tacked onto the next/final pay ….
tacked onto the next/final pay request.
Balsavich told the board the interest rate they are being charged by the contractor would be similar to a short-term financing option they would have sought out to otherwise pay for the request.
“Actually, that rate would be very similar to what you would have had for the interim financing,” Balsavich said.
Balsavich said the board had some financing lined up to pay for the request while waiting for the DNR funding to come through but the financing fell through. He said his firm had been in contact with the DNR who said they were working on the paperwork for it.
Schauer said she was disappointed that the village was on the hook for interest in a payment that could have been filed at any time if the village had gotten its CDBG funding earlier this summer.
“My concern is we’re not getting our funding because that’s being held up,” Schauer said. “So we can’t pay Steen so then we’re going to be charged interest from Steen?”
Balsavich said there are other factors that have contributed to the delay in payment that are not on the DNR’s end.
“This last year, you have had challenges in your office here with paperwork and processing. I’m not saying anything negative about anyone, it’s just how it flowed. To get that all repackaged and reorganized is an effort, and I recognize that. We provide summaries as we can to try to help but we are not financial consultants, per se.” Erikson took issue with the clerk’s office being named as a part of the delay in funding.
“I understand that, Scot. Here’s the thing. We sent in a pay request. Apparently there’s a time frame in order to get the CDBG money,” Erikson said. “Our issues in our office had nothing to do with that pay request getting sent [in for] the CDBG money. So that is not an excuse for holding up this money. It is just a process which I think needs to be understood by both parties.”
Steen expressed his displeasure with the board, saying he has other projects ongoing but is missing over $400,000 in funding which could be used to pay for materials and labor in those projects.
“I think it’s ridiculous that I haven’t been paid for work that was completed last September,” Steen said.
Erikson said Cooper Engineering representatives had told her it would be at least two weeks before the village saw money from the DNR. She also said the village could explore short term loan options to pay Steen right away but said the village did not have the funds to pay Steen out of public works accounts while waiting for the DNR.
Erikson, along with board members noted that by the time they would be able to secure a loan, the DNR funding might have already come through. The village chose to wait for the DNR funding and will have to pay interest to Steen once the pay request has been completed.
The street project has yet to be entirely completed by Steen Construction as a punch list of items are yet to be completed. Once the punch list is complete, a final pay request will be submitted to the board.
The board agreed to wait until CDBG funding came through and deal with the interest associated with the payment down the road.
Other business
n Balsavich said the Dorchester lift station project should be complete any day now. He said he told the board that the project would be completed last month but the contractor was notified that the posts for the lift station were not compliant so new parts needed to be ordered.
n The punch list on last year’s street project including alley work and other minor fixes is expected to be completed shortly by Steen Construction, according to Balsavich. He said they had tried to get to it in July but it did not happen.
n During officer Dan Walters’ sheriff’s office update, he said everything has been going pretty well implementing the village’s parking ordinances. He said he has been systematically going through sections of the village to notify residents of parking violations.
n Walters also said he was educating bar owners and employees in town about the village’s alcohol violation ordinances. The ordinance uses a points system in which establishments, including the Cenex gas station, get points for selling to underage patrons or other alcoholrelated violations. If enough points are accrued, the establishment could be shut down. Klemetson said he didn’t understand the ordinance and was curious what would happen if the gas station were to be shut down because of alcoholrelated violations. The board was having an attorney do some work on the ordinances and said they would consult their attorney about the ordinance before bringing it back to the board.
n Walters said his plate is filling up with requests on how to improve the village so he asked that concerned citizens and board members email him those complaints so it is easier to keep track of.
n The village was notified by Erikson that they had about $90,000 in ARPA funds that needed to be declared for by the end of 2024. The funds need to have a declared plan for use by the end of 2024 but don’t need to be used until the end of 2026. The funds can be used for any sort of infrastructure improvements. Board president Kurt Schwoch suggested the funds be used to improve lots off of Sixth Street. He said the improvements would allow for new, affordable housing to be built.
Schauer rejected the idea saying there was no need to develop new lots because large amounts of people weren’t looking to move to the village.
The board did not take any action on the item at the meeting, but they did agree to bring it up once a quarter in order to discuss the fate of the funds moving forward.
n The village’s Tax Incremental District (TID) no. 1 was officially terminated after a nearly 30-year period of providing additional tax revenue to the village.
