Livingston 

VILLAGE OF LIVINGSTON

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

MONDAY, MAY 2nd, 2011

Meeting called to order at 7:00 PM.

In the absence of the village clerk, Trustee France took roll call and will record minutes. Brown Yes, Haas Yes, Gluege Yes, Richards Yes, France Yes, Loeffelholz Yes and Warne Yes. Also present were Gary Stuckey, Betty Schambow and Ric Riniker. Steve Jones was absent.

Trustee France verified the agenda was posted at the Village Post Office, Village Message Board and Village Office on 04/29/11.

President Brown swore in newly elected trustee’s, Rosemary Gluege, Deb France and Kim Leoffelholz. Welcome new board member, Kim and good luck.

Motion was made by Haas and seconded by Gluege to approve minutes from April 4th meeting. All I. Motion carried.

Motion was made by France and seconded by Warne to approve treasurer’s report on contingency that 3437, 13008 and 2832 are verified with acting clerk. All I. Motion carried. Motion was made by Warne and seconded by Haas to pay J&I construction from March Bill. All I. Motion carried.

Motion was made by Richards and seconded by France to take monies out of LGIP to pay bills. All I. Motion carried.

Bart Nies, Delta 3 Engineering

President’s Brown’s signature was needed to close out the grant for the new well. Nies reported on the Safe Drinking Water Grant and the villages score was 72. Still too low to qualify. Advised the board on a possible low interest loan to pay off well from State. Board will stay with Livingston State Bank since the rate is similar. Discussion on Fire District filing corporation papers. Possible zoning issue with easement. Nies needs clarification before he can proceed. Fire house committee will look into matter. Handouts were given on Hwy 80 project, missing were the changes the board had requested. One being a crosswalk from Barber st. across Hwy 80. Due to the high volume of pedestrian traffic crossing highway. Resident Jon Scullion commented that a safety mechanism would be needed to slow traffic down coming from the North and South. Village is required to pay 2% of the cost for the Hwy 80 improvements. Village cost is approximately $5100.00. Board feels the cost is worthy for pedestrian safety. Board advised Nies to meet with state on site to discuss our concerns and report back at the June meeting.

Ric Riniker, zoning commissioner

Reported to board that Eric Schmitz will be purchasing land from a neighbor. An upstairs addition will be added to an existing residence, address not available. Fence permit was issued to Don Schroeder. Resident Jon Scullion was present and addressed Riniker and President Brown that no one was returning his calls in regards to the fence Schroeder had installed. His concern is the Schroeder fence is on his property line. Scullion wants the board to do something about it. President Brown advised Scullion that this was a civil matter and the board would not interfere. Village attorney was contacted to confirm. Scullion was further advised to have his land professionally surveyed, at his cost to determine property lines. Scullion demanded the village president and board be oncall 24/7 for residents needs. Schroeder explained he constructed his fence 3 ft in from the property line. It does not sit on the property line. President Brown made it clear, the board would not get involved. Riniker reminded everyone that Board of Review is May 19th.

Library Report

Librarian Betty Schambow reported a Tea and Card party will be happening May 5th at 1pm. Library summer program will be starting, theme is “One World, Many Stories.” Fire Chief Charlie Hrubes recently did an inspection and found a faulty light in the garage area, back of the library. The plumbing within the library is getting worse. Board asked Stuckey to get some bids on redoing the bathrooms and report back to board.

Clerks Report

In the absence of the clerk, Shelley Bohl via memo, conveyed to the board she is working on keeping bills paid, making weekly deposits. She expressed graditude to Stuckey and Trustee France for helping her in maintaining the village office. She will be working on reconciling the checking accounts and updating the filing.

Tree Board

Marcella Danti and Carol Andrew reported to the board that they would like to plant some ornamental trees on Center St. Needed advise on how to acquire the monies to purchase the trees from the budget. They had concerns about residents mowing grass clippings into the street. Felt the public needs to be educated on this matter. Board has informed residents numerous times about this issue, but will have a reminder published again. Carol Andrew stated there were numerous trees within the village parks that needed trimming. Comment was also made that the tree on the corner of Barber and Clifton streets was totally blocking the stop sign. Board will contact homeowner in regards to this issue.

New Business

Jon Scullion had a concern in regards to the amount of traffic within the Tower Park. An old railroad track is being used as a driveway. Board is concerned for the safety of those using the park. This is not a street or driveway for anyone to be using. Letters will be sent to those on center street that are using this as an driveway. Access to this will be discontinued or blocked.

Presidents Report

Village of Livingston received a FEMA Grant for $7600.00 for snow removal costs from the blizzard in February 2011.

Brush pickup within village is getting out of control. Residents are confused and feel the village is in the tree removal business. Comments were made about two residence’s with tree’s that had been cut down and placed by curb for pick up. Both averaged numerous truck loads for removal. Costly and time consuming for the two village employees. Board will advise public, brush pickup is for minor tree trimming only, not total tree removal. Going forward, a limit of one truck load of brush will be removed from any residence per month during the summer. Any more than that, the homeowner will be responsible for removing.

Maintenance Report

Stuckey will be out of town on May 3 and 4th. He will taking his water/sewer test to be certified. Twenty water meters yet to install. Those are mostly the trailer houses in town. Stuckey is striving to have them installed by June. Pushing to be back to normal water bill schedule for June mailing.

Stuckey informed board he was unable to find a used Siren Controller for the siren on the west side of town. A new one will have to be purchased at a cost of $2200.00. Motion was made by Haas, seconded by Gluege to purchase to controller. All I. Motion carried.

Jackson and Florence streets needs to be Wedged, Tarred and Chipped. Stuckey will get bids to have those streets done this summer.

Water fountain at the Memorial Park was vandalized. Cost to replace and make repairs will be from $200 to $1000. Police are still investigating. Reward has been issued to stop this vandalism and possibly recoup monies for damages.

Water tower repairs and repainting should be done this coming week. Depending upon weather.

CCR report is complete. Board decided not to mail out to all residents. Report will be published in paper and copies available to any resident who would like to pick one up at the village office.

Alternatives to getting rid of sludge has been an issue. Current land owner no longer wants sludge spread onto his fields due to possible soil compaction problem with the amount of rain received. Options discussed were calling Lancaster to take it, Contacting Kruser or Stanton for removal. Approx. 40-50,000 gallons of sludge. Cost could be $2500.00 twice a year.

Gluege made a motion to go into closed session at 8.55 pm. Leoffelholz seconded the motion. All I. Motion carried.

Motion was made by Haas, seconded by Richards to go back into open session at 9:34 pm.

Motion was made by Warne, seconded by Gluege to pay Dawn Johnson 32.5 hours of sick pay, 11 hours of remaining vacation time and 8.5 hours of random time she put in during her maternity leave at 13.00 an hour. All I. Motion carried.

Leoffelholz made a motion to adjourn at 9:35 pm. Richards seconded the motion. All I. Motion carried.

Next meeting will be on June 6th.

DRAFT COPY UNTIL NEXT BOARD MEETING.

Shelly Bohl Interim clerk.