Ceresco trustees authorize chair to approve Hunter subdivision escrow payouts after engineer certification

Ceresco — The Village Board voted to authorize the chair to approve escrow payouts for the Hunter 1st Addition subdivision when the village engineer certifies the required percentage of completion.

At a special meeting and budget workshop on July 29, Trustee Custer first moved to authorize Chair Scott Peterson to sign off on escrow releases when requests arrive, with the percentage of completion certified by REGA; that motion failed with one yea (Burklund) and three nays (Custer, Ruble and Peterson). Custer then offered a clarified motion to authorize the Chair to sign escrow releases when REGA certifies the percentage of completion. That motion carried with all four trustees present voting in favor.

Trustees debated whether the motion should name Scott Peterson specifically or refer generically to 'the chair.' Ruble asked, "instead of saying Scott Peterson shouldn't you just say the chair," and Burklund said any future change could be addressed later. Peterson said he would consult Julie before making any decision.

Board members emphasized that engineer certification is required before funds are released; the engineer must certify that construction is at an authorized milestone (examples discussed included 25% or 50% completion). Lindgren, the village clerk, said the proposed process would be administrative and would not change the board's underlying approval process.

Votes at a glance: the escrow authorization passed (Yeas: Custer, Ruble, Burklund, Peterson; Nays: none). Earlier that evening the board also approved payment of $2,200 to A&H Concrete and $940 to Circle H Tire; both claims passed unanimously.

The board scheduled a follow-up budget workshop for Aug. 11 to finalize outstanding budget items.