Feuerhelm, Beissel sworn in as trustees

The Ellsworth Village held a rare in-person meeting last Tuesday night.

It’s rare for local government bodies, at least, to be meeting in person. However, Ellsworth’s last meeting went well with board members and the clerk and prospective administrator spaced around the village board room. This time around, the scene was much the same, except for two new village board members who won seats in the April 7 election: Becky Beissel and Scott Feuerhelm were elected to the board at the election, and Michael Steele won re-election. The meeting started with clerk-treasurer Peggy Nelson administering the oath of office to Beissel and Feuerhelm.

Of note, it was Nelson’s final village board meeting, as her nearly 35-year career ends with her retirement Friday. And it was the first official village board meeting for administrator/ clerk-treasurer Nicole Stewart, whose first official day on the job was April 20.

The board decided to give the nine licensed taverns a break on their licenses for the coming year, since they were forced to close March 17 under the order of Gov. Tony Evers.

“Normally this would go to committee, but this would have been the only item on the agenda, so we’re scrapping that,” Village President Gerald DeWolfe said.

Jason Marks of Broz Bar and Grill, 455 E. Wall St., asked the board to consider lessening the price for Class B licenses, which the village typically charges $600 annually for.

“We would appreciate anything,” Marks said. “Is there any other business that pays a fee to the village just to be open?”

He said the move by the village board would be appreciated.

“It would be a very good gesture. I just think it would give a lot of good publicity,” he said.

Nelson told the board they couldn’t complete waive the fee, as state law requires at least a $50 charge for a Class B license.

Board member Lance Austin advocated for cutting the fee.

“These people are hurting,” he said.

After discussion, the board decided to deduct $200 from the price of the Class B license, and notices were going out to taverns for renewals last week.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to affect us,” said Village Board member Neil Gulbranson, of the impact of COVID-19 on the community. “I’ll make a motion to reduce it $200.”

The village board also approved a 2020 budget transfer from police and water impact fees to the general fund for the new shop/police building being constructed. Construction is to be finished by September. The total transferred from police impact fee was $9,003.73, while the water impact fee was $109,512.47.

The board approved a Special Use Permit for Becky Jo Kittelson, Rare, LLC “to allow continued use of residential on the upper level in a commercial district. DeWolfe said the building is going to be a “teen hangout.”

A report was made on that morning’s Salary and Labor Committee meeting the police union contract, as well as an afternoon closed session regarding the clerk’s office transition.

“It was a very good meeting. Everything went well,” said Gulbranson. “The first two days of the transition are going well.”

DeWolfe’s committee structure for the coming village board year was approved, and Steele was elected President Pro-tem, which means he stands in for the village president if he can’t be at meetings. DeWolfe warned him about his September fishing trip!

Photos by John McLoone.

Photo by John McLoone.

Jason Marks of Broz Bar appeared before the Ellsworth Village Board last week.