The regular monthly meeting of the Village Board of Colfax was called to order on Monday evening, December 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Lonnie Meiner.

The first item on the agenda was the swearing in of the newly appointed trustee Charles Morefield who will fill the vacancy left by Rick Vance last month.

Village Clerk Nancy Kiper did the swearing in of the new trustee.

Trustees present were:
Charles Morefield - Aye
Jason Pierce - Aye
Carol Stephenson - Aye
Jason Wagoner - Aye
Vincent Beck - Aye
Trustee David Rathke was absent.

Also present were Superintendent Brian Hereford and Village Attorney Steven Mann.

Trustee Vincent Beck made a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and approve as presented. Trustee Charles Morefield seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

Village Treasurer Linda Hanson was absent – Mayor Lonnie Meiner read the report in her absence for the month of November, 2018.
Beginning Balance as of November 1, 2018 $297,493.92
Ending Balance as of November 30, 2018 $262,716.99
Decrease for November, 2018 ($ 34,776.93)

Trustee Jason Pierce made a motion to pay the bills as presented. Trustee Carol Stephenson seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

Trustee Jason Pierce, Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee, had nothing to report at this time.

Trustee Carol Stephenson, Chairman of the Police and Liquor Committee, reported No Activity Report for November, 2018.

Trustee David Rathke, Chairman of the Water and Sewer Committee, was absent. Superintendent Brian Hereford reported that the Sewer was backed up on Thanksgiving Day. McBrayer came and pumped 25,000 gallons out. Popejoy’s was here and jetted – got it opened enough to use on Thursday and Friday, Becker Tree Service came and cut down the three (3) trees so that Popejoy’s could dig. There was a huge tree root in an unused tap – Brian said they finally got the root out and got it going again. Brian stated that before they got this opened they were pumping approximately 100,000 gallons day at the sewer – after they got that opened up went up to 200,000 gallons.

Brian asked the Board about the aerators in the lagoons – stated that need to replace the one that is bad. Suggested just getting the 1 horse motor at this time and wait until spring to do anything else with it. Cannot do much else with it in the winter time so will see what need to do after it gets warm weather.

Trustee Jason Wagoner, Streets and Lights Committee, asked Brian if he spoke with Terry McCleary regarding the new Motor Fuel Tax. Brian hasn’t gotten a hold of him yet.

Brian reported that Rowe is suppose to start the concrete at the sink hole Wednesday. Brian stated that he asked the DNR person if there were any provisions for fixing the streets if they get tore up with all of these trucks. The guy was going to check and see. Brian stated that two of these concrete trucks cannot pass each other on either Fifer Street or on Wood Street without getting into peoples’ yards and tearing them up. Brian stated he would like to make Fifer Street one way going into the dump and have them come out on Wood Street.

The first item under Old Business was the 2018-19 Tax Levy. This represents a 4.99% increase from last year’s tax levy.

Trustee Vincent Beck made a motion to approve the 2018-19 Tax Levy. Trustee Charles Morefield seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

The next item were the changes to Ordinance 2018-10, Chapter 4 Municipal Purchasing.

Trustee Jason Wagoner made a motion to approve Ordinance 2018-10, Chapter 4 Municipal Purchasing as presented. Trustee Vincent Beck seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke -Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

The last item under old business was the aerators at the sewer plant.

Trustee Jason Wagoner made a motion to purchase the one (1) horsepower aerator for the sewer plant. Trustee Jason Pierce seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

Trustee Carol Stephenson made a motion to go into Executive Session. Trustee Jason Wagoner seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – aye; Motion carried.
The Board went into closed session at 7:20 p.m.

Trustee Vincent Beck made a motion to go back into open session. Trustee Carol Stephenson seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.
The Board went back into open session at 7:45 p.m.

Colfax resident Randy Reynolds commented about raising the taxes again. Mayor Lonnie Meiner reported that Colfax is one of the lowest tax rates for villages with a sewer. Randy stated that need new jobs in Colfax – some manufacturing. Trustee Jason Pierce stated that there is nowhere to put new houses – none of the farmers around Colfax want to sell any farmland so there is nowhere to build.

Colfax Resident Beck Iler asked why the Village needs five (5) police officers. Lonnie stated that they are all part time and they all work different shifts and they all have other full time jobs. Village Clerk Nancy Kiper stated the shifts that they all work.

Becky also wanted to know why there were six (6) Popejoy guys here on Thanksgiving Day working on the sewer. Brian stated there weren’t six (6) guys from Popejoy there were only three. One of the guys was the jetter and he was only here about ½ hour. There were only two (2) other guys there – Brian stated that the Village does not have the equipment to dig this with – the sewer is fourteen (14) foot deep. Needed to get this opened up as soon as we could.

Emergency Management Director Shane Beck reported on the recent tornado that hit outside of Colfax and the weather watchers. Shane reported that this was an EF1 tornado with winds at 95-110 mph. Shane stated that someone opened the school up for a tornado shelter. Shane stated he blew the sirens six (6) times.

Shane said that the radios they had worked great but still need some more to cover all of the area. Shane stated that probably be asking for three (3) more radios this spring which will be approximately $1,000.00.

Trustee Jason Pierce made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Carol Stephenson seconded the motion. Vote: Charles Morefield – Aye; David Rathke – Absent; Jason Pierce – Aye; Carol Stephenson – Aye; Jason Wagoner – Aye; Vincent Beck – Aye; Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Kiper
Village Clerk