MUSCODA - The Muscoda Village Board met recently to cover various topics during its regularly scheduled monthly meeting.

One more interesting item of discussion was that of the of the amendment to the EPS Engineering and Design contract for engineering relating to the substation expansion.

Dave Krause of EPS Engineering and Design was on hand to explain the changes.

Krause explained that the change was due to the supplemental technical assistance provided that would allow Muscoda to use their own city crew members to take the lead on the above ground operations  of the project.

The wording of the contract provided some confusion about the particular costs associated with this agreement.

Krause explained to the board that the project is projected to come in at $560,000 under budget and the $400,000 charge for the technical assistance is included in this.

“Using your crew, and your equipment and us helping you is coming in $560,000 under budget,” Krause told the board.

Krause went on to explain the time line of various contracts that have been completed with the board since the initial contract in 2011.

“50 percent of the savings can be directly attributed to  the local crew taking the lead on the building of it,” Krause emphasized. “Otherwise, the budget is basically, spot on.”

He added that there are still invoices coming in, but he remained confident that his projections were accurate.

As Krause explained the new contract to the board, Village Attorney Ben Wood pointed out that due to some wording in regards to the time frame for which funds would be spent put Krause in a breach of his own contract.

“I don’t think anyone is opposed to paying you Dave,” Wood pointed out,” adding that he should reconsider the wording of the contract so it would be more clear. “The language just isn’t precise enough,” Board member Stanford Miller noted.

Ultimately, Krause was asked to amend the contract and resubmit it to the board at the next meeting.

The ongoing discussion about the board near the camp ground with signs for various businesses was also discussed again at the February meeting.

“We have small plaques to sell to local businesses by the bathrooms and showers,” Board member Larry Anderson told the board. “We’ve talked about reducing the cost to fill up the board. But we have 70 businesses and organizations that could be on it and we need to talk it up. If you and your campers were there and wanted to see what the village had to offer, it could be a nice way for folks to be able to see what’s around. We’ve bounced around a lot of ideas, but lets get them on there!”

Anderson explained that the process to get on the board is simple, as businesses need only to e-mail their logo to the business that creates the plaques and they will be able to create them.

It was suggested that the village send a letter or post card out to the businesses and organizations in Muscoda to get the ball rolling on the project.

For $75 a year those interested will be able to rent the space to advertise their business or organization.

In other board business:

• The board noted they would discuss why the new cop car remains unmarked at the March meeting.

• The Muscoda Fire Department will burn the prairie grass on an yearly basis