VILLAGE OF DECATUR REGULAR BOARD MEETING December 12th, 2024 @ 5:30 PM NOTE: Everyone must use the microphones at the table. The audience must be quiet during the meeting. If you want to ask a question and you are not on the agenda, you must raise your hand, get permission from the Chairman, and come to the microphone before speaking. If you are on the agenda the same rule applies. THE VILLAGE BOARD HAS THE RIGHT TO MODIFY THE AGENDA AT THE REGULAR MEETING WHEN CONVENED. MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. A COPY OF THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT IS LOCATED ON THE NORTH WALL. A COPY OF THE MEETING NOTICE WAS POSTED AT THE CITY HALL, POST OFFICE, FIRST NEBRASKA BANK, AND DECATUR EXPRESS. Guests signing in were: No guests signing in. Ray and Julie Metcalf attended the meeting. 1) REGULAR MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY CHAIRMAN SIECKE Roll Call: Hightree-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Siecke-yes, Troutman-yes, Warren-yes. Quorum Present-yes. 2) EXCUSE BOARD MEMBERS NOT ATTENDING THE MEETING: Roll Call: Hightree-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Siecke-yes, Troutman-yes, Warren-yes. 3) AGENDA AND MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH'S MEETING RECEIVED: Roll Call: Hightree-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Siecke-yes, Troutman-yes, Warren-yes. 4) APPROVAL AND/OR CORRECTION AND SUSPENDED READING OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH MINUTES. There were none Roll Call: Hightree-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Siecke-yes, Troutman-yes, Warren-yes. 5) REPORTS OF OFFICERS, BOARDS AND OR COMMITTEES: 1) Police: Monthly Report: Traffic: 10 Traffic Stops, 4 Citations, 6 Warnings. Calls to Service: 8 Calls, Assist. Other Agency: 4 Assists. 2) Lights: Monthly Report: No Meters pulled. A. Border States bid for Light Pole Replacement on 4th Avenue $3,338.00. Insurance paid $2,338. The Board discussed this and were wondering why the person that ran into the pole did not have to pay to replace it. The Clerk will get a hold of the insurance company to check on this. The maintenance person spoke with the State Electrical Inspector, the inspector stated that there cannot be 4 meters on a pole, there has to be a disconnect for each meter. A new service has to have a 400-amp service, and this will need a special meter, due to it being all electric. B. Increase Utility Deposits for Businesses. The Board discussed raising the utility deposit for businesses in town due to the cost of the supplies that need to be purchased. Siecke asked who will pay for the trenching of the underground service? Hightree stated that this will be the expense of the business owner. There will have to be a Resolution for the utility deposit increase at the January meeting. 3) Water & Sewer Monthly Report Water Loss -24.12% The pumps will go in the lift station on 2nd Avenue next week. The maintenance guys will check both meters, the well house and the pump house. 4) Parks Monthly Report: Income of $1,803.03. Warren stated that there are a lot of things that need done at the park this spring. The drain pipe that was purchased to drain the water off of the back side storm shelter needs put in, fire pits need leveled and cleaned out, picnic tables need new boards, splash pad needs to be delimed, fish cleaning station needs a new grinder. The flooding has taken a toll on the abutment of the walk bridge on the park side. One of the piers is showing. Each flood has taken the creek farther to the east. There are boards on the walk bridge that need to be replaced. 5) Streets Monthly Report: December Highway Allocation-$7,106.76. Sales Tax-$-$4,939.29, $4,548.91 to LB840. We need to either rent or purchase a tar machine so that the cracks can be filled this spring. The machine that the Village has now is old and does not work. Warren suggested selling the Jetter, possibly trying to sell it and use the money from that to purchase a tar machine. Troutman stated the dumpster that is on 8th street needs to be moved before we have to move snow. 6) Sears Center: Nothing to Report. Troutman asked Hightree had heard anything from the physical therapist that is interested in the Sears Center Dr. office. The physical therapist has had staffing issues. He is still very interested. 6) OLD BUSINESS 1. Tank Maintenance Solutions. Siecke stated that we can get a loan from the bank for the maintenance on the water storage tank. He was waiting to see if the Future of Decatur Foundation could help. Troutman said he would contact Keri Maryott on this issue. 2. Letter from the Future of Decatur Foundation. The Future of Decatur Foundation sent a letter to Mark Siecke and Don Warren thanking them for their service to the Village of Decatur. 3. Email from Andrea Larson (Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District) – They sent out 59 CDBG Income Surveys, they still need 18 returned. The Board wants the community to know that the Village has no knowledge of the people that these surveys were sent to, the Village also will never see the surveys. We need these to move on with any grants the Village may apply for. 4. Roger Kirschenman-Getting the Attorney Involved with the ATV/UTV Ordinance Change. The Clerk sent an email to Ben Hansen about getting this Ordinance changed. The Attorney does not feel that the money that is budgeted for legal fees should be used for this. 7) NEW BUSINESS: 1. Oath of Office for Lance Anderson, Joyce McCullock, and Jason Troutman. Siecke asked Lance Anderson and Joyce McCullock to come to the table. Anderson, McCullock and Troutman all read and signed their Oath of Office. 2. Reorganization of the Board of Trustees. Siecke adjourned the meeting and turned it over to the clerk, for the purpose of appointing a temporary Chairman. The Clerk asked for a motion for a temporary Chairman. Troutman made a motion to appoint Hightree as Temporary chairman. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Kirschenman-yes, Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Hightree-yes, Troutman-yes. Hightree asked for a motion for Chairman. Troutman made a motion to appoint Lance Anderson as Chairman. Hightree seconded the motion. Roll Call: Kirschenman-yes, McCullock-yes, Anderson-abstain, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes Anderson asked for a motion for Vice Chairman. Troutman made a motion to appoint Hightree as Vice Chairman. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Hightree-abstain, Troutman-yes, Kirschenman-yes. Anderson asked for a motion to appoint a Village Clerk. Troutman made a motion to appoint Therese Magill Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Hightree-yes, Troutman-yes, Kirschenman-yes. Anderson asked about the Village Insurance? The Clerk stated that she has looked into the LARM Commercial Insurance. The Village information was sent to the company, but we have not heard anything back. The Village Health Insurance is through the League of Nebraska Municipalities. The Board members looked through the annual appointment list. 3. Annual Appointments Tree Board: Term Expires 3 Year Term Jennifer Hittle 12-2026 Steele Valenzuela 12-2024 moved out of Decatur Vacant 12-2027 John Mussack 12-2024 Park Board: Larry Kellogg 12-2024 Peggy Haeffner 12-2024 Harold Hayes 12-2024 Vacant 12-2024 Kay Kellogg 12-2024 Darian Haeffner 12-2024 John Maryott 12-2024 The Board had questions about the Park and Tree Boards, if they actually report anything to the Village Board, and how many members are required. The Clerk will check with the attorney tomorrow. Anderson asked the two guests if they would be interested in being on the Tree Board? Anderson stated they did not have to answer now, but if interested please let the Board know. The trees on Broadway are needing replaced. Health Board: Chief of Police 12-2024 Chairman of the Board 12-2024 Joyce Cornwell 12-2024 Planning Tracy Davis 12-2024 Commission: Steve Dye 12-2025 3 Year Term Terry Gosch 12-2026 Nick French 12-2024 Tim Slaughter 12-2024 Rod Nelson 12-2024 ADHOC Appointed by the Village Board Vacant Committee: Appointed by the Senior Center Roger Kirschenman As Hired by the Senior Center Jackie Anderson Appointed by the Village Board Mark Siecke Appointed by the Village Board Jason Troutman Appointed by the Committee Janice Larsen Appointed by the Committee Matt Connealy Appointed by the Committee Judy Connealy Does this Committee need to be? Housing Authority Board: 5-year term Debbie Krutilek 12-2027 Peggy Smith 12-2027 John Maryott 12-2027 LeeAnn Warren 12-2027 Janice Bowers 12-2027 Troutman motion to approve the Appointments of the Health Board, Planning Commission, Housing Authority Board of the annual appointments. Hightree seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes. For the vacant positions, community members who are interested please inquire at the Village Office. Persons authorized to sign all checks from the Village of Decatur’s Checking and Savings accounts: Chairman-Anderson Vice-Chairman-Hightree Village Clerk-Therese Magill For the year of 2025: Light Commissioner-Hightree Water/Sewer Commissioner-Troutman Street Commissioner-Kirschenman Park Commissioner- McCullock Village Banking Institution: First Nebraska Bank Commercial Insurance: Continental Insurance-Kay Kellogg Employee Insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield-League of Nebraska Municipalities Village Attorney Johnson & Mock/Matthew Munderloh Village Power Supplier: Burt County Public Power Legal Newspaper: Lyons Mirror Sun Village Accountant: Williams & Company Village Engineer Garrett Johnson, Brickyard Consulting Street Superintendent Garrett Johnson, Brickyard Consulting Village Clerk Therese Magill Village Building Inspector: Jeff Meyer Chief of Police John Sparks Four (4) Checking Accounts General-Interest Rate 0.50% Rehabilitation-Interest Rate 0.50% LB840-Interest Rate 0.50% Beck Park Trust Four (4) CD’s One (1) 2.00% Two (2) 1.75% One (1) 0.30% 2024 Ford Pickup Loan Public Places for Notices: First Nebraska Bank, Post Office, City Hall, Decatur Express. read the previous appointments. Troutman made a motion to leave all of the annual appointments above as is. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Hightree-yes, Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Troutman-yes, Krschenman-yes. 4. Greg Jump-Requesting a Special Meeting and Electrical for his apartments. Greg did not come to the meeting. This will be on the January 9th, 2025 meeting when the Village Attorney is present. 5. Year-End Certification of Village Street Superintendent. 6. Resolution #202-Signing of the Year-End Certification of the Village Street Superintendent 2024. The Clerk read Resolution #202. Resolution # 202 is available at the Village Office. Troutman made a motion to approve Resolution #202 Signing of the Year-End Certification of the Village Street Superintendent 2024. Hightree seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, Kirschenman-yes, McCullock-yes, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes. 7. TextMyGov Proposal. The Board discussed this, but at present the board cannot see spending the money at this time. 8. Bids for Gworks and Power Manager Computer Programs. The Village received the price for the annual Gworks-$8,400.00. This has more than doubled from last year. The Clerks have been getting bids from other companies. PowerManager-$14,325.00 One-time fees and payments. This includes Utility Billing License & Setup, Cash Register Module, Second User License, Data Conversion and initial form design. Yearly Support and Maintenance Plan would be $6,000.00 per year. Tyler Community-$70,579.00 one-time fee and $24,834.00 yearly. The Clerks have not been happy with the Gworks program and neither is our auditors. The only concern is we are not able to start with PowerManager until the end of February/early March, which means paying for Gworks and PowerManager. The Clerk spoke with Gworks and they will not prorate the amount. Hightree stated that we should just pay Gworks and then switch in March. It is a lot of money to spend, paying for Gworks and then switching and paying more. Kirschenman asked if someone could patch something in for us to use in the meantime, they cannot do this. The Clerk suggested possibly go with Gworks for on more year, and switch over in 2026. The Board asked the Clerk to ask the Village Attorney if this legal? 9. Resolution #203-Authorzing Chairperson and Clerk to Sign USDA Documents. Also Authorizing USDA to Speak with Jennifer Penny and Garrett Johnson (Village Engineer). Resolution #203 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CHIEF ELECTED OFFICIAL AND THE CLERK TO SIGN ALL DOCUMENTS AS MAY BE REQUIRED IN PROCESSING OR COMPLETING THE USDA, RURAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FACILITIES LOAN/GRANT. TO SPEAK WITH JENNIFER PENNY AND GARRETT JOHNSON (VILLAGE ENGINEER). WHEREAS: the Village of Decatur is in the process of applying for a USDA Rural Development Loan/Grant to fund a portion of the costs for the Village of Decatur’s water supply system. WHEREAS: there a certain and various documents which require signatures of the Chief Elected Official and/or the Clerk. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Decatur that the Chief Elected Official and Clerk are hereby authorized to sign all documents as may be required in the processing or completing of the USDA, Rural Development Loan/Grant. To Speak with Jennifer Penny and Garrett Johnson (Village Engineer). If the Chief Elected official and or Clerk should change because of an election or other reasons during the processing of the USDA Rural Development application, the Board of Trustees will not need to amend this Resolution so the Chief Elected Official and Clerk can sign any forms and security instruments to finalize the USDA Rural Development financial assistance. Hightree made a motion to adopt Resolution #203. Troutman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Hightree-yes, Troutman-yes. This motion was introduced and adopted this 12th day of December, 2024, by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Decatur. Lance Anderson Board Chairman ATTEST: Therese Magill Village Clerk Update and outlining the next steps for the planning grant. The new board members asked what the Resolution #203 was about. The board members that have been on the board previously explained that there needs to be work done on the water storage tank and a lot of older water lines that need replaced. Anderson asked about the Company out of Lincoln that used to give loans for water and sewer projects. The Clerk stated she would inquire about this. Anderson also asked the Clerk to find out from Andrea Larson (NENEDD) if we could put some of the surveys in the office for people to take and fill out. He hates for us to lose out because of 18 surveys not returned. 10. Employee Raises. Anderson suggested going into executive session, due to him and McCullock not knowing what the duties are for these employees. Troutman made a motion to go into executive session at 7:12 PM. Hightree second the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, Kirschenman-yes, McCullock-yes, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes. Troutman made a motion to come out of executive session at 8:07 PM. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Hightree-yes, Troutman-yes, Kirschenman-yes. Larry McCullock Troutman made a motion to raise Larry McCullock to $28.50 per hour. Hightree seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-Abstain, Kirschenman-yes, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes. Troutman made a motion to raise wages for: Mike Parsons $19.50 per hour Skylar McMullin $19.00 per hour Therese Magill $22.50 per hour Kathy Boden $18.00 per hour Robert Sparks $16.82 per hour Hightree seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Kirschenman-yes, Troutman-yes, Hightree-yes. Kirschenman-yes. Motion Carries. Troutman made a motion for all employees that have Village Cell phones to turn them in. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, McCullock-yes, Hightree-yes, Troutman-yes, Kirschenman-yes. Anderson stated that all employees that are ill will contact their supervisors when they are ill are taking a personal day. Kathy and Robert will contact the Clerk. Mike and Skylar will contact Larry McCullock. The Clerk and Maintenance supervisor will contact at least one Board member. McCullock asked if someone is a no call no show what happens? Anderson stated that the Clerk or Supervisor should contact one of the Board members. Anderson asked the Clerk to contact the Village attorney about the maintenance workers signing a contract about getting their certifications in water and sewer. The Clerk training is in South Sioux City this year and the Clerks would like to attend. The Conference is March 16-March 21st, 2025. Anderson stated that we can close the office for these days. 8) CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Next Regular Board Meeting January 9th, 2025 at 5:30 PM. 2. Replacement Banners are here. French and Hightree. Three new banners have been ordered. 3. Ordered 100 - 2025 ATV/UTV Stickers, Black with White Numbers. 4. Are there any questions or comments from the audience? There were none. 9) APPROPRIATIONS AND CONSIDERATION OF THE CLAIMS: 1) Claims preapproved by Hightree and Troutman. 2) Motion to Approve the Claims as submitted Troutman made a motion to approve claims as submitted. Kirschenman seconded the motion. Roll Call: Anderson-yes, Hightree-yes, Kirschenman-yes, McCullock-yes, Troutman-yes. 10) MOTION TO ADJOURN THE REGULAR MEETING: Motion to adjourn the meeting: Troutman 2nd Kirschenman Adjournment Time 8:16 P.M. Lance Anderson Chairman Therese M Magill Village Clerk CLAIMS REPORT- December 2024 AgriVision-$64.26, Blue Cross-3,633.60, Blue360 Media-$102.95, Bomgaars-$185.08, Border States-$673.21, Brickyard Consulting-$6,050.00, Burt County Election Commissioner-$100.00, Burt County Public Power-$24,795.96, Cass Plumbing-$298.54, Decatur Express-$732.14, Don Warren-$98.00, Eakes-$61.36, First Nebraska Bank-$950.50, Home Town Leasing-$183.31, Jack’s Uniforms-$8.95, Jeff Meyer-$362.50, Johnson & Mock-$1,740.79, Joyce McCullock-$178.60, King Disposal-$3,823.53, Lyons Mirror-Sun-$124.43, Midwest Labs-$489.65, Midwest Service & Sales-$57.00, Municipal Supply-$1,092.63, Mutual of Omaha-$28.80, Nebraska Department of Revenue-$3,620.50, Nebraska Public Health Lab-$15.00, Northeast Nebraska Telephone-$503.89, Norma Farrens-$235.41, One Call-$2.78, One Office Solutions-$334.18, Postmaster-$32.80, Quadient-$746.97, Security Shredding-$40.00, SignPay-$10.01, Tri-State Communications-$89.00, Verizon-$239.94, Williams & Co-$28,150.00. Total-$79,856.27. Payroll-$21,170.83. Report Total-$101,027.10. ZNEZ LMS 12-26-24
