During the Oct. 20 Redgranite Village Board meeting, Village President Belinda Passarelli told the board that the Redgranite Public Library has returned to curbside services, effective Monday, Oct. 19. She told the board that one of the reasons for the change from in-person to curbside was that recently someone came to the library not wearing a mask and when asked to wear one (masks and shields are available free of charge), refused to do so and also refused to leave the library. A Redgranite police officer was contacted to escort the individual out of the library.
In a follow-up interview with Redgranite Public Librarian Deb Sadowski, she said that the library board met and made the decision to return to curbside, as they were for much of June, not only because of this incident but also because there had been a decrease in the number of people visiting the library, especially since the number of new Covid-19 cases were on the rise in the state. “Many of our library patrons are older and disabled and were just uncomfortable coming into the library, but now in just one week since we’ve gone to curbside, we’ve had an increase in the number of library check-outs,” said Sadowski.
Sadowski said that people can go to the Winnefox Library System and browse books and order them. When the book(s) arrive at the Redgranite library, the book(s) are “quarantined” for three days before giving them to patrons; this is based on recommendations from the CDC and from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. She also added that patrons can go to individual library’s Face Book pages to determine which are open to in-person services versus curbside service, hours they are open, and other helpful information.
A Redgranite village citizen, Andrea Wilcox, attended the meeting to voice her concerns about the paving of Twin Pines Drive, which is where she resides. She also voiced concerns about the prospect of drive-through traffic. Village President Belinda Passarelli told her that the Streets/Sidewalks Committee will meet to address her concerns.
In other business, the board approved:
•The Baker Tilly 2019 audits, following a phone presentation by Baker Tilly auditor Justin Hoagland.
•Resolution 2020-02, the Compliance Maintenance Annual Report.
•Applying for a Routes to Recovery Grant.
•Purchasing the new ICE (All-In-One) voting machine in 2020 for $7,550, an unbudgeted item for 2020, in order to qualify for grant funds.
•Purchasing a laptop computer for $1,225 from Badgerland Computer Sy-stems, for board member use, which will be placed in a small conference room to qualify for grant funds. This is an unbudgeted item for 2020.
•The resignation of part-time police officer Gust Petropoulos.
•The appointment of Deborah Nolan as an election worker.
•Operator’s licenses for Barbara Haka and Amber Quimby (Kwik Trip) and Peggy Handschke (Sanicker’s Pub).
•Joan Kapp as a board representative to a citizen participation committee to review a plan to make county parks more ADA accessible.
The next regular Redgranite Village Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the municipal building (moved from Nov. 17). The 2021 budget hearing will proceed the regular meeting at 6:45 p.m.
