Village looks at options to get vacant storefronts filled

121997

Rib Lake village board members want to see vacant storefronts around the village filled.

At the June 8 Rib Lake village board meeting, trustees discussed a proposed ordinance to have vacant building owners register their properties and potentially have to pay a fee unless they can show they have taken steps to get the space filled.

The village got the idea from a similar ordinance in place in Menasha. Under that ordinance retail property owners would have to register with the village any vacant spaces and pay a registration fee of $250 for each registered commercial unit every six months. In addition the properties would be subject to building inspections every six months to ensure that they are able to be rented. Major changes are expected as board member review the proposal.

The issue the village is having is with properties with vacant first floor retail spaces while the owners lease the upstairs spaces for apartments.

The draft distributed to trustees also includes a waiver provision, stating: “The Village Board shall have the authority, on a case- by-case basis, upon receiving a written application, may waive, reduce, or defer payment of the required vacant building registration fee. The Village Board, at its sole discretion, may create additional conditions to any waiver, reduction or deferral of vacant building registration fee payment(s).”

“I think we should hold off so that everyone can look this over,” said village President Bill Schreiner, noting there is no rush to put it in place.

He said the goal is to try to have the property owners make some sort of effort to fill up the businesses. It was noted that it just wasn’t with McComb Ave. but throughout the village.

After some discussion, it was tabled to next month.

Cameras

A plan to add security cameras to monitor the village’s downtown hinges on the timing of having someone to install them in conjunction with the ongoing McComb Ave. road reconstruction project.

The village board is considering having security cameras mounted at two locations in the downtown to monitor the area and is looking to have conduit placed with the necessary cabling now while the area is already torn up and crews are upgrading the lines for the downtown light poles. Cameras are being planned for the intersections with Fayette and Landall avenues with cameras facing both north and south at each location.

Schreiner reported talking with Pieper Electric about the possibility of using the same conduit as what is being installed for the street lighting, but was told this was not possible due to the interference that would result. Pieper Electric is installing the downtown street lighting for the road project.

According to police chief Derek Beckstrand, the reason conduit is needed versus heavy duty cable, is to make it easier to replace if the cable breaks in the future. With conduit a new cable could be pulled through the existing conduit.

He suggested that the village crew would be capable of laying the conduit for the video cable.

Trustees preferred having a contractor put in the conduit and cable to ensure it was installed correctly. “There is a fair amount of conduit to go in the ground,” Bullis said.

Trustee Rocky Jones asked if the village had talked to the contractor about installing the conduit. It was estimated that they would need at least 650 feet of conduit. Schreiner noted that even if the cost of it was $1 a foot, it would only add $650 to the project, bringing the estimated cost to $3,950 for the whole project.

The camera discussion was tabled to get more information. Bullis said he would talk with the electric contractor at their weekly construction meeting about installing conduit at the same time they were in the area doing the street lighting. It was noted that the lighting work was expected to take place at the end of this month or in early July depending on how the project progresses.

Ambulance update

As the county switches from relying on paid-on-call ambulance crews to full-time crews for the backbone of the service, there will need to be upgrades to the village’s ambulance garage.

However, according to ambulance director John Deal of Aspirus, there is currently no formal lease agreement between the village and the ambulance service for the space. He said Aspirus would cover making additions and upgrades to the facility, but needed a formal lease to move forward with those plans. He offered to have Aspirus prepare a standard lease agreement that they use for other communities and bring it to the board for approval.

Deal said the changes to the building would be to include additional office/living space as they plan to station full-time ambulance crew members there. He noted only the garage area is heated and the only cooling is done by opening the garage door.

Traditionally the ambulance service has relied on paid on call volunteers. However, Deal noted that it is getting harder and harder to get these individuals because of other commitments. He said they are transitioning to having a full time combination department with two people to be stationed in Rib Lake between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., seven days a week. He praised Rib Lake for having some of the top on-call crew members, but noted that there are just getting to be fewer and fewer of them to cover the needed shifts.

In other business, trustees:

_ Approved the consumer confidence reports for the water department and the annual report for the wastewater treatment department. Operator Dan Koehler reported there were a few issues dealing with DNR not having his certifications on file when he has sent them in twice previously and needing to take an additional certifi cation course which he is already signed up to do. In the sewer report, he noted they had one incident where they had a small overflow due to a duck getting caught in a pipe and blocking it.

_ Approved hiring Lakes Asphalt Maintenance of Medford $9,547 to do the crack sealing work in the village this year. The company’s bid was about $3,000 lower than Jensen and Son’s Chip and Sealing at $12,497.23. The vote came after a lengthy discussion comparing the scope of work between the two companies. Schreiner noted that $3,000 is a lot of money difference, however he was not in favor of tabling action on it. “Let’s make a decision here,” he said.

_ Approved appointing Tammy Everson to represent the village on the library board. Previously she represented the school district. The school will appoint someone else to fill that spot.

_ Approved an assessing contract with Tamarack Springs Assessing for the next three years at a cost of $2,900 per year, an increase of $100 over the past. Longtime village assessor Bob Irwin has retired and his daughter, who has helped with Rib Lake in the past is taking over.

_ Approved using Law Enforcement Agency Grant funds to purchase protective gear, holsters, and winter gear totaling $2,749. The village received a $7,000 grant but is limited in what can be purchased using the funds.

_ Approved allowing Drink Slingers to publish for renewal of their liquor license. In related action, the board approved the renewals for liquor and tobacco licenses that had been published following the May meeting.