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In Stacy, council meeting full of lively discussion |
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By Anne Thom
Chris and Lynette Nadeau, who live on Fenway Court are preparing for warmer weather, but they are not necessarily looking forward to spring. The Nadeaus came to the Stacy council meeting last week to talk about water on Fenway Court, the same issue they have come to the council with at least two times in the past year.
“I could probably inner tube in my front yard,” Chris Nadeau said. Lynette Nadeau predicted when the ice starts to melt the water will be calf deep.
Lynette Nadeau asked about a report in the Post Review where the council had discussed a possible levy to bond for $700,000 worth of road maintenance and repair. City Engineer Chuck Schwartz told the couple the only work on Fenway Court scheduled in the unapproved plan is for crack sealing.
Schwartz asked if the gravel driveway behind the mall had been paved and if the water would be held back by a grass ridge or if it was getting into the swale that had been dug. ”No, it’s coming toward our house” L. Nadeau said.
The Nadeaus told the council the problem has become worse, not better.
They said the road and their driveway are sinking. They believe the problem is the mall that backs up to Fenway Court. The Nadeaus said the mall property has been graded to drain toward their property.
Stacy Mayor John Daher asked Schwartz to drive over and take a look and report back to the council. Councilor Tony Olivolo was less patient. He said something needs to be done as the Nadeaus had been to the council before about this same issue.
Daher replied that something had been done after the last time the Nadeau’s reported the issue to the council: the wastewater pond was to have been expanded to hold additional runoff. C. Nadeau acknowledged the pond had been worked on, and said it was dug a little deeper but not made larger overall.
In the end, Schwartz was directed again to have a Bonestroo employee look at the situation and report back.
Liquor issues
The entire municipal Liquor Operations team showed up at this council meeting. Accountant Amy Joslin, Stacy Wine and Spirits manager Brian Hachey and assistant manager Jennifer Foresman and Stacy Bar and Grill manager Paul Rootkie all pulled up chairs to share the latest liquor operations news.
The news the council was most interested in was the bottom line, so Joslin was asked to speak first as she handed out the financial reports for January. Joslin was unhappy, but not necessarily because of the figures she was presenting. She addressed the council saying they may have noticed the documents she gave them do not look at all like a report. Joslin had put three spreadsheets in front of the council. In a tone that expressed both irritation and disappointment, Joslin said that the new software the city was using could produce a balance sheet but not detailed profit and loss reports.
City Clerk Sharon Payne validated what Joslin said saying “Amy and I were not happy.” Payne said she had asked Banyon Software for assistance in running reports and in working with the software, but was given the brush off.
Payne told the council she had spoken to a clerk in a neighboring city and that clerk had said Banyon runs all of their reports for her, leaving Payne puzzled and frustrated over Stacy being left to its own devices.
Payne told the council the city is paying $800 a year for technical support and she felt they are not getting any support at all. Joslin said she had contacted the company, and was told this was the first time they had received a request for their software to generate a profit and loss statement. Joslin echoed Payne saying “’I’m not happy with the system, I’m not happy with their customer service.”
Joslin has to spend a significant amount of time creating what the city was promised the software would provide. Later in the meeting Payne suggested the council should pay Joslin extra due to the number of hours she has spent on the software conversion.
Mayor Daher recalled that the city had switched from QuickBooks to Banyon at the recommendation of the city’s auditor. “If you’re going to have such a problem and the software doesn’t do what we wanted it to do is it worth it to keep it?” Daher asked. Joslin said the city had already spent time and money converting over to the software and recommended the city try it for a year. Councilor Olivolo didn’t seem satisfied and wanted to know why the council was just seeing the January figures at the end of February. “Because I’ve been busy,” was Joslin’s measured response. She then moved on to the information Olivolo was interested in.
The off-sale had a profit of $6,000 but the bar had lost $10,000 in January.
Joslin said the loss at the bar was the result of “low sales and too high of expenses.” Hachey spoke up with the good news, that sales at Stacy Wine and Spirits were up 20 percent so far in February 2008 over February 2007. January to January had seen a 10 percent increase.
Hachey and Foresman are in the process of moving and shaking the store’s inventory, changing the layout and trying some new marketing strategies. The off sale management team had recently attended a “boot camp” for employees of municipal liquor operations and they were visibly energized as they told the council they had learned there.
Less promising bar
Meanwhile, Paul Rootkie is managing a less promising situation at the bar. Rootkie has been looking for areas to cut costs, improve advertising and attract more business. He remained optimistic saying “there will be a better bottom line in the months to come.”
As Mayor Daher asked if there were any other issues to be discussed, Olivolo suggested the city’s Liquor Operations Committee be abolished. He said that issues are still being “skirted around” adding, “I get absolutely nowhere with them.”
Daher disagreed. “You always have the ability to give input.” He told Olivolo to go ahead and make a motion “if you want something done.” Councilor Bud Wilson then moved to abolish the committee.
Daher called the question after some discussion with Councilor Avalos and Daher voting no and Olivolo and Wilson voting yes. Councilor Mel Aslakson abstained from voting and it failed. Wilson then turned to Aslakson and shouted, “Thanks Mel, you’re a beaut! You did it again didn’t you Mel.” Wilson offered no explanation for the source of his irritation and Daher moved the agenda along.
This was essentially the last time during the meeting that Olivolo or Wilson spoke. However late in the meeting, Wilson tried to air a formal complaint against Councilor Avalos over an investigation of Olivolo. A heated argument broke out complete with finger pointing and fists pounding. Daher finally broke up the verbal melee with a motion that no council member should investigate another and that motion passed.
Comp plan
The city had unveiled a draft of the updated Comprehensive Plan three weeks ago and as scheduled, the plan was up for approval this night. Seated in the audience was Gene Olson, Lent Town Board chairman.
Mayor Daher looked at Olson and said, “A member of the audience expressed a concern with Zones 2 and 3. He brought up that both Lent Township and the county board show as potentially urban growth areas.”
Olson had discussed this with the Mayor at a public meeting earlier in the evening. Daher cited the map on page 22 which shows Zone 2 as an area that is currently Lent Township and is situated on the west side of the freeway. Zone 3 is to the north and slightly to the east of the city.
Daher asked City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer if there was any legality in leaving the plan as is.
“My thing is, this is not a contract, it’s a plan” Daher said.
Grundhoefer agreed saying the Comprehensive Plan is a guide. “I don’t see a need for it (changes) right now. I don’t see it as a barrier.” With the attorney’s advice on record, a motion was made to adopt the plan and the motion carried.
A public meeting will be held at Wyoming City Hall at 6 p.m. on March 26 for public comment on the latest plan for annexation of Wyoming Township property. An official notice will be forthcoming in the Post Review.
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