Exeter Village Board Discusses Eyesores

Exeter Village Board met on Tuesday, July 9 with a short agenda. Board member Kathy Erdkamp was absent.

After approving the minutes and invoices the board welcomed members of the rescue squad including Rescue Captain Hope Strate.

Squad representative Joe Miller requested a liquor license to serve beer and mixed drinks after the Aug 17 fire department golf outing fundraiser. “We have a couple of pieces of equipment in mind for this round. We have some responsible people who will be checking id’s at the fire hall.”

The board approved the request and briefly discussed the necessary paperwork.  Strate informed the board that three members of the squad, Joe Miller, Jackie Miller and Beth Crawford, had passed their EMT test.   The board expressed their congratulations.

The board discussed the parade route for Exeter Days on Aug  26-28.

Board member Mitch Schlegelmilch asked about finding some help for the maintenance department to spruce up a few areas in the village.

After Maintenance Supervisor John Mueller mentioned some issues with the lawn in Storybook Park board member Justin Harre suggested, “We need to kill it in the spring and try to level those spots out and plant grass.”

The board discussed solutions for keeping the new fence clean without too much labor and identified several other areas that needed attention.

Board chairman Alan Michl added, “With all the water, Tara has been mowing every day. The best way is to make John a list of things you see that need attention.” 

Mueller gave the board some information on house inspectors and their prices.  Board member Jim Anderson noted ,”It’s key to make sure we have a high quality inspector.”

The board held a lengthy discussion on the process of condemning properties and discussed their next steps in choosing three houses to have inspected.

Maintenance Supervisor Mueller reported that a line painting contractor would be giving the village a bid for painting parking lines on Thursday.

Michl opened the continuing discussion on the possibility of building a new library and city building.  The board examined two different options including architect drawings of the plans.

Michl expressed his desire to include the opinion of the librarian and library board,  “I would like to meet with us and the library board together.  There is a lot of money out there for libraries. My guess is that the library will be two thirds and the city part will be one third.”

Clerk Becky Erdkamp informed the board that there was the possibility of a Civic and Community Center Financing Fund (CCCFF) grant which would pay for half of the library portion of the building. “They (the grant fund) get to determine what part of the building is library use. We are not going to find any grants for the city portion."

Michl informed the board that keno funds could be used to support the city portion of the building.

Under the marshal’s report Michl reported that the Friend officers had responded to an issue with fireworks in Exeter and they do plan to patrol Exeter again once they available.

Mueller gave his maintenance report.  He received an unsolicited bid for revamping the pool slide of $8700.  The bid allowed for resurfacing the interior, cleaning and recaulking the seams, sand, wax and buffing the interior surfaces and repainting the exterior.  The board took no action.

Mueller reported that there had been problems at the lift station and replaced a motor which fixed the issue.  He received another bid for the fire hall concrete which was $21918 which was significantly lower than another bid.  The board was very interested in the bid asked Mueller to gather more information before they make a decision.

Clerk Becky Erdkamp reported that sales tax for April was $10,413.92 and Keno for May was $524.26.

She reported there was an issue at the pool with someone who wanted to take their therapy dog into the pool. “A service dog is the only one we would have to worry about,” according to Erdkamp.

The board set the next meeting for Mon Aug  5 and the board planned to visit the library board meeting at 6 and have the village board meeting at 7.