VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
November 6,2024 Directly following public hearing
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held at Elmwood Village Office
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday November 6, 2024. Chair Person, Renee Holland, called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. 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 the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes 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) Tech. purchase (TP), Debt Service (DS)
Claims: B&D Pitstop(F)76.18, American Funds(SI) 203.27, IRS(PT) 1980.12, NE Dept of Rev(PT)320.96, Payroll(PR) 6455.64, Office Depot(S)37.19, C-Store(F)194.20, NE Dept of Rev(ST)1126.14, American Exchange Bank(Fees)67.84, TACSS(D) 198, USPS(PO)297, BH Energy(NG)200.95, Library(MA) 2916.67, WinWater(S)1867.02, Municipal Supply(S)2493.10, Voice News(P)301.07, Layne(CL)2100, WireBuilt(D) 58, Solheim(A)750, Todd Valley(CL)252.68, CC Refuse(R) 75, Hughes(CL)2675, Meeske Auto(TR) 73.33, HTM(CL)5061.75, CWS(S)790, Midwest Labs(L) 453.87, Quill(S)333.59, Verizon(CP)51.78, Ethan Homan Construction(CL)6971.34, NE Snow(TR)1416, Elmwood(PR)9.85, Lovel(CL)1500, JEO(EN)6000, PeopleService(CL)650, Kevin Huxhold(S)554.90, Ulmer Construction(SSS) 990, Michael Todd(S)38.39, BOK(BD)6145, Alicia Greise (MR)54.67, MARC(S)742.50, OPPD(E)3795.90, Windstream(T)199.51, NE Digging(CL)20390, Menards(S)143.93, Meeske(S)13.49, ADP(D)7.50, Randy Bornemeier(SH)1440, Justin Petersen(CL)3200, AW Services(CL)1500
Public Comment Period
Ryan Anderson with a comment on the roads into the new development. The village already paid for engineering and plans for roads into the new development. Erick Beirmann was the engineer with Olsson Engineering.
New Business
Discussion/Action Proposed rezoning of 101 East D Street. This item was removed from the agenda due to property owner retracting his rezoning application. No action taken.
Discussion of complaint form – Kurt Poole- 317 N 3rd Street. Mr. Poole introduced himself to the board and explained that 2 years ago his garage burned down and he is trying to rebuild. He had been told that “we don’t do complaints” as an explanation of his denial the last time he applied for a variance. Poole states that when the village got a new attorney, their office called him and stated that if he built the building without approval they would file against him, demolish the building and charge him for it. The application came to the attention of the board last month after a “no” recommendation from the planning committee. Planning and zoning stated that their denial was because the zoning regulations require accessory buildings to match the façade of the main building, cannot impede the property line and should not exceed the current yard requirements for R1. Mr. Poole states that this decision is wrong and that the board was given misinformation. The code that P&Z used is speaking to attached buildings and his is detached. He would match the garage to the house and feels that if that was reason for the denial then the board should have approved his application with the contingency that he change the color of the garage. Mr. Poole believes that he qualifies for a hardship because of where his sewer line runs and the size of his lot and position of the house on the property. He quotes the prior use clause, stating that he has no plans to move the garage any closer to the lot line. He does not think it is feasible to put more money into the existing structure and wants to build a new building. Scott explained that she believes the reason they denied his application is because the plans show a pole-shed and those are not allowed in the village. He does not understand why he was denied and feels it is because no one likes him. Mr. Poole quotes the statute that states that a variance can be granted as long as it shows demonstratable, and exceptional hardship not influenced by convenience, profit or caprice. Holland said that before any action is taken, she would like to speak with Robert Marsh who is the chair of the planning committee because it seems there has been some miscommunication. Justin Petersen states that he sees pole-sheds all over the neighborhood. Holland explained that while this is true those buildings were put in place prior to the comprehensive plan being written and enforced. Petersen then asked how often the village can do a comprehensive plan. Asks if the rules/regulations still make sense for our community. Mr. Poole states that on the building permit it states that any building of 125 ft needs to have footings but in our “frequently asked questions form” it states that any building of 150 ft or more. So which is it. The clerk will look into the ordinance. No action taken.
Discussion/Action bid for new membranes at the water treatment plant
Kevin spoke regarding this matter after having discussed our situation with Dan from Consolidated Water Solutions. Dan explained that in the past the village has had high velocity membranes and the ones they most recently installed are not high velocity and are therefore filtering less nitrates. Neither Huxhold or the board were made aware that these membranes were not the same as the ones we have installed previously. After further discussion the board would like to replace the membranes we have currently with the ones we have had in the past but at a discounted rate as it seems Consolidated sold us the incorrect membranes. Euse motioned to have Huxhold call Dan and ask that they install new membranes with no service fee at the cost difference of the ToryTM780D400 and the incorrect membranes and to have a new bid emailed to the village. Scott seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Greise motioned to approve to pay up to $2,240 (the difference) if they agree to this proposal, Euse seconded. RCV: 5-0 ayes. Motion carried.
Discussion/Action bid for cleaning out gate valves around town to ensure functionality
The bid was provided by Point Repair for $550. They will work to clean out 15+ plugged and or broken gate valves around the village. Huxhold is specifically concerned with the gate valves around the water tower because they do not work and there isn’t any way to shut down the tower. Greise motion to approve the bid to clean out the gate valves for $550 and the foam inserts for $150, Scott seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Discussion Harvest Moon Hustle scheduled for September 12, 2025.
Information only. No action taken.
Discussion/Action Approval of Alicia attending the 2025 NMCA Institute & Academy in South Sioux City March 17-21, 2025
Greise explained that the conference was scheduled to be held in Columbus like last year but they moved it to South Sioux as the Marriott there has been more accommodating. Euse motioned to approve Greise attending the 2025 NMCA Institute & Academy March 17-21st and approved reimbursement for attendance, hotel, fuel and food daily during the conference, Kicak seconded the motion. Greise abstained. RCV: 4-0 ayes, motion carried.
Discussion/Action Resolution #11062024-1 -Signing of the Year-End Certification of City Street Superintendent 2024
Holland read the resolution out loud. Scott motioned to approve resolution #11062024-1, Kicak seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Discussion/Action Purchase a new lap top for the village office
The board reviewed the comparison the clerk provided of 4 different models of laptops. Discussed the need/function of the laptop and what it will be mostly used for. The clerk would like to be able to travel with the laptop to conferences so she can stay up to date and answer questions as needed. Huxhold can also use the laptop daily while at the office to submit DMRs, test results, location results etc. Euse motioned to approve the HP ProBook with the possibility of memory expansion as needed for $659.99, Kicak seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Discussion/Action Moving the January 2025 Meeting from 1/1 to 1/8
Euse motioned to approve moving the January 2025 meeting from 1/1/25 to 1/8/25, Scott seconded the motion. RCV: 5-0 ayes, motion carried.
Reports/Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Library: next meeting 12/2
Park: wood chips installed, Kevin will plan on winterizing the park mid-November. Tree and debris removed.
Streets: alleys are being rocked, they are having some issues getting access to the alleys because of tree limbs etc. Christmas lights will be installed 11/11
Water: waiting to hear back from funding agencies for water project, leak at 209 West D Street fixed and curb stop replaced. 29314 Adams still needing to be worked on. Water & Sewer for 388 North 2nd connected, 301 West G water connected, waiting on sewer. Kristen Janssen here. She works with Conservation Nebraska and is interested in doing an article on our water situation. She thought it would be beneficial to share with the village and surrounding communities what the process looks like. She would like to do a tour of the water treatment plant before our water project starts and after. She will work with Kevin on when she can come in and do a tour of the water treatment plant.
Sewer: drained the north clarifier, NDEE to inspect the clarifier. There are supposed to be paddles that scrape the bottom and sides and they are not functioning correctly, Huxhold suspects this is why our lab results are coming back high with total suspended solids. A water study is in the budget for 2025.
Planning/Zoning: Met on 10/27 and will meet again on 12/1
Correspondence: The clerk read a letter from Solheim Law Offices. Our contract is set to renew in December and he was letting the board know that the rate will be increasing by $25 per hour.
Personnel
Future agenda items
Poole variance application
Main street apartment
Adjournment: 8:17 PM