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Wage adjustments, position combining passed at Human Resource meeting
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The human resource committee meeting took place on Nov. 28 at 8:30 a.m. in the Memorial Hospital conference room.
    During the meeting a motion was passed to combine the recently vacated position of planning and zoning administrator with the land conservation administrator position.
    The committee passed a motion regarding a wage adjustment for the scheduler/purchasing agent at the Lafayette Manor. In 2011 the wage was $11 per hour, but since then, the employee filling the position has taken on several more duties. For example: the position started out just scheduling for CNAs but now does scheduling for all the nursing staff. The motion increased the wage by $3.50 per hour, bringing the annual total up to around $8,400.
A motion for another wage adjustment was passed as well; this motion stated that the wage of the accounting manager at the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County would increase $1 per hour. The accounting manager at the hospital recently took over some accounts payable duties at the Lafayette Manor and therefore has extra work. The wage increase is contingent upon the position keeping the additional Lafayette Manor duties. As long as the hospital accounting manager is doing the additional manor work the wage increase will stay, but if a situation arises in which that position no longer takes care of that work, the increase in wages will cease.    
The committee also passed a motion to add 8-16 hours per week of RN time to the recovery room at Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County. The RN working in the recovery room would come from the existing staff; it would not be a new position.
An outpatient clinic CNA at the hospital will be retiring on Dec. 14 and a motion to refill that position with an LPN instead of another CNA was approved. Because of this change there will be an additional $8,702 being spent to fill that position, but it was brought up that someone with more clinical knowledge and background was needed for the job.
A motion was passed to hire one full time RN to work the vacation and paid time off of the current nursing staff at the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County. There are currently approximately 2,032 hours of paid time off and vacation from current nursing staff, which is almost another full time position. The hospital would save money by hiring another RN because then, overtime would not need to be paid to current nurses who pick up the vacation and paid time off of their co-workers.
The committee also reviewed and discussed the employee handbook and made some minor changes. The committee hopes to finalize the handbook at the Dec. 10 meeting and then present it to the county board. 

Village must meet phosphorous levels or find alternative
Gays Mills
gays mills village board

The Village of Gays Mills Board received a report on the status of the Wastewater Treatment Project from Evan Chambers, a project engineer at Town and Country Engineering.

The proposed new Wastewater Treatment Plant to be built in the village is planned, but cannot presently be built because of cost. Town & Country is working with the village to find  funding in grants and loans to build the plant.

While some new treatment plants built in the state can meet the latest very low level of phosphorous discharge required by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, others cannot. The treatment plant as proposed for Gays Mills will be a big step forward, but it will not include the filtration equipment to get to the required level.

With or without the completion of the treatment plant, Chambers pointed out the village will need to get credits for projects elsewhere in the area. These can be used as water trading credits to fulfill reducing phosphorous elsewhere to offset the amount the village cannot achieve at the current or future plant.

The village is seeking to renew its five-year variance with the DNR by using water trading credits from other projects it funds upstream from the plant.

Chambers Told the board they needed to sign up some new projects that might include rip-rapping streambanks to prevent soil erosion carrying phosphorous into the stream. Calculation of soil erosion reductions would show how much phosphorous is being kept out of the river and ultimately the village would get credit for reducing phosphorus with project to offset what is exceeding the current limit.

Chambers told the board he had soil sample lined up with potential partner and would know more soon.

“The village will need partnerships no matter what,” Chambers said.

Village trustees Art Winsor and Kevin Murray expressed concern that the partnerships would be a workable solution.

Winsor questioned, if figures obtained for the credits needed to comply with the lower phosphorus level requirements, were accurate. The trustee asked if was possible to overshoot with some sort of treatment and get more credits than needed.

Chambers explained, in the event that happened, the village could trade the extra phosphorus to another municipality that needed it.

Murray noted that the plant is no closer to being built than it was before the plant was created. He pointed out the cost of building the plant has skyrocketed year after.

In answer to a question, Chambers said the current cost to build the new sewer plant as designed is estimated to be $13 million and the village could not do it without getting 70% of cost financed by grants.

“You can’t get there without grant,” Chamber the engineer also noted that grant funding has dried up.

The variance the water trading credits obtain for the village keeps it going. Chambers said the village can’t afford to not get a variance and be found out of compliance and face large fines.

“We’re getting good results with what we’re doing,” Chamber told the board.

After some discussion trustee Larry McCarn made a motion to approve the Town & Country’s Scope of Service for the Final Phosphorous Report and Pollutant Minimization Plan. Winsor seconded the motion and the board passed the motion.

In other business, the Gays Mills Village Board:

 • approved Mara O’Brien as new lifeguard at the pool and learned the pool lost the services of two other lifeguards

• learned that Ray and Danielle Strong, the pool directors, will be available to serve as life guards

• heard that the plan is to open the pool on Saturday, June 7

• learned that the building inspector has been contacted to report on the nuisance properties at 200 Main Street and 208 Main Street

• approved a temporary Alcohol License for wine and beer for the Friends of Gays Mills for May 16 at the Community Commerce Center for the Alice in Dairyland event

• clarified the sewer hookup fee waive extension would be allowed for all hookups–not just for homeowners, who had filed an application with the village