Rib Lake looks at options for citizen input at board meetings

The village of Rib Lake is hoping to improve civility while maintaining the ability of the public to have input into village board business.

At the February 14 village board meeting, board members received feedback from local resident Michael Head.

Head noted that addressing the board is a privilege during the meetings. The village had removed the public comment period from its agendas in response to how it has been used by residents in recent months.

Head proposed a one-page informational sheet to be shared to those wanting to talk to the board at a meeting. He said the past few months have seen a lot of unnecessary friction between the community and the board with some of it having to do with community members not knowing how to communicate with the board.

“I think it would smooth over a lot of problems,” Head said of the one-page sheet which would highlight the rules people need to follow while talking to the board.

He noted that speaking at the meetings is a privilege, but that is not necessarily a place for “unfettered expression of free speech.” He said the sheet could also include why there may not be an immediate answer from the board and noting that some issues, such as those dealing with personnel, may not be able to be discussed in an open meeting.

Village president Bill Schreiner said he felt the handout would be a very good idea.

Board members will review the draft of the handout with the plan to formally adopt it at their next meeting.

“It is a shame that it had to come to this,” Schreiner said of needing the handout. “I think it will solve a lot of problems.”

In other business, trustees:

 Approved contributing $2,000 from the village’s room tax fund to a project spearheaded by the Rib Lake Community Development Foundation to help with redoing the village’s website to include more current, local photos and video as a way to attract more tourism and business interest to the community. Kelly Petrick from RLDF made the request noting that the total cost of the project will be about $6,000 and the foundation is looking to cover the remaining cost of it.

 Approved a zoning change for the construction of the new Lakewood Credit Union building that will be built this spring across from Cenex on Hwy 102. The village’s planning commission had previously voted in support of the zoning change.

 Approved annual transfer of carryover funds from last year’s budget to this year. This is money that was budgeted, but was not spent in 2023. It totals $142,537 with the largest amount of $116,000 coming in capital outlay for a road project that was not completed last year.

 Approved new floodplain zoning maps and ordinance for the village. The ordinance reflects updates to the floodplain maps that were decades old. The ordinance is modeled on one distributed by the Department of Natural Resources for municipalities around the state. During the public hearing held before the board meeting, there were no comments either for or against the ordinance.

 Tabled action on proposed changes to the village’s maternity/paternity leave policy, public works staffing hours and leave for the death of a grandparent. Trustee George Tesch who is the new chairman of the village’s personnel committee after the resignation of former Trustee Russell Bullis, asked for the items to be tabled to allow the personnel committee a chance to review them before going to the full board.

 Approved granting the clerk permission to attend the clerk’s training through UW-Green Bay. The training will be on-line and conducted while the clerk is in Rib Lake.

 Directed the public works department to remove signs the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says are improperly in the state right of way along Hwy 102. The village had received a report from the state with the signs, many of which had been in place for decades, which they say do not have permits. The option was for the village to pay $175 per sign for the nine signs.

 Approved applying for the Community Development Block Grant program for assistance for work to be done on 2nd St., 3rd St, and a portion of Church Street. This is a formal step needed in the application process.

 Approved cashing out and renewing the CD with the tax settlement. When the tax settlement was completed last year, the village had put $125,000 into a CD which is now due and which generated $4,720 in interest. “I can’t think of an easier way to make money,” Schreiner said.