Lake Holcombe Town Board - Chain of command is clearly set down

Lake Holcombe Town Board

By Ginna Young What happens if something goes wrong – really wrong, in the Town of Lake Holcombe? Who is the head person in charge, what is the first thing they need to do?

Those questions were answered Feb. 13, at the town board meeting. At long last, the emergency operations plan, which is required by the state, is complete. Chairman Brian Guthman has worked tirelessly to put the plan together for board approval.

“I think he did the bulk of it himself,” said supervisor Doug Olson.

The plan identifies the most likely types of disasters the town could face, such as forest fire, tornado, flooding, severe weather, terrorist attack and hazardous material spills. It shows the chain of command, who to contact for what situation and where people would be directed to, if shelter was needed.

“It’s a good read,” said supervisor David Staudacher. Since Guthman was not there to sign the plan, to make it official, the board was unable to approve it. They did, however, decide to take no action on a request from Mosaic Technologies, for a letter of support.

Mosaic is writing a grant application to bring fiber internet to the area, and is looking for municipal support, but the board has some concerns.

“We don’t know what they plan to do,” said Olson, referencing when a previous company installed fiber under the town road right-of-way, which can cause it to be damaged. “Fiber’s not cheap to fix.”

Olson also feels that the internet access seems to be more expensive than other companies, while it appears the

See LAKE HOLCOMBE TOWN BOARD / Page 3

Lake Holcombe Town Board treasurer Jim Mataczynski went over line items at the meeting, Feb. 13, sharing that the members need to make a decision shortly, on what they want to do with a CD.

Photo by Ginna Young Lake Holcombe Town Board

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fiber would go around Lake Holcombe and not to the rural areas where it’s so desperately needed. Staudacher was on the same page with concerns, as was Guthman, which he communicated to Olson prior to the meeting.

Also discussed, was a property transfer at the Holcombe Area Veterans Memorial site. When he donated the land for the site, Staudacher retained 30 feet on the east side, as an access road. Now that the DNR has determined there is wetland area on the west side, those in charge of the memorial had to move the site plans toward the east, which would encroach on that 30 feet belonging to Staudacher.

At first, Staudacher said he would transfer the 30 feet to the other side, but is now considering outright giving the memorial a quit claim deed, to save everyone hassle and expense.

Staudacher wanted more time to think about it and will have a decision by the next meeting. No matter what, he knows something must be done so building can continue. “I can come through on the other side,” said Staudacher.

The board also discussed the Wayside Park beach bathrooms and Native American showcase near the town hall.

“The shingles are getting in tougher shape,” said town roadman Ben Jordan of the Wayside roofs, adding that the skylight is showing signs of leaking.

As for the wooden Native American, the display case roof has aged and needs re-staining. Jordan is looking into asphalt and steel estimates, and will bring the proposals back to the board.

As the spring election draws near, Olson shared that he is not running for supervisor another term. No one was nominated at the recent caucus, nor is the board aware if anyone has registered as a write-in candidate.

If that space remains vacant, if even one member doesn’t make the meeting, there would not be a quorum and no business can be conducted, putting a time crunch on some matters.

“It would be nice if someone would step up,” said Olson.