Elmwood Report for Mar 2013

“Elmwood Village Reports for March”




Submitted by Rick A. Talford

Citizen Journalist



ELMWOOD, WI- The Elmwood Village Board met on March 11, 2013 at 7 pm, in the Village Auditorium. There was no Public Input for this meeting, as no citizens attended this month. The board has been looking into a “Fall Claim” by a citizen that took a fall on snow/ice in front of the Library. The village decided to deny this claim. A letter (Notice of Disallowance) will be sent from the clerk to the citizen’s attorney. Village Attorney Robert Loberg provided this letter to be sent.



There was one Operator’s License approved for Amy Graf of the Sandbar. Trustee Mike Sand did abstain from this vote.



The next area the board discussed was regarding the Countryside Coop. They have submitted a proposal to add another bin, dryer and legs to their property on Groot Ave. There was also a “Variance Hearing” on March 12th to inform the public and the board.



They then discussed the long range plans for the village. They have began talks about giving the Public Works Dept. Employees a raise, because Trustee Brian Buck claims they are under paid, compared to other municipalities. Amy Wayne (Clerk), Jamie Reitz (PW Director) and Josh Kern (PW Assistant) are the only full-time employees left for the community. These plans also include working on the sidewalks and the sewer plant.



In Committee and Board Reports:

The Library report was provided by Trustee Trisha Knops. Circulation is up, and the librarian has been invited to meet with the village board. John Thompson from IFLS has been helping the library get a long-term plan together, as well as a mission statement.



The Nursing home committee was discussed by Knops as well. There has been a 2.4% wage increase provided, as well as a 2.58% private room increase. The home is looking at hiring a new CNA. A few minor projects are also being worked on.



Trustee Buck provided the Personnel and Finance Committee report. The Public Works Committee met in a joint meeting. They discussed the possible sale and development of property on Woodman St. Area residents Gabe Weix and Adam Carson, are wanting to build a duplex on the property. Trustee Mike Sand reported that the Public Works Committee also met with Rural Development, to develop the plans for the sewer plant updates.



There were no meetings for the Police, Parks and Buildings or Licensing Committees this month.



They approved paying the bills and adjourned the meeting at 7:50 pm.



Due to a medical issue, I was unable to attend this month’s meeting. I received the minutes from the village clerk and I also was able to see an article written online by Sari Gordon, for the Pierce County Herald. This was more information than I received. To have a more accurate account of the meeting information, I have included a few items for her article. In her article for the Pierce County Herald, She noted that Trustee Brian Buck was telling the board that they needed to get rid of all the part-time employees. They can’t afford them anymore. She quoted Buck on his statement to the board. “The first goal is to ensure the financial stability and security, and breaking the trend of robbing Peter to pay Paul, every year.” Buck went on to state that the village is “severely underpaying” the employees and they may take jobs elsewhere. It was clear that Buck was comparing Elmwood to Spring Valley is his comparisons. Gordon reported that Buck told the board members, “The full time employees could easily get six dollars an hour more in a different community.”



In School News:

The March/April Newsletter was sent out with a few bits of information I would like to provide, in case you may have missed it.



Scott Brown was hired by the School District as the new Food Service Director. He has been a General Manager for Restaurants in Minnesota. He recently had his own restaurant at the Spring Valley Golf Course. He also spent time at the Science Museum in St. Paul. Brown is married with four children. One of the newer items, that has been added for the students since Brown has come to Elmwood, is the “Healthy Salad Bar” that is available Wed. thru Fri.



The Board agreed to hire Kelsey Hannack as the long term substitute teacher for 2nd grade. They also accepted the resignation of Jason Mountin as the assistant High School Basketball Coach. They had a second resignation to approve, and that was for Christine Carlson as the English teacher. They will open a limited term position to replace her. The board also had a proposal for adding another Forensics Coach, as the class has doubled in students this year.



Below is from online PCH Article:


Sari Gordon report from PCH in regards to this meeting held in March. I would like to add this for the people to get more of the story from this month’s meeting, due to me not being at the meeting due to a medical issue.


ELMWOOD--The Elmwood Village Board continued to battle their budget woes earlier this month.

Board Member Brian Buck presented options set forth by the public works and finance committees, who met jointly to address long-range planning.

The first goal, said Buck, was to ensure financial stability and security, and breaking the trend of “robbing Peter to pay Paul every year.”

Among expenses considered for reduction or outright elimination was part-time staff. Buck indicated neighboring municipalities do not provide vacation and health insurance to their part-timers like Elmwood does. He pointed to two full-time staff whom he says “are severely underpaid,” and might consider taking other, more lucrative employment elsewhere.

Board Member Trish Knops asked if the current part-timers could be grandfathered in, so they could retire with the benefits they'd earned after many years of employment. Buck reminded the board they couldn't afford the current budget and critical full-time staff made much less than in local villages like Spring Valley.

He recommends giving critical full-time staff a two-dollar-an-hour wage increase after the annual audit. He mentioned the possibility of modifying vacation and insurance benefits once again, but other options may be considered.

“This last budget season was extremely difficult,” said Buck. “We can't afford the part-time employees anymore. Other villages have solutions and work with full-time staff only. We need to make sure our two full-time employees stay here; they can leave and find jobs that pay $6 more an hour.” Seasonal help might be a solution.





Below is the statement that I left on the PCH Article through the Area Voices Commenting:


What is BUCK thinking? The village citizens have paid higher costs every year and they take away crap from the citizens constantly. Their bad choices in the recent years have them where they are. They are trying to tell the citizens that they need to pay the employees more, who is he trying to pull the wool over. There is no reason to give such high raises to keep them. Only one has been there for many years, and they recently cut her hours. The other recently came into the village after their long time clerk was fired after they set her up. I don’t have any negative comments to state about the new clerk at all, but I sure feel that if they feel she deserves a raise, it should not be in this way. Buck is fairly new to the board as well, to be demanding such actions. The part-timers employees are only part time because of the boards already made cuts. These people have just as much right to keeping their jobs and getting raises. Maybe BUCK and the rest of the board should give all their village funds back to the village instead of taking the money they claim the village is so desperately in need of. The village president just took a raise this year too, or last year. Maybe they all need to quit taking what they say the village needs. They should be working for the village free. The hours they give to the town are because they volunteered to do this. No one forced them to put their names on the ballots. I have said this for many years. Maybe they should not worry about getting in debt over replacing a squad with a new truck they do not need as well. They are worried about appearance and not the needs of the community.

My comments may not have been directed to the right employee's as the minutes that I rec'd from the clerk made it appear it was the PW employee's and not the village office employee's that Buck was stating the raises needed to go to. I was still under the belief that Vicki (Assistant Clerk) was still a full time employee. She has the most seniority I thought in the village.