The sale of a village-owned property was approved by the Iola Village Board at its Nov. 8 meeting.
The board considered two offers for the “Ross property” during a closed session and returned to open session to accept one of the offers. The house and property were sold to Robert and Julie Prahl for $181,251.
The board also approved the sale of the old sewage plant property to Gary Trzebiatowski for $26,000, after discussing the matter in closed session. The site will be used for a towing business.
It was noted that the River Trail project has received a $185,000 stewardship grant through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The Town Line Road bridge project has received a $72,000 grant through Waupaca County, which will pay for about half of the cost.
In other business, the board approved donating $1,000 to the Iola Fireworks Fund, as budgeted for 2011.
The board also agreed to release the Hitterdahl Parsonage from the village tax roll.
Iola Living Assistance (ILA) administrator Greg Loeser presented a monthly report.
“It’s not so good this time,” Loeser stated. “I have a significant hole to dig out of from this year.”
He noted that the nursing home is projected to lose about $227,000 in 2011 due to Medicaid underpayment. The facility loses almost $38 per day per Medicaid resident, which is about $1,200 per month.
“I don’t have a good solution to the state underfunding nursing homes,” Loeser stated. “A lot of people don’t know how bad the state budget is going to get. They are facing a $500 million loss in federal stimulus money for the Medicaid program.”
Loeser indicated that the state has cut Medicaid payments, yet enforces minimum staffing regulations for care facilities. The new rates are retroactive to July 2010.