Rib Lake village raises rental fees for private groups

Work is underway to get the Rib Lake Bandshell and park area ready for the kickoff of the concert series in July. BRIAN WILSON/THE STAR NEWS It will cost people more to hold events in community-owned buildings in 2026. At their meeting on June 11, members of the Rib Lake Village Board approved increasing the per day rent charged to use the Rib Lake Senior Center and the Lakeview Park shelter. “It is a pretty nice building to rent,” said trustee Cliff Mann noting the current rate is $75 with the renter getting $25 back if it is clean and nothing is broken. He suggested decreasing the amount refunded by $5. Village Clerk Kristin Lueck noted that any change would go into effect for 2026. She said that she is already accepting reservations for people for 2026 and said she felt the village should honor the existing rate for those who have paid already for next year. After discussion over increasing the overall charge or decreasing the refund, board members approved setting the rate at $100 with a $25 refund for the senior center building. The village currently charges $120 for rental of the Lakeview Park shelter with $60 returned if it is clean and nothing is broken. “The park shelter should be more, it is a bigger space,” Lueck said. “It is a really nice place to rent,” Mann said. Village president Bill Schreiner advised against lowering the amount of refund people get for leaving it clean. He noted that if they lower it people could decide to leave it messy. Board members approved raising the fee to $150 with $50 returned if it is clean and nothing is broken. This would make the effective rental rate $100. Board member Jack Buksa noted that they wanted to ensure people still used it. In other business, board members: Left unchanged for now the rezoning request for 670 McComb Ave. after the village planning commission took no action. Schreiner noted there were a lot of questions and neither the buyer or the seller were at the planning commission meeting to answer them. He noted there were some things that were suggested for the parcel that would not be allowed with a change in zoning. “We don’t know what they are going to do,” Schreiner said, noting it will be up to the owners to come back when they have a plan in place. Trustee Bryan Marschke agreed. “If we change it now, we might have to change it again,” he said, also noting there were a number of concerns raised from nearby area residents. • Approved the compliance maintenance annual report for the sewer plant. The plant had gotten deducted points for BOD loads being off during a midge fly infestation late last fall. Midge flies lay their eggs in old sludge and the larvae consume the material, not leaving enough for the bacterial process to take place and throwing the plant out of balance. The village removed the old sludge, which may not have been removed from the plant prior to this, and implemented annual sludge removal going forward to mitigate the issue. • Received an update on the bandshell and work being done near the Ice Age Pavilion. The bandshell will officially open on July 3. The village is working to expand the Ice Age Pavilion parking lot and improving the lighting. The crew has been working with Excel Energy to look at options. Board members approved spending $2,400 from the buildings and grounds budget to have Excel install a pole with directional lights which should light the entire parking lot from one pole. This will be metered like all other streetlights in the village. The village will take care of burying wire and installing the pole to get service to the bandshell. • Approved the annual water consumer confidence report. There were no violations and all the village water samples came back clean. While fluoride is one of the things that the village tests for, the village does not add fluoride to the water. They only add chlorine as needed for sanitation levels.