with what cost will be assessed to the homeowner and what costs will be assessed to the village. Jim Ronhovde said that he wanted to sell their current house, build a second lot and then with the lot dimensions they decided to make two additional lots that would work well for future. Mahin explained that each municipality handles this differently and there are a lot of things to look at when doing a subdivision. Mr. Ronhovde asked if the Comprehensive plan had been adopted and it was. Sewer is the issue and needs to be within 150 ft of the property line. With the new parcels, there are 3 of them that the sewer main does not reach this requirement. Mahin mentioned that the sewer line either needs to be extended or something written as an exception. Septic would not be an option. Mahin stated that the next step would be a meeting between Solheim Law Firm, JEO, Ronhovdes, Holland, and Greise to discuss the utilities. This will be scheduled by the clerk at a future date. Mahin asked Grace Ronhovde what their timeline would be to get this taken care of. They understand that utilities don’t have to be completed to start building. If they knew there was a plan in place for utilities, then they would go ahead and get started with their build sooner than later. They would stay in their current resident until the new home is built. Placed on future agenda after getting more information from JEO. No action taken.
Discussion Hire summer help:
Its time to post to hire summer help. The ad was lost with the computer crash so the clerk will develop a new advertisement to post. Advertisements will be posted in our three posting places, Facebook and we will send to the high school. Scott motioned to approve starting pay for summer help at $15/hour at 20-25 hours per week, Greise seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. motion carried.
Discussion of Village Board mission statement:
During board training it was suggested that the board come up with a mission statement. The board members each brought ideas to the table to discuss and put together something they agree on. Board members all agreed that they wanted the mission statement to include preservation and growth. Focused on community need. Discussion continued as ideas were shared. Greise motioned to adopt the board’s mission statement as: “The Village Board of Elmwood acts with integrity to preserve our close-knit community by honoring our history and embracing our future.” Seconded by Kicak. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carries.
Discussion and review of bids for new fire hydrant at West & D Street
This hydrant has been out for a couple of years. Blunt recently told Kevin. Three bids provided for a replacement hydrant. The board members reviewed bids from Core & Main, WinWater of Lincoln and Municipal Supply. Discussion of what is included in each bid. Greise motioned to approve the bid for a new fire hydrant, supplies & equipment from WinWater of Lincoln and Nebraska Digging for labor. Euse seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carried.
Discussion update on Reinke properties:
Jena Mahin here to provide an update. The judge is still taking everything under advisement after the hearing on 2/12/24 where Solheim motioned to dismiss. Mahin stated that this timeline is not abnormal, and it depends on case load and there were a lot of exhibits attached to the motion that was argued. She will keep us updated. She did mention that her attorney brought another attorney in to help with her case while he is doing some lobbying. Scott asked if were bumping into any sort of deadline with this delay and Mahin explained that because the injunction was granted there is a full stop on everything until this matter is settled. Holland explained that there has been some concern brought to the village regarding the cats inside the homes and that they haven’t seen anyone there to feed them. Clerk has received complaints about the trash and building materials that is out in front of 208 West D Street. Holland notes that a pipe had burst at 117 N 6th Street and Huxhold had been called to turn off the water. She is concerned about any extra damage that has been done to that house due to the water. Huxhold noted he saw at least 6 cats in the window when he placed a utility payment reminder at 117 N 6th. Mahin will reach out to Ms. Reinke’s attorney to see what they can do about getting the debris removed and to check on the cats.
Unfinished Business
Discussion bids for flashing/soffits with added warranty
Romero Construction added a one-year warranty as requested. This does not include natural disasters. Scott motioned to approve the bid for flashing for $900 for flashing and $900 for soffits. Euse seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carried.
Discussion of schedule for rocking village alleys
The board discussed how many alleys the village could afford to do per year. There are roughly 20 alleys in town and as the Street Officer, Euse would like to get on a possible 5 year schedule. Pat Beckman’s alley was already approved last meeting. The clerk provided the schedule with three alleys to be done this year as priority. The board will have to discuss increasing the budget for street surface supplies for next year to accommodate doing roughly 5 alleys per year. Discussion continued. Scott mentioned that if any alley is not currently rocked we would want to ask the owners if they even wanted their alley rocked. Discussion continued. Euse believes with the current cost of rock and our budget we could possibly do 4 alleys per year to get on a 5 year schedule. Scott motioned to approve the current bid from Westover Rock of $3,531 to rock the alleys between 5th & 6th/E&F, between 4th & 5th/ D & C and between 2nd & 3rd/ E & F. Euse seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carried.
Reports/Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Library: Scott motioned to approve the library bills, claims and payroll for February. Greise seconded. 5 ayes 0 nays. Motion carried.
Park: Christmas trees cleaned up in the gazebo because ECA forgot. Fixed the door on the utility room at the park. Striker plate was out of alignment. Replaced the heater.
Streets: A new sign was ordered for East F and North 4th street. Kevin will install when he is able. Two light poles were fixed by OPPD, one in front of Burrows and the other in front of Shoppe of Little Shops. Deflector kit needs to come in for the plow.
Water: Installed a meter in Spellman’s garage and a new meter at 413 West D Street.
Sewer: Greaser was broken and leaking oil. Waiting on gear grease. Huxhold stated that he needs to order a aluminum plank for the sewer plant. Stated that the cost is $319.99. Greise motioned to approve purchase of an aluminum plank for the sewer plant for $319.99, Scott seconded. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motioned carried. Huxhold will be at the NeRWA conference next week, Monday- Wednesday, Blunt will cover. Kevin passed his sewer test!
Planning/Zoning: Next meeting is March 11th at 7 PM with a public hearing regarding proposed zoning change at 205 West C Street from residential to industrial to start and meeting following directly after.
Public Comment:
Shawn Micheel of 324 East D Street. I wanted to find out the debris on D Street I have had to move it off of the street and it does sit on the street side, or village side of the street. I don’t know if there are city ordinances that require them to clean up the debris a little more expedient than it has been. I prefer not to get nails in my tires as it is quite a traveled road. I don’t know if there is any more emphasis since it is on the village property. Apparently, the debris is from when the deck was removed but during some of the stronger winds the boards and garbage are being blown into the street. No one is really paying attention or knows that it’s there until they are right up on it. Mahin will be reaching out to Ms. Reinke’s attorney.
Ed Blunt 104 Railroad Drive. I’ve got a concern up here on the main drag. Where they tore the building down. They are driving in over the sidewalk there and they are tracking mud in and out and for people walking there it could be dangerous. It’s slick when you’re driving there. If they could just stop driving across the sidewalk that would be great.
Correspondence: none
Personnel: Individual contact options
Board does not want to use individual emails. Stressed that anyone complaining directly to them on their personal number or social media be directed to the village office to file a complaint form. It’s the only way to do things consistently.
Future Agenda
July 3rd meeting
Executive session to discuss personnel.
Scott motioned to move to executive session to discuss personnel at 8:25 pm, seconded by Kicak. 5 ayes- 0 nays. Motion carried.
Scott motioned to leave executive session at 8:45 pm, seconded by Euse. 5 ayes – 0 nays. Motion carried.
Scott motioned to increase Kevin Huxhold’s salary by 5% effective immediately, seconded by Euse. 5 ayes- 0 nays. Motion carried.
Adjournment: 8:47 pm
