ELLSWORTH — The village board approved Downtown Design Guidelines for the non-residential East End and Main Street Commercial District areas that would set design and appearance standards for new construction and future renovations during the Nov. 4 meeting.

The guidelines, which were ultimately voted against by Trustee Tom Schutz, saw some criticism based on the village’s ability to take action in violation of them and because of how current property owners’ renovations would be influenced.

Village Attorney Bob Loberg said because it is laid out as a guideline rather than an ordinance, the village would not have total control over enforcement of the guidelines.

“Guidelines are only guidelines,” Loberg said. “It’s not enforceable.”

There were talks that the village could bring the guidelines into the ordinance process to add them to village code, but the board did not immediately act on it. Under the guidelines, the Community Development Authority would hear from business owners not in compliance with the guidelines if they are undergoing renovation or construction.

“They go to the CDA, the CDA says no, then can they say, ‘Well there’s no legal precedent because there is nothing in the ordinances, there’s nothing in our building code,’” Trustee Ryan Bench said.

Loberg said if the board feels there is a consensus to adopt an ordinance that properties must follow the guidelines, they should start the process. The board ultimately decided there was not harm in approving the guidelines to set them into place with only Schutz voting against. An ordinance may appear in front of the village board at a future meeting.

Kwik Trip

After a closed session period, the board reconvened to approve negotiation with Kwik Trip for the purchase of Lot 3 of the Crossing Meadows Business Park. Lot 3 is located adjacent to the property that formerly was Shopko.

Home Development Rezoning

The board approved a rezoning from Agriculture to Residential R-2 for Workhorse Land Development on 10 acres at parcel 121-01132-0100 north of 580th Avenue and east of Crosstown Road.

The zoning will set into motion a development featuring twin homes, town homes and single-family residences. The project will start with one model home. Overall, the entirety of the development will still need to go through the platting approval process through the village per usual.

Public comment

During the public comment portion, Gwen Swanson, who lives in the Crossing Meadows area, discussed issues experienced from the Gerrard Corp. development at Crossing Meadows.

Swanson said a construction vehicle damaged their mailbox; she also had concerns about the driveway and yard being torn up because a main line runs under their property. The driveway is pavement rather than concrete and while Swanson was told the driveway would be patched when work is done, Swanson believes the driveway should be entirely redone because of the potential for seams, cracks and sinking if it is only patched.

Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Brad Roy said he will help Swanson get in contact with Paul Gerrard of Gerrard Corp. to settle the driveway status and Public Works Director Brad Vick to explain why their house has a main line underneath when many homes simply have laterals.

Another nearby resident said he did not receive enough information on the construction of the project and the timeline. He also mentioned some construction materials including a diesel tank being located close to his home.

Other business

• Approved the Deputy Clerk decreasing hours to 6.5 hours per day to move to a part-time employee from 40 hours per week. Roy said the change should not overload the other staff members and brings savings to the village.
• Approved wage increases of 4% in wages for general non-represented staff, the buildings and grounds maintenance position to $20 an hour, administrator/clerk-treasurer by 7%, police chief by 5% and director of public works by 5.5%.
• Approved a request from O’Connell Funeral Home to exceed the number of cremation burials per grave site outlined in village ordinances. This is a one-time approval that came because O’Connell purchased Hill Funeral Home and found unclaimed cremains. There were six cremains that O’Connell could not find someone to claim and wanted to deliver a final resting place. The original ordinance allows for four.