Lomira Streets Committee Considers Leaf Collection Contract with Village of Brownsville

The Village of Lomira Streets Committee discussed entering into a contract with the Village of Brownsville for leaf collection services at its meeting on Wednesday, August 6.
In the past, Lomira collected leaves for Brownsville residents one day a week during the fall. Last year, Brownsville did not renew the contract.
“[Director of Public Works] Nick [Roskopf] and I were a little hesitant about going into a contract with Brownsville just because they are a crew of four–used to be five. We already lost a DPW laborer. It’s all based on weather and job duties,” stated Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer Jenna Rhein.
“We would love to help,” Rhein continued. “It’s weather workload. If they want to sign a contract that we cannot guarantee anything, if it is one day a week . . . [if] we have our whole municipality picked up for the week already and we have all our other job duties that fit into this and weather permits, then we could send a person with a truck over to Brownsville. But nothing could be guaranteed.”
Rhein previously met with the Village of Brownsville clerk and public works director, and explained these stipulations and their reasoning. According to Rhein, they “would rather have that relationship back, knowing that there are no guarantees.”

In the proposed contract, Lomira would supply Brownsville with the leaf vac, fuel, and one driver at a cost of up to $300 per hour.
“Any revenue that we bring in from that is not just going to go into our pot of money in the General Fund. Rhein suggested, “Let’s put that into a savings account for when we have to repair or replace the leaf vac because that’s going to happen soon. It’s not in the prime of its life anymore.”
If any of the leaf collection equipment were to break while in Brownsville, Brownsville would be responsible for any repairs or replacements.
Past leaf collection experiences and the verbiage of previous contracts raised some concerns from committee members. In prior years, the Village of Brownsville’s leaf collection was completed before Lomira’s, causing some frustration from residents.
“The primary focus for us is the village,” said Committee Chair Gary More. “This is really vague. I’d like to have something in there a little bit more specific as far as if we can’t cover it.”
“I think it’s worthwhile to put some language in there to say that this is at the discretion of the Director of Public Works based on weather [or] other scenarios,” added Trustee Eric Kohlmann. “Knowing that the money goes into an account to also service this leaf vac and potentially replace it, this is also an opportunity to save taxpayer money later on.”
The committee unanimously decided to recommend that the village enter a contract with the Village of Brownsville to provide leaf collection services at the discretion of the Director of Public Works.