Exeter Village Board Reviews Ordinance Book

After the village board opened their regular meeting on Monday, April 5 they reviewed minutes and bills before jumping into a lengthy agenda.

First to speak was resident Craig True who was requesting several streets closed around some property he owns.  True owns property on both sides of a street that is no longer used and wants the village to close them.  Some of the roads are just platted and were never actually opened and some of the roads were abandoned.

“The only problem is that if we are dealing with closing it we are going to have to have easement rights,” explained  Michl. “We still have to maintain water to have house on the corner.”

The Nebraska statue on easements  was read by visitor Paul Sheffield.  

It was noted that all property owners will have to be notified by letter at their last known address.

True noted that his building permit is on the agenda of the zoning committee and asked if he would have to wait to start construction until the village board approved.  Michl told him, “You have to wait but if the Zoning commission approves it we usually do.”

Next on the agenda was guest  Jolene Frick from the Fillmore County Coalition who was introducing herself and the program.  It is a group targeting high school students to form a coalition for the prevention of drug, alcohol and tobacco use.  They have had several programs for 9^th – 12^th graders in the area and are also working with Public Health Solutions to get information out to kids and community members on rural heart health.  They plan to be present at June Jubliee and also have a “Swim, don’t give in” swimming party in Exeter this summer.  They are also providing a speaker at the local high schools in August.

The board moved on to discuss wages for pool personnel.  They set wages for the pool manager, assistant manager and lifeguards in light of the increase in minimum wage.  The board decided to leave the swimming pool passes at the same price along with everything else.

Clerk Becky Erdkamp reported that she had a concerned citizen request some changes in the parking congestion around the school.  They were worried that some of the vehicles were parking to close to a stop sign at an intersection making visibility difficult. The board tabled the discussion. Superintendent Paul Sheffield said he would ask students to park farther away from the stop sign.

The board reviewed Resolution 15-04 to declare the tag factory nuisance property.  Clerk Erdkamp noted that they will have 5 days to request a hearing and to challenge the order.  The motion passed.

Chairman Michl brought up the audit and decided to table the issue, “The audit was good but let’s table it until the next meeting because it takes a while to review it.”

Village Maintenance Supervisor John Mueller gave his report starting with noting that the turtle slide for the pool has been repaired and returned.  There were also some sewer mains cleaned.  “They thought they might be able to line some of the lines that were in bad shape.  They cleaned and ran a camera down the lines and did some root work on the west side of town.”

He also reported that he had sprayed the weeds in the sand at the Gilbert’s Park playground area.  Board member Kathy Erdkamp asked that the dead branches be trimmed out of the trees above the swing area.

Mueller noted that he recently got bids for the air conditioning units to be replaced that were damaged along with quotes on roofs that have not been repaired.  He will have them to review at the next board meeting. 

Board member Justin Harre reported that there were some funds leftover from the recycling project from years ago and that the Sherri Harre and Joyce Votipka wanted to use the funds to buy a new picnic table at the park. The board thanked them and noted that two new tables have been ordered for the park.

Clerk Erdkamp gave the marshals report mentioning that department had notified two property owners with numerous cars in their yard that they have 30 days to see some progress. Michl noted that he has a list of houses to work on getting rid of in town.

She also noted that the sales tax for February was $14136.00 and keno funds for March were $536.40. The board briefly discussed the closing of the care center and the issue of mowing at the property.

Attorney  Jim McNally reviewed the ordinance book section by section with the board and made updates on the book, “We have underlined everything we have changed or added just because they are close to the state statute.  We recommended to the cities that specific charges and rates not be in the book but instead put in a statement that the current fees and charges are available in the city office.”

Sheffield gave an update on the building project. He reported that they have a meeting scheduled soon with Clark Enerson to finalize the project plans. The bonds have been issued. He also noted that there was a walk through at the Exeter site with the fire marshal on Friday and there were just some minor issues.

The next move for the new construction project will be to have a working set of plans and put it out for bids on May 12. The sewer main inspections that were needed have been performed.

Sheffield shared some of the design options including carpet, paint and tile and explained, “We have been working with colorization this week.” 

As far is interior spaces Sheffield explained,   “In the new south entry there will be display cases and a place for us to display artwork if we want. There will be rubber flooring in the fitness center.  We hope to have a nice set of plans during the alumni weekend so those coming can see what we are looking at.  We are still planning on a 12 month building time period and to be able to move into the facility in the 2016-17 school year.”

The board set their next meeting for Tuesday, June 9 at 7 p.m. before dismissing.