Village adopts state burning ordinances

"We should encourage people to use the village refuse site instead of burning," stated village trustee Jerry Harvancik.

Trustee Don Loken suggested the village adopt the statewide ordinance to regulate burning hours that allows burning from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and not on Sundays.

"I think you can over regulate," warned Trustee Betty Finch.

"The burning ordinance started because people burned on the edge of their lots just to bother a neighbor," explained Richard Anderson, the village's building inspector.

The board adopted the state ordinance and set open burning dates until June 30.

In other business, the board set the board of review from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, with open book from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Sign ordinance

A public hearing was also held to consider a change to the sign ordinance. The concern was for the historical markers sponsored by the Iola Historical Society.

"Many of the sign ordinances are for safety reasons," stated Anderson, who enforces the sign ordinances. "A sign is a sign: If it looks like a sign, it is a sign."

Somebody asked if a variance would allow the historical markers to be placed closer to the sidewalk.

"You can't exempt them from all aspects of the sign ordinance," said Terry Murphy.

After discussion, everyone was in agreement to make no changes to the village's sign ordinance. A committee will be appointed to look at the ordinance.

Nursing home report

Administrator Greg Loeser presented the monthly report from Iola Living Assistance (ILA) Inc.

"The news was not good at the end of last year," he stated, noting the corporation lost $373,473 in 2010. "That's a lot of money. Even though we had a bad year, there were some significant things that happened to help us weather the storm."

During 2010, the corporation paid off its Butternut Ridge loan three years early. There was a reduction in staff time, with the savings being noticed in early 2011. Loeser reported that ILA was $29,385 in the black for February 2011. He expects there to be a $55,000 budget reduction in 2011 due to having about eight less full-time employees compared to 2010.

"Right now we are holding our own, and I am remaining cautiously optimistic," Loeser concluded.

IPD report

The monthly report from the Iola Police Department (IPD) reflected an increase in calls during March. The report showed a total of 114 calls logged in March, which is up 11.76 percent from the 102 calls logged in February and up 7.55 percent from the 106 calls logged in March 2010.

The March 2011 calls included 16 for traffic enforcement, 10 assisting the Waupaca County Sheriff's Department, 10 for suspicious activity, 10 assisting citizens or motorists, eight assisting the Iola Fire and Ambulance Service, seven for lock-outs, and seven for bad checks.

It was noted that the IPD has spent a lot of time investigating gas drive-offs.