SOLDIERS GROVE - The Soldiers Grove Village Board honored Roy Davidson and Shayne Chapman for a combined 52 years of service at the March 3 meeting.
Davidson has served for 32 years, and Chapman for 20 years. The meeting was the last before they step down from the board. Two new trustees will be elected in the Spring Nonpartisan Election coming up on April 5.
“The board presents these plaques honoring your many years of service to the village,” President Paul Nicholson said. “Your experience will be missed.”
Shayne Chapman told the board he might “come and visit” the board meetings, if he has some time on his hands.
Replacement of sign
The board has been grappling with the need to repair or replace their electronic sign located along Highway 61, across from Campbell’s One Stop. They had recently learned that the company that manufactured the current non-functioning sign had gone out of business.
Roddy Dull of American Signs of Boscobel attended the board meeting to discuss options for replacement of the sign. He explained that there are different types of electronic signs, but that the most common today are red/amber LED grayscale, and full color.
Costs of signs will vary with the amount of pixels, with more pixels creating greater resolution and allowing for images as well as text to be shared. Dull said the it used to be the average sign sold had 20 millimeter (mm) spacing of the LED lights, but that 16 mm has now become more standard. This option is more expensive than 20 mm, but will provide more resolution. Other more expensive options yet would be for 12 mm or 10 mm spacing.
“I have brought three quotes for you tonight with 16 mm spacing with red/amber grayscale,” Dull told the board. “For between $4-5,000 you could upgrade any of these options to full color.”
He said the three options would be for different sized signs. Those sizes are 36x120 inches, 36x180 inches, and 36x156 inches. He said prices for these signs range from $18,000 to $24,000.
The 36-inch high signs will allow for four rows of lettering, and the sign would have a ‘bumper-to-bumper’ warranty for five years. He said that it would also include one year of free, onsite labor, and free lifetime support.
“Because this sign would operate on a wireless system, it can be connected using a Verizon modem,” Dull said. “This means that it is possible that any problems with the sign could be assessed remotely, saving the village the cost of a service visit.”
The board will review a quote, with a color upgrade option, for each of the three sizes proposed by Dull at an upcoming meeting.
Street repairs
Needed street repairs, and the budget available, were huge topics at the board meeting. To the surprise of none, the available budget of $50,000 in rolled over funds was considerably less than the total estimated $127,939 cost of needed repairs. This entailed making some hard decisions about what work to pursue in the coming construction season, with some hope that additional funding would become available through the federal infrastructure bill.
Estimates from Iverson Construction for wedging and paving came in at:
• $15,580 for five locations on Halverson Ridge Road
• $4,800 for Sunbeam Boulevard
• $4,736 for wedging on North Clayton and Dull roads
• $4,280 for the Solar Town Pharmacy parking lot
Estimates from Farner Asphalt Sealers of Boscobel, represented by Wayne Jerrett came in at:
• $38,600 for filling cracks on New Well Road
• $21,911 for chip sealing Halverson Ridge Road
• $29,722 for chip sealing New Well Road
• $8,260 for chip sealing Sunbeam Boulevard
“I could have quoted you softer rock for the chip sealing, which would reduce the cost,” Jerrett told the board. “But instead, my quote is for hard rock, which is more expensive but also much more durable. On New Well Road, I’d recommend filling the cracks this year, and doing the chip sealing next year.”
Shayne Chapman moved, and Vicki Campbell seconded a motion to accept the bid from Iverson Construction for a total of $29,666, and from Farner Asphalt Sealing to chip and seal Halverson Ridge Road for $21,911. The board voted unanimously for this option.
“I think we need to wait, and save money to do New Well Road,” Chapman said. “Or maybe some money from the infrastructure bill will help with this project.”
Sidewalk tractor
The board also voted to purchase a used lawn tractor for $7,800 to replace their current tractor that has required increasing repairs. The tractor, available in Iowa, was privately owned, looked very clean, and could accommodate the cab used by the village for snow removal in the winter. The approval to purchase was contingent upon an inspection.
The unit is a 2012 John Deere X740 diesel tractor, with 440 hours on it.
“Even though its older, we only use it for snow removal, so it will probably last quite a while,” Soldiers Grove Director of Public Works Brian Copus told the board.
The board reached this decision after learning that the cost to purchase a tractor of a newer vintage would require purchase of a different cab as well. Cost to purchase a new cab would be $8,800, and for a 2022 lawn tractor, the cost would be $24,000, for a total cost of $32,800.
President’s report
Soldiers Grove Village President Paul Nicholson reported to the board about two meetings he had attended in the community recently.
The first was a meeting held in Gays Mills by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) to solicit community feedback about the upcoming Wauzeka-to-Soldiers Grove refinishing project on Highway 131. This project is scheduled for 2025, with the project to finish the stretch of 131 between the Soldiers Grove Bridge over the Kickapoo and Highway 61 planned for 2028.
“The cost to the village for this project will be $2,400,” Nicholson told the board. “I broached the topic with them at the meeting of being able to get our sewer lines across the highway when the road is torn up, and they seemed amenable to exploring that.”
Nicholson told the board that doing this would allow the village to position themselves to take village sewer along Highway 131 up to the crown of the hill, and service homes on both sides of the road. Ultimately, it would position the village to undertake the project of providing municipal sewer to homes in the subdivision south of the village.
“What I’m asking from the board tonight is your approval to work with an engineer to develop an estimate and plan for this project, and also to run a scope through our current main and clean it if necessary,” Nicholson said.
The board approved Nicholson moving forward on exploring the project with an engineer.
Nicholson also reported on a meeting he had attended at the North Crawford School District for the purpose of securing community input into needed repairs or upgrades to the district’s building.
“This is a great process, and involves a tour of the buildings to show what the needed repairs or upgrades are,” Nicholson said. “There are two more meetings left, scheduled for Tuesday, March 8, and Monday, Mar. 21, from 5:30-7 p.m., in the North Crawford School’s Performance Center. I’d encourage you all to consider participating.”
Last, Nicholson reported that the village had recently undertaken an inspection of all the grease traps in the village. He said that this move had been precipitated by problems with the new equipment in the village’s sewer system lift stations, and is expected to be an annual process going forward.
According to Nicholson, in each lift station there is a sensor called a ‘pressure transducer,’ which hangs in the ‘water/sewage’ via a cable. To see it, it looks a lot like a microphone with a disc on the end of it. It monitors the level of water/sewage in the lift station to cycle the pumps on and off, as well as notifying our computer system for warnings.
“Grease has been collecting on the sensor, causing it to read incorrectly, thus triggering alarms and causing the lift station to run on a backup system of floats,” Nicholson explained. “It is mainly lift station #3, which handles most of the new town businesses. The grease isn't really a new problem, but one that has not been addressed in past years. We have made huge improvements in the past problems, we just have to keep working out the kinks for a trouble-free system.”
Director of public works Brian Copus also reported that he has been experiencing a problem with the solid waste at the sewer plant not settling, and being very biologically active. He said he is working with the Driftless Brewing Company on how they handle disposal of yeast from their facility to see if this may be the source of the problem.
