Ellsworth Village Board unhappilypasses change order for sewer plant renovation

Talk about it

Ellsworth Village Board members voted for a change order requested by the contractor for the village sewer plant renovation but balked at paying the full price for it.

A resolution was passed at their monthly meeting Monday evening to approve the change order request but only pay $1,500 of the $4,634 requested by the engineering firm of Foth who is handling the plant renovations.

And the resolution was only passed by a 3-2 vote as trustees Rick Sweig and Dick Hines objected at they felt was Foth's efforts to extract more money from the village.

“They made the mistake and they should pay to fix it, all of it.” Sweig said.

Sweig’s comments were part of a general consensus of unhappiness with Foth, especially with the fact their officials were not present at the meeting.

“At the very least if we do this they’ll start showing up and addressing our concerns.” Hines said.

The mistake, according to board members, was constructing a new building

next to the existing plant eight inches below the grade, which will require a piping system necessary to remove any excess storm water away from the plant.

Board member Neil Gulbranson stated in his “yea” vote he simply wanted the matter dealt with and fixed but he agreed the village only should pay for part of the costs. Trustee Mike Steele said that board members were led to believe by Rice Lake officials there would be negotiations over the final costs when the project is finished but village attorney Bob Loberg warned continued acceptance of change orders may adversely affect the village in any kind of negotiations and or legal situations.

Indeed, two change orders that were also requested totaling $5,627 were approved unanimously upon Water and Sewer Committee recommendation. One was a plan to put new fencing around the plant and the other to install a check valve.

In board action on agenda items, the board unanimously approved the compliance maintenance report for wastewater treatment plant, an ordinance to establish definitions and routes for Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs) within the village and a resolution to award the sale of $1,385,000 of taxable general obligation corporate purpose bonds.

The board also approved a Plan Commission recommendation to grant a conditional use permit to Todd Shaw at 291 E. Summit Ave. after amending the zoning code. They also approved a TID No. 7 incentive reimbursement of $60,000 to Dr. Shaw per developer’s agreement.

In committee action, the board approved the appointment of Judy Perkins to the Ellsworth Library Board to replace Janet Knudson. They approved a Health, License and Welfare Committee recommendation for a special event dance license to Polka Fest July 5-8, approved Class A retailer’s licenses to village stores, Class B retailer’s license and dance licenses to village’s taverns. They gave conditional approval to a Class B license contingent on premise extension of the deck on Just Ka’s to the rest of the building and will have a special meeting on June 18 to consider the Class B retailer’s license for Danny Dunn’s tavern.

The Finance, Purchasing and Building’s Committee announced it was entering into a developer’s agreement with Daniel and Phyllis Acker over the American Legion’s midway property. The committee also had a closed session discussion with an interested party over purchasing land in the East End Industrial Park.

The was some discussion about an Ellsworth Area Ambulance Service (EAAS) proposal to get more in reimbursements from area communities for having a paramedic who can issue drugs in the ambulance, especially from the City of Prescott.

The board went into closed session on property litigation for the Crossing Meadows Business Park. They came out of closed session but took no action.

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