VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
June 5,2024 7:00 PM
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held at Elmwood Village Office
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, June 5, 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.
Consent agenda: Kicak motioned to approve the consent agenda, Euse seconded. RCV: 5 ayes
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) Tech. purchase (TP), Debt Service (DS)
Claims: Pioneer Printing (ED) 117, Library (MA) 2833.33, Romero’s (CL) 900, IRS (PT) 2342.08, NE Dept of Rev (PT) 369.76, American Funds (SI) 265.54, Intuit (D) 28, Payroll (PR) 7718.01, NE Dept of Rev (ST) 1062.63, Cline Williams (A) 3200, Quill (S) 511.19, Wirebuilt (D) 29, CC Refuse (R ) 155, Midwest Labs (L) 632.87, Verizon (CP) 55.63, Frontier (F) 656.70, TACSS (D) 180, Windstream (T) 196.47, Solheim (A) 1845, Utility Service (CL) 2803.80, NeRWA (D) 300, PeopleService (CL) 650, USABlueBook (S) 146.45, OPPD (E ) 3243.56, Michael Todd (S) 137.58, Tan-Aire (CL) 3850, Electric Pump (CL) 721.50, Black Hills (NG) 223.94, Core & Main (S) 2423.00, Meeske (S) 23.38, Consolidated (CM) 11452.50, Dan Brown (S) 33.34, Samantha Jennings (S) 8.35, Carol Greenlee (S) 15.98, Bill Connour (S) 9.98, Genine Hovick (S) 11.43, Rick Hawks (S) 18.31, C-Store (S) 105, Nikki Bruns (S) 23.96, Kevin Huxhold (PO) 8
New Business
Discussion/Action Quote for new pump at the Wastewater Treatment Plant
Huxhold spoke on only receiving one bid for a new pump from Iowa PumpWorks. We are down to 1 of 3 pumps at the wastewater treatment plant. He has reached out to other companies to get help but hasn’t gotten great results. The board reviewed the bid and the bid does not include installation. The board would like Huxhold to reach out to other villages to see who they use to service/replace pumps. Tabled for more information.
Discussion/Action Ronhovde Building Permit/sewer hook up
Jim Ronhovde present to discuss. They have submitted a consolidation of their 4 lots into two lots due to the issues with getting utilities hooked up at all four of those lots, a building permit and a letter to the board regarding getting the sewer line to within 100 ft of their new property. Board reviewed the provided information, discussed. We won’t know what the cost of running the sewer main will be but will work with Ronhovde’s builder to get bids. Mahin confirmed that it is the village’s responsibility to run utilities to within 100 ft of the property. Greise motioned to approve to provide sewer main to within 100 ft of 316 West C Street, Scott seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes Kicak motioned to approve the lot consolidation and building permit, Scott seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motions carried.
Discussion/Action Hoyt Lot Split
Hoyt present with his realtor to review lot split application and survey. Scott motioned to approve lot split application as long as the buyers understand that it is their responsibility to run lines to hook up to utilities, Kicak seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carries.
Discussion/Action Nuisance Property- 316 West D.
The board reviewed the letter provided by the clerk. Kicak motioned to mail the letter to 316 West D Street giving them 10 days to mow, Euse seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes Motion carried.
Discussion/Action Fire Hydrant diffuser & gauge
Huxhold spoke to the board about what this tool does and why it is needed. The board reviewed the three bids provided from Core & Main, USABlueBook and WinWater. Euse motioned to approve the bid from WinWater for $543, Scott seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Discussion/Action Nick taking the slide and stop sign
Kicak explained that we cannot give away village owned items. We will have to do a closed bid, publicize it. If we are wanting to dispose of the items they have to be disassembled and donated. Huxhold will put together a list of items we can put out for closed bid. Tabled for next meeting.
Discussion/Action Tree Removal at 125 East D Street
The board reviewed the three bids from Christensen, Topple & Petersen. Discussed what the bids include and what can be expected. Kicak noted concern about the companies taking the tree to the brush pile. Topple included haul away and stump grinding. Scott motioned to approve Topple Tree Service bid of $4200, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes, Greise abstained. Motion carried.
Discussion/Action Ordinance #2024-2: An ordinance of the Village of Elmwood, Cass County, Nebraska relating to land use and public nuisances; to create a new article of the elmwood village code, to implement vacant, abandoned, and neglected property regulations; to encourage occupancy of vacant properties; to repeal conflicting code sections; to provide for publication; and to provide an effective date.
Mahin spoke about ordinance 2024-2. The village will need to compile a list of properties, create form letters, decide who will be managing the program and create systems to implement to help with enforcement. The board reviewed the ordinance and discussed. There was discussion of the lien process and what the village can do if there is non-compliance. Kicak motioned to wave the three readings, Greise seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried. Kicak read the description of the ordinance. Greise motioned to approve ordinance #2024-2, Scott seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried.
Discussion/Action Resolution #06042024- A resolution of the village of Elmwood, Cass County, Nebraska to establish a fee schedule for owners of the vacant properties who fail to register and adhere to vacant property ordinance #2024-2
The board reviewed the fees on the resolution. No changes needed. Scott read the resolution in its entirety. Scott motioned to approve resolution #06042024, Kicak seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried.
Discussion/Action Reinke Nuisance Property Update- executive session
Euse motioned to move agenda item to the end of the meeting, Scott seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried.
Reports/Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Library: next meeting on July 1.
Park: lots of trash after parties and messes in the bathrooms. Drinking fountain is leaking so has been turned off.
Streets: large sink hole across from Neel’s will need to be fixed-state says its village property. 3 alleys have been rocked!
Water: Commonwealth Electric out on 5/9. Checked motor and pump for water tower- bearings ceased advised motor and pump replacement by Layne Granite. Suggested to bid on all electrical problems at the WTP. Circulation fans in the pump room will be bid as well. Soffit at water plant completed. Water leak at before curb box in the middle of the street on 525 West D, needs replaced. Gate valves (2) on West D & Adams broken, needs fixed. Well 3 meter has been replaced. JEO here on 6/5/24 to begin the water evaluation.
Sewer: Sewer back-up on 6th & D – crew worked until 3 AM- root balls and broken clay pipe. Pump down at the sewer, we are down to 1. Scum pump making a lot of noise. 2 pumps in the basement running hard.
Planning/Zoning: Next meeting May 19th and June 23rd at 5 PM.
Public Comment:
Bill Connour 135 N 4th Street: I try to keep my place nice. Lately I have been having to pick up cat feces out of my yard. Previously he had a seen one or two cats in his yard and now he is seeing them all of the time.
Dara Offner 309 East D Street: How is this legal? She should be in jail for this. I’m so mad. There were 30 cats in my yard when the door was opened and they were let out. This is so sad. I have a cat and It makes me so sad. Why pay to license your pets if nothing gets done.
Ed Blunt 104 Railroad Ave: Can the village place a trap in the alley behind her house? It’s village property. Mahin commented on the ongoing litigation and the village not being able to go onto the property.
Bill Connour 135 N 4th Street: I want to give my compliments to this board. This board has gotten more done in a short time than I’ve seen in the 37 years I’ve lived here.
Correspondence: none
Personnel: Alicia out of town for the next 2 weeks
Discussion/Action Reinke Nuisance Property Update- executive session:
Scott motioned to move to executive session at 8:23 pm, Kicak seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried.
Scott motioned to leave executive session and resume regular session at 8:57 pm, Kicak seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Future Agenda
Closed bid for village items
Sewer pump
Street bid- hole south of town
Ronhovde Sewer hook up
Adjournment: 8:58 pm
