Bellechester City Council Meeting - July 20, 2022

Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes

July 20, 2022 @ 6:00PM

Regular City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Jody Gordon at 6:00 p.m.

Pledge to the flag.

Roll call was taken:  The council in attendance:  Mayor Jody Gordon, Council people Rich Majerus, Kyle Blattner, Jered Buxengard as well as Engineer Matt Mohs and Treasurer Kyle McKeown were present.  City Clerk Lisa Redepenning was absent.

Minutes of June 15, 2022 regular meeting were reviewed and motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Kyle Blattner to approve the minutes.  Motion carried. 

Bills were reviewed and a motion by Rich Majerus with a second by Kyle Blattner to approve and pay the bills as presented.  Motion carried.

Old Business:

• Sewer Project Update – Matt spoke about updates including the need for more sewer televising needed to clear a blockage as well as gather information on the condition of pipes before we proceed with lining.  It will be covered by the grant.  Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2^nd by Jered Buxengard to approve the additional sewer televising.  Motion carried.

New business:

• Water Meter Discussion – Badger Water Meters representative met with us.  Several options were discussed.  There are 2 types of water meters that were discussed.  Mechanical and ultrasonic.  Mechanical meters have been used and around for several years.  This meter seemed to be a better fit for us.  How the meters are read was discussed.  Manual reading with entry, hand held reader and electrical pole auto reading was looked at.  Cellular reading of meters is a cloud-based and would cost $1.00/month for each connection.  This comes with a 20 year warranty.  Residents can see their information, it is continually updated and runs on a cellular connection for getting readings and connects similar to ATM machines to your account.  Readings are updated every 15 minutes.  No action needs to be taken, this was just preliminary information.

Engineer Report – See above - Also discussed was not doing this sewer pipe lining in 1 large project, but instead doing problem areas on a schedule and possibly do this on our own.  Council  directed Matt to come back with costs to fix INI issues on our own.

Clerk Report –  Reminder – filling for office:  the 1st day for filing Affidavits of Candidacy for Election will be at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 2nd day of August, 2022 and the last day for filing Affidavits of Candidacy for Election will be at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 16th day of August, 2022.  Candidates interested in filing may do so with me.  Candidates have until 5:00 on August 18th to withdraw.  OFFICES TO BE FILLED: Council Member (2 positions).  Each position is a four year term.  Mayor (1 position) – position is a 2 year term.  Cell phone for City Line – FYI I can get a new flip phone for $140 + tax and the monthly will be $50 + tax.  The existing number can be moved and I will have the capability to text from this also.  It would be with Verizon.  2023 Budget:  We have to have a preliminary budget to county by September 30.  I have the past year (July – June) enclosed.  There is no action on this, just FYI so we can discuss in August.

Treasurer Report – a few shut off letters will be sent.

Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – state will be doing water sampling.  Ponds are fine, just trying to kill some weeds.

Mayor Concerns:  trap inquiry.  The resident contact information list was discussed to see who is remaining.

Council Concerns:  Junk cleanup around town was discussed.  If residents have concerns, please come to the council meeting to discuss.

Adjourn

Motion was made by Kyle Blatter with a second by Mark Gerken to adjourn the meeting.  Motion carried.  Meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm. Next meeting is August 17 @ 6:00 p.m. at the Bellechester Community Center. 

Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk