Rib Lake water tower project on hold pending grant funds

Phil Kriesel, of MSA Professional Services was on hand at the Rib Lake Village board meeting on December 12, 2023 to give an update to the board on the Water Tower project, as well as discuss the CDBG-PF application for the 2nd, 3rd and Church street project.

Kriesel first discussed the water tower project. He let the board know that the water tower was not awarded the grant. Kriesel stated, “the DNR had three times the amount of people looking for grants,” he continued, “ a lot of the money went to contaminated sources in the state.” He did let the board know that he was waiting for an explanation on how the DNR calculates points versus how MSA calculates points that determine who is awarded the grants. The village can apply again next year, but for now the water tower project is on hold.

As part of Kriesel’s update, he also discussed the CDBG- PF application. CDBG stands for Community Development Block Grant- Public Facilities. The village can contract with MSA to write the grant application. The grant, if approved, pays 66 percent of a project cost up to $1 million. Kriesel stated that the lump sum fee for the work is $12,000 and the estimated fee to perform environment review work is $3,000.

The board did approve contracting with MSA Professional Services to complete the application.

Land Sale

The board was presented with a request by Jamie Heiser, of J& P Auto to purchase approximately 13,200 square feet of land that is currently owned by the village. The land is adjacent with J& P Auto in the village. Before the board giving final approval, the request did have to go to the planning commission. The commission did approve that the land was surplus and could be sold. This was contingent that the land had to be rezoned from residential to commercial.

The sale includes that Heiser will pay for all closing costs, surveying costs and rezoning costs.

Trustee Megan Beckstrand asked, “Do they have a plan?” She explained, “I know True Value bought village land, we required them to have a plan.” Village Clerk, Kristin Lueck mentioned, “He’s (Heiser) had a couple of different ideas.”

Trustee Cliff Mann stated that J& P Auto has been in some ways using the land and that, “basically it is now going on the tax roll.” President Bill Schreiner stated, “It (the land) has absolutely no use for us.”

Beckstrand then asked, “does this impede the band shell plans?” Lueck told her that it did not.

The board did approve selling the land for $1,000, with Heiser paying closing costs, surveying costs and rezoning costs.

Friends of Rib Lake

Laura Deuso, of the Friends of Rib Lake asked to be on the agenda for the meeting. The Friends of Rib Lake was asking for a donation from the Village, but no members of the Friends of Rib Lake were present at the meeting.

Resignation

The board did accept the resignation of village employee Daniel Koehler as of 12/23/2023.

Other Board Activities

The employee handbook was a topic of discussion during closed session. The following changes were made: remove the comment on step-relation under the funeral leave section, add a section about the use of cell phones, and include a section regarding the clothing allowance for the Public Works department.

During the meeting the board did approve the appointments of the following election officials: Laurie Schreiner, Kristin Denzine and Christie Grubbs. Tammy Mann was appointed as chief election inspector. Luanne Yanko was appointed as chief election inspector #2. The approval for each of these positions is a two year appointment.

The board approved the holiday bonus pay for village employees. Full time employees will receive a $50 bonus with an additional $5 for each year of employment. Part time employees will receive a $25 holiday bonus.

The Police Squad CD is coming due on 12/31/2023. The interest rate is yet to be determined. Currently they are receiving 3.35 percent interest on this CD. Lueck stated that the odd ball time frame CD’s are offering the highest interest rates currently. The board discussed if they had to go with a twelve month CD or could do an odd ball time frame, such as an 11 month CD. The board approved putting the $5,000 from the police budget into a one year or 11 month CD, whichever has the highest interest rate.

During the trustee reports, Beckstrand stated that the library is, “getting a lot more kids coming in after school.”

She also mentioned that she worked on an application for a handicap door, but that they would wouldn’t hear back until February.