Cadott Village Board - Fire department meter issue still undecided

Outgoing Cadott Village Board members Les Liptak (left) and Bart Chapek, were emotional April 15, when presented plaques for their many years of dedicated service to the community. The two decided not to run for re-election, instead, letting some new blood take a turn on the board. Liptak served 26 years as a trustee, while Chapek served 10 years. Photos by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Previously, the Cadott Fire Department asked if they could switch to a smaller water meter at the building or cap off the fourinch meter they already have. The Cadott Village Board reported April 15, that the Public Service Commission (PSC) says it cannot be capped off, but that the department can go down to a 2-inch meter.

The village agreed they would pay for the meter, but the fire department would be responsible for installing it. If the department drops to a 2-inch meter, their monthly bill would be $122, opposed to the $414 they currently pay.

“They have a meter charge and a public protection charge, just like everybody else,” said village clerk April Bruhn.

“That can’t be waived?” asked village trustee Les Liptak.

Bruhn said no, not according to the PSC. Cadott Fire Chief Rick Sommerfeld feels that since the meter is for fire protection, they could use part of that protection fee to pay for the meter, but Bruhn again said that was a no.

“We could get in big, big trouble if we did that,” she said.

According to the PSC, the department also cannot fill the trucks with water from the village hydrants, as it’s against their tariff, and can only run a hose through the hydrants for a fire. Sommerfeld disagreed with these assessments and wants to speak to the PSC himself.

The board did approve the change to a 2-inch meter, pending Fire Board approval.

Members also discussed IT services with VC3, which shared a presentation with the board at their last meeting. While it seemed like a good deal to have someone monitoring the village systems at all times and providing constant troubleshooting help, it also came with a $24,000 annual price tag, plus any additional on-site help that cannot be done remotely.

“I just think we can’t afford it,” said village trustee Bart Chapek.

The case could be argued that the village can’t afford to keep paying employees overtime to try to get their system online again. For example, the day of the meeting, Krista Computers came to hook cameras up that weren’t working and when they plugged them in, Cadott lost the ability to start the wells, run the sewer or see any of it on the SCADA system.

“I don’t know what the deal is, it just keeps going, continuously,” said public works director Jeremy Kenealy.

None of the trustees were fully satisfied with going with VC3, so Brian Chapman, with Cedar Corp., suggested finding a controller company that supports SCADA and having them look at it, if not take over man-agement of it. The board was happy with that thought and tabled any motion to go with VC3.

They also declined entering into an additional solar agreement with Rice Lake, but are keeping 10 percent power from the original contract.

“It’s really not worth it for us to get involved in a new extension,” said Chapek.

Members also approved holding elections in the public works garage, since it’s been a rotating location for some time. As part of that, a proposal was accepted from Yellow River Concrete, to install a sidewalk going into the garage, as well as purchasing tables and room dividers.

Brought to the board’s attention, was that Cedric Boettcher wants to pay for and install a 30-inch culvert, on 250th Street and 80th Avenue, to give him more tillable farmland.

Chapman says that could very well affect downstream flow, without a hydraulic study done, and the village would have to have DNR approval.

“We wouldn’t recommend that, from an engineering standpoint,” said Chapman. “You can’t just slap a culvert in there.”

Chapman agreed to have Cedar Corp. see if it is viable to do a study, as the first step.