John Frankewicz receives a plaque for his 18 years of service on the Withee Village Board from board president Everett Lindgren.

The Village of Withee held their regular meeting on Monday, April 8, 2024. Trustee Susan Kalepp reported that the Library Board has begun working on their Withee Days projects.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up by the request for a deed transfer from Andrew T. Fawley Trucking LLC to Straightline Investments LLC. Ray Kilty drew up some plans for what he would like to do if the deed was transferred. He said he was open to suggestions. He said he would be building larger storage units for businesses and that the garage door could be removed to create a store front. The building would be 3,700 square feet in size. He is working with a business that might come in. It will be in the same location as Fawley had planned for his building. The building will be set up for water and sewer, with a bathroom in each unit. Kilty said it would still be a taxable building whether he got tenants in it or not. The board then went into closed session with their attorney, Bonnie Wachsmuth, for about 40 minutes. After coming into open session, Wachsmuth said the village was open to the idea but they would have to decide what contingencies to put in place for Kilty. It was suggested that a meeting be held with President Everett Lindgren, Clerk Ellen Niemi, DPW Derek Schad, and Attorney Wachsmuth to make sure everyone was on the same page. The board liked the new drawing better than the last one, but deadlines for building need to be set, a design would have to be approved, and they would like a storefront of some sort in place as soon as possible. No final decision on this issue was made at this meeting.

During the police report, Trustee John Frankewicz had questions about the lack of a quarterly police report. He also questioned some of the bills to be paid. It was noted that Office Jacob Haugstad is now certified as a taser instructor.

Under the Public Works report, DPW Derek Schad said that the Consumer Confidence Report was completed with no deficiencies. He plans on flushing hydrants at the end of the month, but that is dependent on when Owen paints their water tower. During that time all water will be running through Withee. Schad is also planning on filling potholes and doing some restoration from winter plowing.

At the end of the meeting trustee John Frankewicz was recognized for his 18 years on the board.