Elmwood Board Report Nov. 2011

Elmwood Village Board Approves Water & Sewer Rate Increases
Submitted by Rick A. Talford
Citizen Journalist


ELMWOOD, WI - November 14, 2011 the Elmwood Village Board held their monthly meeting at the Auditorium. The meeting began at 6:45 pm for the Public Hearing on the 2012 Budget. There was a short discussion over the budget information, then a vote was taken. Trustees Mike Sand and Rick Stohr were not present for the vote. The hearing then adjourned at 6:55 pm. The regular board meeting then began after the hearing was adjourned. The Budget was then adopted after another vote. Trustee Rick Stohr was then present. There was no public input at this meeting.

A sewer rate increase was the next item on the agenda. Trustee Neil Boltic made the motion to have the basic fee of $11.00 per month be increased to $13.00. This was approved. Trustee Trisha Knops then made a motion to have the water rate increased by three percent. This was also approved.

Two Operators Licenses were approved for Nickole Bauer and Jodell Ottman. The board also had interviews for the potential assessors position with the village. Galen Seipel, Robert Irwin and Peter Post were interviewed without any action being taken by the board.

In Committee and Board Reports - The Library committee had a meeting on 11-14-11. There will be two signatures required for all checks from the library now, and a credit card will begin to be used for purchases as well. The possibility of some new Kindles may be in their future too. The employee’s will be receiving a three percent raise this year, was also noted.

The Nursing Home committee had a meeting on 11-8-11. They discussed the purchase of a new hot water heater that had a cost of $14,655.00. Hurlburt Heating will do the installation work. They have also hired a Interior Designer to do some work, up to $1,000.00.The nursing home currently has 40 residents, and they have accepted a bid from Paul Peterson to do work at a building on Elm Street.

The Parks and Buildings committee met 11-14-11 to discuss the removal of the Piano from the village dining hall, and the hanging of a quilt upstairs. The removal of the pop machine from upstairs was also approved by the committee. The reason for the removal was stated to be a cost effective issue.

The Police committee met 11-14-11 to talk over the Personnel Policy and the residency requirements. There were also amendments made to the new Conceal and Carry Ordinance 2011-04. This ordinance makes it unlawful to carry a weapon into any village owned or operated properties, as well as the public school property or within 1000 feet of a public school. There are also restrictions against having a weapon in an open courtroom, a private or public building that has correct signage, a community-type event which lasts no longer than (3) three weeks, has proper signage, and for which admission is charged. There is one final area that a concealed weapon may not be, and that is any taverns, or locations where alcohol consumption may occur. The conceal and carry laws for the State of WI are allowing handguns, tazers, knives, and clubs. No switchblades are allowed or covered by this new law or ordinances. Reading the Elmwood Ordinance, no switchblades or clubs are being allowed under this ordinance.

The Public Works committee met on 11-12-11 to put together the new water and sewer rate increases, and approve the purchase of a new wing plow.

The Personnel and Finance Committee met on 10-25-11 for the Budget discussions.

Absent from the meeting was Trustee Mike Sand. The meeting then adjourned at 8:00 pm.

2010 Nascar Season concludes

The 2010 Nascar Season concluded at the Florida Racetrack, in Homestead, Miami. Two Time Champion Tony Stewart won this years title for the Third time, but this time he did it, as the Owner/Driver of his number 14 car. It was a great season to watch, and I enter the “Streak to the Finish” challenge every year. This lets you try and pick a top ten driver for each race of the season, to see if you can be one of the best at picking the winners. This season I used a different driver for each of the first 26 races, then I chose one of the title contenders for each of the final ten races. I did fairly well this year. I had five top ten picks in the first 26 races, and five more in the final ten races. I averaged a 21.9 place pick throughout the year, with about half of my picks finishing in the top 15. All of my top ten picks were inside the top five, with three being victories. The Sprint Cup Series ended with Tony Stewart winning the Title, while having the same amount of points as Carl Edwards after the final lap of the season was ran. The two of them ended with 2403 points, but Tony had won 4 times during the season, and Carl only winning once. The Tie Breaker went to Stewart. This was the first time in Nascar history that the Championship ended in a tie-breaker. The Final Standing were as follows, 14 Tony Stewart, 99 Carl Edwards, 29 Kevin Harvick, 2 Brad Keselowski, 17 Matt Kenseth, 48 Jimmie Johnson, 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., 24 Jeff Gordon, 11 Denny Hamlin, 39 Ryan Newman, 22 Kurt Busch, 18 Kyle Busch. Those were the top twelve positions for the Championship. The top ten will head to Vegas for the seasons last event, the Awards Ceremony.

In the Truck Series, the final standings were as follows. 3 Austin Dillon, 13 Johnny Sauter (6 pts back), 31 James Buecher, 33 Ron Hornaday, 17 Timothy Peters, 5 Todd Bodine, 22 Joey Coulter (rookie), 88 Matt Crafton, 60 Cole Whitt (rookie), 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. (rookie)

In the Nationwide Series – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Title, with 2 Elliott Sadler following him 45 pts back. 31 Justin Allgaier, 88 Aric Almirola, 32 Reed Sorenson, 38 Jason Leffler, 09 Kenny Wallace, 11 Brian Scott, 62 Michael Annett and 66 Steve Wallace finished the top ten. 01 Mike Wallace finished 13th and 7 Danicka Patrick finished up in 26th position after running only 12 of 34 races. She will be full time next year in the series.