Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 7:00 PM

  • Mayor Day called the meeting to order at 7:00PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer.
  • Y – Yes, N – No, A – Abstain, Abs – Absent
  • Roll Call:

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y

Karnes, Tom

Y

5 Members Present

Other Village Representatives Present:

  • Chris Walker – Solicitor
  • Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer
  • Dawn Fitzcharles – Village Administrator

Media Present:

  • Cindy Thiel – Edgerton Earth
  • Lucas Bechtol – Bryan Times
  • Jeremy Scott – The Village Reporter

Public Present:

  • Justin Coffman
  • Tyler Perry
  • Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 01.19.21 :

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y  Motion

Thiel, Dean

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y  2nd

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

Discussion: Village Administrator Dawn Fitzcharles placed a request before Council to reclassify and remove Patrolman Jacob Ferrebee from probationary period. He has completed field training and the 6 months’ probation period. He is highly regarded by his peers. Some of the comments from his peers and superiors are that Jacob has a positive attitude, excellent writing skills, prompt attendance and displays an excitement and willingness to serve Edgerton. We respectfully ask Council, per the Police Chief and Mayor’s recommendations, to reclassify officer Ferrebee as a regular part-time patrolman.

  • Motion to remove Officer Jacob Ferrebee from probationary period and reclassify as a regular part-time patrolman effective Feb 3, 2021 :

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y  2nd

Wallace, Chuck

Y  Motion

Gruver, Jason

Y

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

Discussion: Next item is a request to authorize the Village Administrator to enter into an agreement with Osmose for Pole Inspection and Treatment Services. The Electric Department has worked with Osmose previously for pole testing and treatment. We spend up to $15,000 per year. We have approximately 1300 utility poles serving our customers. The testing and treatment allows us to extend the life of the poles which in the long run will save us money. It also identifies the poles that are unsafe and need replaced.

  • Motion to authorize Village Administrator to enter into an agreement with Osmose for Pole Inspection and Treatment Services for 2021:

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

Discussion: Annual ordinance to update codified performed by Walter H Drane Company. This allows for any proposed changes that have been amended within the state law. It brings our local law in compliance with our State laws. With this service we receive updated replacement pages for our employee’s codified books and the online codified is updated as well. 

Village of Edgerton Ordinance No 1074
An Ordinance to Approve Current Replacement pages to the Edgerton Codified Ordinances and Declaring it an Emergency

  • Motion to suspend the three reading rule for Ordinance No 1074:

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y  2nd

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y  Motion

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

  • Motion to pass and adopt Ordinance No 1074:

Muehlfeld, Roger                          

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y  Motion

Thiel, Dean

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y  2nd

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

Administrator Update by Dawn Fitzcharles:

  • Administrator Fitzcharles extended a thank you and shout out to our street crews from this weekend’s winter storm clean up. They did a terrific job and we received many positive comments from the community. They worked today to clean up the large piles downtown in preparation for the storm anticipated in a few days.
  • Reminder to our customers about the approaching forecasted low temps and being prepared for potential outages. The electric crew has done a great job at keeping up with the tree trimming program which helps during periods of wind. We do not anticipate any problems, but you never know when an accident will occur and take power out for multiple hours. It’s best to be as prepared as possible.
  • Not much to report in order of business after two full days on the job. We have many things in process and meetings scheduled over the next few weeks to start and complete ongoing projects.
  • We are looking at ways to help our businesses. Fitzcharles is seeking to update her business email listing, which will be a tool used to communicate with our business owners. If you know of anyone that you want to make sure gets on the list, let Dawn know. News, potential assistance opportunities and anything relevant that may impact them will be sent.

Fiscal Officer Update by Denise Knecht:

  • We are in accounting month February already. The month of January 2021 is reconciled but not all reporting is complete. An email will be sent out in the next few days. We will sign off the January Financials at the next meeting.
  • The 2020 Annual Financial Report and Hinkle Notes are in process and will be sent out to Local Government Services for review by the end of the week. The filing is required by March 1st.
  • Laptops were issued to Council members in December. A laptop policy form was created requiring signatures for equipment issued. Forms were signed and collected.

Council Discussion:

  • Mayor Day spoke of an opportunity to have Steven Smith come to provide training to Council. Mr Smith, an attorney, was a guest speaker at an OML conference that Mayor Day attended. The conference provides training for newly elected officials. A Go-To Meeting was suggested but Mr. Smith offered to come to Edgerton to provide training at no charge to the Village. Mayor Day suggested a date of Tuesday, February 23rd at 5:00pm. Check schedules and let Mayor know your availability.
  • LMI study update is incomplete as Mayor has not heard from Austin at this point. We’ve had two mailings and now we are at the point of knocking on doors.
  • Councilman Wallace mentioned Dawn’s comment about how good of a job the Street crews did with the roads. He’d like to mention that we need to remind residents to clear sidewalks. It was suggested to send an Alert86 to business owners and residents as a reminder to clear sidewalks within 12 hours of a snowfall.
  • Motion to pay bills 02.02.21:

Muehlfeld, Roger

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y  Motion

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y 2nd

Karnes, Tom

Y

5-0 Motion passed

Karnes questioned if there would be a report on the Rules Meeting. Mayor asked Chair VanAusdale if she wanted to report on the Rules Meeting that was held right before the Council Meeting. We opted to wait until next time.

Mayor Day suggests that with the free Monday evenings since Council meeting dates have changed, it would be a good idea to get out to the school board meetings or other Village council meetings and network in other communities a bit more.

One last question from Wallace to Dawn regarding the part time laborer position that is open. He wanted information about the hours. The reason he asks is because some Firemen helped temporarily previously. Dawn informed him that the position we have open is for work to be performed during regular business hours during the work week. However, if Chuck knows of anyone who wants to be supportive like that please tell them to come to the office and talk to Dawn.

  • Motion to adjourn at 7:20PM:

Muehlfeld, Roger

Absent

VanAusdale, Leslie

Y

Thiel, Dean

Y  2nd

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y

Karnes, Tom

Y  Motion

5-0 Motion passed