The New Glarus Village Board met for their regular meeting on June 6, 2017. Trustee Peg Kruse was absent.

The board approved a resolution hiring Justin Hutter as the new police offer. Police Chief Burt Boldebuck welcomed Hutter and Village Administrator Bryan Gadow administered the oath of office.

The board discussed a proposal for preliminary engineering work to develop final cost estimates and a design plan for a proposed new softball field at Veterans Park. The board had tabled this discussion until it could meet with the Veteran’s Memorial Committee to discuss their concerns; that Special Meeting was held on May 24, 2017.

Trustee Petra Streiff said she still supported the plan to relocate the softball field to Veterans Park with additional language to the ball players and parents regarding respect for the Veterans Memorial. Streiff made a motion to move forward with the engineering work. Trustee Anthony Edge said that he would not be voting for moving forward, as he would prefer to work toward preparing a Comprehensive Park Plan to determine the larger plan/needs for the Village. Trustee Greg Thoemke noted a fundraising gap on the current plans for the library and the fundraising to date.

William Kuenzi Jr., Randall Kuenzi and Diana Clark all spoke against having a ball field close to the Veteran’s Memorial.

The board discussed the language of the 2014 referendum regarding borrowing and location of the proposed library.

Trustee Denise Wright pointed out that the composition of the Village Board changes, and said that at some point the Board should accept what’s been done and move forward.

Streiff’s motion failed on a 3-3 tie vote. Trustee Barb Anderson asked where does the board and library go from there. Administrator Gadow suggested continuing with conversations with the school and with the Town of New Glarus. The board also discussed preparing a Comprehensive Park Plan and holding conversations with the property owner to the north of Veterans Park.

The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.