Cadott Village Board - Electrical system is found to be reliable – for now

Shining bright through new-fallen snow, is Brunet Island State Park’s unofficial Christmas tree, which brightens the Cornell campsite and those around it, each year. A couple decorates the small fir each autumn, so everyone can enjoy it, even when they go home to Prescott. When the holiday season is done, park staff will undecorate the tree and store the festive decorations until the next fall. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

The results are back, from an electrical system study for the Village of Cadott, completed by Dave Krause, with EPS. Those results were shared, De. 16, for the village board to assess/plan for the future.

Krause reported that there was a 6.5 percent loss in 2010, but last year, it was down to 3.5 percent; however, the load is up about 30 percent, which is what was predicted.

“You have grown to a point now, where you need to consider a little more investment,” said Krause. If there is a failure, the system would not be able to serve the village off the lines coming out of the old part of the substation.

“They would be overloaded and, at best, you would be rotating outages,” said Krause. “At worst, somebody would forget and try to do that, and they’d just knock the whole village out.”

Krause feels it’s a reasonably prudent time to look at either adding another set of lines out of the old substation or revisiting the conversion planning. There was good news, in that the system can handle developmental growth for now, but Krause wants the board to be aware that if something unforeseen and uncontrollable would happen, there could be trouble.

“It would take at least a year, to source the equipment that’s needed to do that work,” said Krause. “Beyond that, you have the capacity room to take on a couple of these developments.”

The board took the information and will formulate a plan going forward.

They also got down to business, approving Ordinance 2024-13, modifying references to the costs and fees in zoning code, and establishing a fee schedule to amend Articles C, D, E, J, K, L, M and N, of Title 13, Chapter 1.

Also approved, was Ordinance 2024-10, adopting the fee schedule. The language now waives any, or all, fees related to a development project, with each applicant responsible for all costs associated with the processing of their application.

If the village determines the fee is insufficient to the actual costs, they will invoice the applicant for such additional costs.

Also agreed on, was an AEP amendment, with a max blended energy extension price of $53.60 megawatt hours. The move is recommended by the consortium the village belongs to.

Members also agreed to expand to 200 feet frontage on North Boundary Road, exceeding the lot depth ratio for Lehman CSM.

“They want to combine those two lots, then split them, so each has frontage along the north road,” said Josh Miller, Cedar Corp.

The board also approved a Certified Survey Map for the school district, after the ongoing renovation/building project ran into a few unexpected hiccups.

“It didn’t change any of the lot lines, it basically just cleaned it up,” said Miller.

Also approved, was to suspend Ordinance 13-1-92, through Nov. 1, 2024, to April 1, 2025, regarding parking on the front lawn. Normally, the ordinance prevents this, but members felt that since many homes have more automobiles than driveway to park on, they could allow it for the winter months, as long as people are aware they still cannot park overnight on the streets.

Although they were reluctant, the board also approved the resignation of deputy clerk/treasurer Janice Christie, effective at the end of April, and agreed to advertise for a replacement.

While not an action item, Josh Spaeth, Cadott School District administrator, spoke to the board about the issue of the village’s police officers no longer coming to the school, because of the absence of an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Spaeth requested that the village take a more proactive approach to making sure MOUs are met.

He said that, in particular, Officer Sarah Hewitt has been a huge asset and that her efforts have made an immeasurable difference in the lives of students. It was agreed that a separate meeting will take place, to outline the hours and responsibilities of a school resource officer each week.

By having an officer in the schools, it builds trust and communication between families, and the police force, something the nation needs more than ever, with school violence the recent focus of attention.

“Our students are the greatest treasure of our community,” said Spaeth.