Cornell City Council; Roof of the plow shed will see replacing

By Ginna Young

It may seem like a small matter, but the Cornell City plow shop roof is in line for replacement, after a satisfactory bid was received from Otter Creek Construction. It was decided to accept the $2,300 bid Sept. 21, during a regular council meeting.

Since Otter Creek Construction owner Jason Harycki lives in Cornell, members liked that the work will be done local. The last bid they received for the project was $3,500, so Harycki’s bid came as a pleasant surprise.

“And they take the steel off,” said council member Bill Kvapil.

On recommendation from Cedar Corp., the council also approved the first payment application from Haas Sons, Inc., in the amount of $168,049.44, related to the ongoing riverfront trail improvements. Cedar Corp. is very happy with the work taking place and mayor Mark Larson was in complete agreement, having visited the site often.

“It looks great,” said Larson. They also agreed to pass on some communication from Ray French, regional economic development director, about Connect Communities. Downtown districts don’t just happen, they need to be developed, which is where Connect Communities comes in, providing resource contacts and stakeholders, to make the downtown space vibrant.

“They’re interested in working with our Main Street Committee,” said council member Sandy Schecklman. “I’ll see what they have to offer.”

The city’s fire hydrants are also on the council’s mind, after Schecklman mentioned that the fire department discovered that many of the fire hydrants stationed around town are not in working order. That can be a disastrous problem for the department when responding to a fire.

“Some have not been working for some time,” said Schecklman.

Schecklman referred the matter to the public works department and Kvapil followed up on that, stating the parts are in and the hydrants will be repaired.

As mentioned before, Xcel Energy is planning for transmission line routes for western Wisconsin, so a website is expected to be up and running, to provide communities more information, as well as upcoming public open houses, giving the public a chance to express any concerns before the project is finalized.