By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A decision on how to proceed with a vacancy on the Union Grove Village Board could be made next month.
The six sitting members of the Village Board continued discussing a month-and-a-half-old issue June 26 concerning a vacant seat on the board.
Clerk-treasurer Jill Kopp said the vacancy has been “carried forward for discussion in July” after a brief discussion at this week’s meeting.
Former Trustee Michael Younglove stepped down from the board May 9 and did not give a reason for his decision.
The veteran elected official served multiple two-year terms for his trustee No. 6 seat. Most recently, Younglove ran unopposed in 2014 and 2016. His current term runs through next April.
Local governing bodies have several options when vacancies occur, including the commonly used process of appointing a resident to the position.
Holding a special election is another avenue available for consideration, though it usually comes with an added cost because of such incidental expenses as printing ballots, programming voting machines, staffing polling sites and hiring election inspectors.
The Village Board this week also:
- Discussed placing a “welcome” sign at the village’s northerly boundary, though no decisions were made.
Instead, the board directed Mark Osmundsen, head of the public works department, to investigate options for such a sign.
- Approved an agreement with Milwaukee-based Symbiont. The company, which specializes in environmental remediation, will assist the village in downtown redevelopment efforts at a cost of $7,000.
Symbiont staffers came before the village early this month, but the board withheld a decision at the time so tweaks could be incorporated into an agreement between the two parties.
In a document sent to the village, Symbiont representatives Gregory Waggle, project manager, and Patrick Carnahan, vice president, outlined the various specifications for the work, which will take place over an extended period of time.
“Symbiont is routinely requested to perform environmental services related to the site under our existing contract with the village,” Waggle and Carnahan wrote.
They added, “These services may include the preparation for and attending meetings with the Village Board, village attorneys, property owners, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and/or other stakeholders.”
Most of the changes made to the agreement since its first presentation early this month are minor.
For example, a section concerning dispute resolutions states, “each party shall cover its own legal expenses,” if such an issue were to arise.
- Approved the village’s compliance maintenance annual report, which is a routine maneuver. Municipal governing bodies across the state are required to approve and act on the document each year.
The Village Board adopted a resolution, formalizing the review of the document. No irregularities were discovered, compared with prior years.
- Heard various committee-level reports, including one from the Union Grove-Yorkville Fire Commission, which met June 14.
Commissioners heard from Jim Robotka, a representative of the local fire and EMS department. Robotka indicated membership numbers within the number have been falling, and there is a need for additional fire and EMS personnel.
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