Exeter Village Board Holds Election

By Leesa K. Bartu

After reviewing minutes and bills the Exeter Village board held their annual elections with Chairman Alan Michl reelected along with Vice Chairman Tim Wilbeck.  Both members emphasized that their names would not be on the next election ballot.

JEO representative  Andrew Wilshusen was present to review the upcoming street and downtown project.  He will be the primary contact from the engineering firm for the construction phase.

He announced that the warm fall allowed many of the construction companies to complete their current projects opening up their schedules for the spring.  According to Wilshusen, “You guys are first on my list come spring.”

Discussion was held on the Exeter neon sign which is currently not working at all. The board briefly discussed the past repairs and Wilbeck noted, “When we get this done we really need to encapsulate it.”

Michl planned to visit with Bob Mueller who has handled scheduling the repairs on the sign in the past.

Board member Kathy Erdkamp broached the subject of a substitute for the library.  “I don’t have any problem with her (Librarian Jessica Votipka) being gone. My recommendation is that we need to tell the library board they need to hire someone.”

Michl agreed with Erdkamp and added, “My recommendation would be instead of having Thursday off, be open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I just think we need to have someone here.”

Clerk Becky Erdkamp explained that a library board member can substitute for the librarian as long as they fill out the correct paperwork.

In the absence of Village Maintenance Supervisor John Mueller, Michl presented the maintenance report.  He noted that JEO had completed their lagoon study and would be at the meeting in January to present their findings.  Michl explained, “We have to be proactive (about the lagoon requirements) but we don’t want to do anything until we have to.”

Board member Mitchell Schlegelmilch questioned the financial aspect of building a lagoon, “The village of Exeter wants to be 100 percent compliant, but what if we can’t afford it?”

“What would happen is our sewer rates would probably be double what they are now,” Michl noted after reminding the board that all sewer improvements must be paid through funds raised from sewer rates.

Clerk Erdkamp informed the board that the annual audit would be on December 11.  She noted that Dale Erdkamp had finished the paperwork for the lot he wants to sell the village.  The sales tax for September was $8684.42 and Keno for October was $1946.89.

The board set the January meeting for Wednesday, January 3 at 7 p.m.