Cadott Village Board - Every single thing is expensive nowadays

Cedar Corp. engineer Brian Chapman explained to the Cadott Village Board Dec. 18, why final project costs seem to fluctuate higher than what was expected, because it’s hard to predict what prices will be, from one day to the next. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Everywhere you look, costs have risen – at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at the lumberyard – nothing is safe from inflation. That includes Kwik Trip’s utility project on State Hwy. 27 in Cadott.

The village board approved a payment of $497,409.68, to Pember, Dec. 18, which came in higher than expected. One problem that arose, was when the workers had trouble finding an existing watermain.

“The project is slightly over budget,” said Brian Chap-man, Cedar Corp. engineer.

“It just seems like every time we do a project, everything goes up,” said village board trustee Eric Weiland.

Terry Licht, village board trustee, pointed out they are dealing with antiquated infrastructure, posing challenges with funding.

Chapman says it’s hard to judge what the final cost will be, as prices are changing so fast and the cost of certain materials, such as piping, is never a sure thing.

“One of these days, prices at least have to level off, if not come down,” said Chapman.

Members also approved the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands Certificate of Indebtedness for State Hwy. 27, in the amount of $380,000, as well as a five-year maintenance inspection for transformers at the substation, through the Electric Power Systems. The inspection is required, costing the village just over $29,000.

“We go through it all,” said director of public works Jeremy Kenealy.

They also approved a one-year agreement for an Avaya maintenance contract through Citizens Connected, for the village phone system, although clerk April Bruhn shared that they haven’t had to have the company maintenance the system for as long as she’s been there.

“Makes me wonder if we even need it,” said trustee Bart Chapek.

Also approved, was the hire of Matthew Hrdlicka for a full-time public works position, with four in favor (president Randy Kuehni, Chapek, Weiland and trustee Les Liptak), one opposed (Licht) and two absent (Nicole Whip-Sime and Todd Seeley).

While it had previously been reported that Waste Management (WM) would come for their bins Dec. 26 in the village, as Cadott is now going with garbage and recycling through GFL, WM will not pick up Dec. 26, after all, but will do so the first week of January.

New carts from GFL are expected to be delivered this week, but residents are reminded to not put garbage in the WM bins after Dec. 26.

“So, we’ll have almost a two-week overlap,” said Bruhn. The next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 2, because the regular date falls on the New Year’s holiday.