The Village Board of Lublin held its first meeting on April 8 since the election, with newly elected trusee Christine Nowak sitting in for absent Fr. Herman Klarr, who still held the seat until the middle of the month. Chairman Randy Madlon shared that Nowak, and the elected trustees were previously sworn in.
“Based on the timeline that we needed to get that turned in for the paperwork, Rita had come around individually, and we are officially signed in and the paperwork has been turned into the county,” said Madlon.
Speaking of Nowak, Madlon remarked, “She’s not official until after the 16th of April. She is not active tonight; Fr. Hermann is still the board member, but he is absent tonight on military duty.”
At the previous March 10 village board meeting, GFL Environmental representative Derrick Madlon informed the board and residents that the company would be introducing a new hands-free, automated garbage collection system under an updated contract. At that time, the board agreed to approve the contract pending revisions to its wording.
At the Tuesday evening meeting, Madlon updated the board, sharing that Village Clerk Rita Niznik had attempted to implement the requested changes to the contract, but it’s a standard contract that GFL uses and “they would not pull those out of there.”
“So, either you sign it or you don’t,” Madlon commented. He advised Niznik not to sign the contract at this time, and instead suggested the matter be placed on a future agenda for further discussion. Madlon reassured residents that garbage pickup will continue as usual, stating, “They’re not going to not pick up our garbage. They’re still going to pick it up.”
Madlon stated that he feels GFL will push for the automated pickup. While expressing curiosity about potential rate increases, he added,
“I’m kind of curious to see what they are going to do with their rates, if they’re going to hike their rates up to force us to sign something.” For now, Madlon said he intends to “sit tight” and monitor the situation.
“Right now, it’s garbage as usual. There’s no signed contract,” he said, reminding the board and residents that there hasn’t been a signed contract in 7 or 8 years.
Chairman Madlon informed the Village Board that Klarr had spoken with the local American Legion Post, which agreed to the proposed placement of the Thorp Fire District's Smokey Bear sign near the Legion tank.
“I think that will be a good spot for it,” Madlon commented.
However, after further discussion, the board chose to table the decision until more information could be gathered regarding sign placement logistics and construction decisions.
Madlon emphasized the need for a formal agreement outlining the placement and ongoing maintenance responsibilities for the sign.
“It’s in Thorp and they are waiting for us to pick it up,” he said, referring to the sign’s current location.
The Village of Lublin received a bid from American Asphalt totaling $26,175 for the LRIP-funded repair project on Burma Drive. However, after reviewing the proposal, Madlon motioned to reject American Asphalt’s bid of $26,175 for the LRIP project at this time “until we find out further information on the project” as the project would cost the village more than had been anticipated. The village board unanimously approved the motion to reject the bid at this time, opting to gather more details before moving forward.
During closing remarks at the meeting, Madlon stated he would like to begin discussions for planning the 2025 Lublin Days event at the next meeting. He also suggested creating a list of surplus village items no longer needed that could potentially be sold.
A resident raised a concern regarding the installation of new lights at the village ball field. In response, Madlon shared concerns about the condition of the existing light posts,
“Those posts are getting dry rotted so I’m afraid that what we do have there- those posts are going to need to come down at some point,” he said, noting they were likely installed over 38 years ago.
Following a brief discussion, the village board agreed to transition meetings to Tuesday evenings, with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 6 at 6 p.m.