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GAYS MILLS – The biggest news from the Guys Mills Village Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, February 5, came during the public comment portion of the meeting when Martha Querin-Schultz announced The village has received a state-funded planning grant.
Quillin-Schultz explained that the Wisconsin Economic Development Grant will provide up to $25,000 per year for two years to hire planners, designers and architects to develop plans to use the Guys Mills Business Center parking lot across from the Space plan.
Currently, the designated area in question includes an underutilized public space, the Plaza. Quirin-Schultz and other members of the Gay Mills Connect community group dream of building a pavilion on the current plaza.
In approving the grant, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation officials were asked about the possibility of incorporating a landscaping plan on land owned by the adjoining village.
WEDC officials told the organization to use the grant to cover the entire neighborhood.
The first phase will focus on the pavilion, but planning grants will include the entire block and may involve future housing and commercial development grants.
Quillin-Schultz told the board that Guys Mills was one of 10 communities to receive the grant.
It’s a quick turnaround. Quirin-Schultz contacted the board at its January meeting to seek their approval to apply for the grant. Five weeks later, she announced that the village had been selected to receive funding.
Since then, the board has moved quickly on its agenda.
village committee election
The committee heard a report on the status of the Village Board election, including news that a candidate has filed paperwork to register to run for one of three vacant Village Trustee seats. Kim Pettit, who filed the documents, is a former Guy Mills Village trustee. Pettit joins current trustees Nathan Eitsert and Kevin Murray in seeking election to the Village Board. Incumbent Trustee Lee Ruegg is not running in this election.
However, unlike previous incumbents who filed papers, Pettit’s name will not appear on the ballot. She is running as a write-in candidate.
Guys Mills Village Clerk Dawn McCann told the board that other documents running on the registry have been sent out, but Pettit is the only one to have returned them so far.
McCann also told the board that registered paperwork can be submitted by the Friday before the Tuesday, April 2, election.
new business
During the new business portion of the meeting, the village discussed a situation involving two parties who previously selected village lots to build homes in the redevelopment area. Construction has yet to begin on either, and part of the delay may be due to a lack of funding.
The council, which has extended start dates in the past, agreed to extend the deadline for Lot 27 to Sept. 11, which was already the deadline for Lot 24. By Sept. 11, owners of both parcels must have started construction or completed construction. Plans are in place to do so.
The committee also discussed the situation at the old Guys Mills Community Building at 212 Main St., where tenants rented the upstairs space to work but not live.
Each rental space is paid to the village $100 per month. $200 goes toward the building’s utility bill, which comes to more than $2,400 per year.
However, the tenants only used a very small amount of the second floor space compared to the total square footage of the building.
When answering a question. Village Clerk Dawn McCann confirmed the heating bill. She said the cost to heat the building exceeded $500 during the recent cold month.
Some board members questioned whether rents should be raised to cover those costs. It was noted that the first floor of the building was rented out and/or used for other activities. Other users include the monthly Second Harvest Food Pantry and weekly pickleball tournaments. In addition, the building is often rented by others for various events.
Does rent cover expenses? Clerk Dawn McCann was tasked with finding out how much the building cost and how much revenue would come from leasing the facility.
beaver problem
One of the last issues the board addressed was the “beaver problem.”
Gays Mills resident Robin Babb, who owns property just north of the village-owned property on Highway 131, raised issues caused by beaver dams and diversion of water from the dams.
“The dam needs to be removed,” Babb told the board.
The water blocked by the beaver dam made it impossible to flow across his land.
“Something needs to be done,” Barb said.
Guys Mills Village President Harry Hayes told Barb the village is working with a trapper to try to remove the beavers, but he hasn’t caught any yet.
“We’ve done trapping and other things … but now we’ve added water to the pasture,” Barb said.
Haze asked Barb to give the village more time to see if the beavers could be trapped.
in other businesses
In other business, Guys Mills Village Council:
• Approved spending federal COVID-19 funds to purchase $1,600 worth of fire hydrant markers/bags to help responding firefighters locate working hydrants during emergencies
• Learned that Village Attorney Elizabeth Brownlee was retiring and Eric Hagen, who had been shadowing her, would take over, and agreed that Village President Harry Heisz would retain his ties to the firm
• Set next meeting for March 4 at 6 p.m.
After discussion in closed session, the board reconvened into public session and extended the deadline for pool applications to March 4.
The board also approved seeking legal advice on village procedures. and requiring the village clerk to provide procedures for disconnecting the village’s water and sewer power.
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