Making do at village office not good enough anymore

Cadott Police Chief Daryl Pries (backward facing) spoke about the need to increase security at the police station and clerk’s office Sept. 25, during a public listening session, in an attempt to get feedback on what the community wants. With another listening session scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 3, Pries hopes to be able to begin making a plan for the long-term. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Cadott’s combination village clerk’s office and police department resides in an older building, and while the interior was recently remodeled a few years ago, the space is not what it’s intended to be.

“It’s user unfriendly,” said village president Randy Kuehni.

Admittedly, it’s sometimes hard to fit everyone in for a village board meeting, but it’s the security measures that concern Cadott Chief of Police Daryl Pries. It’s the police department’s job to ensure information and records maintained in the office stay secure from anyone on the outside, whether it’s in paper form or electronic.

The points of entry and vehicle security are also a concern.

“We have a single form of entry, in our front door,” said Pries.

All other law enforcement agencies have a locked entryway, where the public has to be granted access. The evidence room also doesn’t conform with what the state wants.

“We’ve just made do with it,” said Pries. With all that in mind, Pries called a listening session Sept. 25, to gather public input on what they want to do see done with the clerk’s office and police department. No decisions will be made at this time, but Pries’ focal point was on the vacant Marshfield Clinic building, which has a more updated infrastructure.

Village trustee Les Liptak wanted to first clear up misapprehension that has bounced around the community, that the village wants to go to referendum to buy the Marshfield Clinic building, as that is not the case. A referendum for that has not been mentioned and with a $890,000 price tag for the vacant building, the village is likely not in any financial shape to purchase and renovate it.

Liptak does believe the building can be utilized for a public space.

“It’s got value,” he said. Anson Albarado, village resident, asked how, since Cadott couldn’t afford to fix their roads without going to referendum last spring (which did not pass), they’re going to raise money to possibly purchase the Marshfield Clinic building. After a tour of the vacant space, Kuehni told the realtor the village is interested, but not for that price.

“I don’t foresee anything that the village is going to be able to pay for that building,” said Kuehni. “It’s way too big for just the clerk’s office and a police department.”

Because the library is investigating the building as a potential library location, Kuehni would like to see results from a survey the Library Board is conducting, asking where the public would like to see the location.

One resident suggested having a senior center also located at the Marshfield Clinic, as Cadott is in need of one. When asked what square footage Pries has in mind for a police department, he said it would be nice to have three garage spaces, but for sure, one, and a space for the clerk’s office to maintain files.

Community member Diana Mackie questioned how the new fire department building was financed and if the capacity was maxed out, with the idea to have the police join them there. Fire chief Rick Sommerfeld said that building is not exclusively owned by the village, as Sigel, Arthur and Goetz are also partners, and that every room in the building is used.

Dawn Luebstorf, Main Street business owner, offered to sell the fitness center, parking lot behind and the laundromat to the village, for $680,000. She assured the public she is not going out of business, they just don’t need that much space and has thought about renting out the extra room for community events, but someone would have to open the gym.

If the village takes her up on the offer, the fitness center would move to a different location. Luebstorf said it would be nice to have more businesses downtown, as many storefronts are empty.

Weighing in, Cookie Kaste, Library Board president, said they don’t know the results of the library site survey yet, but do know the village cannot support the library fundraising efforts; it must be through donations and grants. The new library was permitted for Mills Street, but after safety concerns, was reevaluated and that the board has already paid $48,000 out of donations for engineering. Either way, Kaste affirms that Cadott needs to build an accessible library for their residents and the surrounding communities, An item that is always at the forefront of community minds, is needing new roads. Community member Bonnie Woodford says people are trying to make ends meet, buying ever-climbing groceries and gas, so it’s a bad time to look at funding anything.

“Basically, we don’t have the money,” said village clerk April Bruhn.

Woodford suggested merging the police department with Boyd, but as Boyd doesn’t have a force of their own, they contract with Stanley.

Janet Butterbrodt expressed that whatever is decided, they need to work on improving the community and find ways to do so, while Jean Rygiel feels their thinking is too short-term and that they need positive feedback to work toward a common goal.

The clinic could sell tomorrow, which is why the village needs input, so another listening session is set for Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m., at the high school. Pries pointed out it may be cheaper to just build, instead of remodeling and while the state won’t shut them down because of the security issues, it still needs attention.

“One way or the other, it needs to get addressed,” said Pries.