Village of Monticello Moves Forward With Case Against Owner of East Lake Avenue Property

The Monticello Village board met for their regular meeting on February 15, 2017. Once again, the meeting room was filled, although there was no one on the Public Comment section of the agenda.
Following the approval of the Finance Committee’s invoices and payroll, Trustee Greg Bettin reported that the Personnel Committee would hold its meeting on Friday, February 17th. At that time, the Personnel Committee would discuss who would perform the background checks and interviews of the candidates for Monticello Police Chief. According to the Village Clerk, no decision was reached at the Personnel Committee meeting and another meeting will be held on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:00 p.m.
Trustee Larry Strause reported that at the Fire District Meeting, the necessity to reprogram radios was discussed. This was brought about by the change in Dane County’s radio system. The district approved reprogramming 10 radios at a cost of $50 per radio. In all, there are 40 radios that will need to be reprogrammed.
During the Parks and Recreation Committee report, the board approved the request for the village to no longer be part of the Tree City program. According to Trustee Rene Nicholson, the program costs $2.00 per person and the village still plans on planting trees and observing Arbor Day with the school district. The need for replacement trees along Lake Avenue was also discussed. The trees that are there have a life span of 15-20 years and are coming to the end of that. The committee is looking at trees with a longer life span. A request to run advertising for lifeguards was also approved.
Village Clerk DaNean Naeger reported that there were a number of tables being stored at the recycling center and she had been receiving requests to rent them. Following a discussion, it was decided that the tables could be rented for $5.00 per table per week.
The board also again discussed the property at 215 E. Lake Avenue. Although the court processes have not been completed, Naeger reported that she had received some questions as to exactly what the board was looking for in bids to raze the house. There were four preliminary bids that had substantiated the questions. The four bids ranged from a high of $8,700 to a low of $3,000. Some of the questions Naeger received included: whether the foundation would need to be hauled away or just left in the hole and covered, if it needed to be hauled who would be responsible for that, should landscaping be included, who was responsible for the utilities and the permits.
The board decided to direct the village attorney to proceed with the court, and the board would follow through with the bid process, and answering the questions.