Lake Holcombe Town Board - Changes are incoming to the Sanitary District

Larry Becker asked the Lake Holcombe Town Board Dec. 14, what will happen, now that all three Sanitary Board members are stepping down at the end of the year. In fact, it’s even unclear if the Sanitary Board should consist of three members or five, but with a lack of bylaws, that question is still up in the air. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

The Lake Holcombe Sanitary Board is headed for a complete turnover at the end of the year, prompting public inquiry, as to who is going to govern the Sanitary District. Larry Becker was one such resident who voiced his concern Dec. 14, at the Lake Holcombe Town Board meeting.

“Where does it fall back on?” asked Becker.

It was agreed if the town can’t find anyone to serve on the Sanitary Board, the town board will assume the responsibilities. However, Becker is thinking long-term, about what will happen if the ponds would have to be dredged and the sludge spread, whether that would go back on all the taxpayers and not just those in the sanitary district.

“It should be self-sufficient,” he said. Brian Guthman, town board chairman, pointed out that the user bills might have to go up “considerably,” but that he is running into roadblocks, when it comes to who should pay for the Sanitary District. Guthman’s research shows that Lake Holcombe is the only one in the state, that has the entire town listed as being in the sanitary district.

That is puzzling, as the first thing that happens when forming sanitary usage district, is to create a boundary, but why form a boundary, if the district encompasses the whole township?

“I’ve not been able to find any bylaws,” said Guthman. Doug Olson, town supervisor, has a document dated 1952, from the county, showing that the outlying town borders are included in the district. Guthman feels it must have changed somewhere along the line, because the Town of Holcombe became the Town of Lake Holcombe after that date.

The Towns Association states that if a person is not hooked up to the district, then they are not in it, but the town counts everyone in the township as being in the district, even if they don’t get a bill for it.

“So, how do we put it to bed?” said Becker. Guthman said once the Sanitary Board changeover takes place, the town board can sort through paperwork in the district building and see what they can find, revamping the district, if necessary. “It’s going to be a chore to get it all aligned,” said Becker.

He got no argument from the board and they moved onto discussing the lone resident who expressed interest in serving on the Sanitary Board, as treasurer. Tracey Larson, town board clerk/current Sanitary Board treasurer, says between her and the lone applicant, Deidra Wichtendahl, things will get taken care of.

“I’m not going to leave you high and dry,” said Larson. Meanwhile, town board supervisor David Staudacher mentioned that he will ask a couple sources about documentation, with Olson promising any help he can provide, while Guthman showed renewed interest in figuring out the true origins of the Sanitary District boundaries.

“I will try my best to get to the bottom of this,” said Guthman.

Guthman also reported that he is receiving calls on the taxes that were sent out and the jump in property values.

“We were out of compliance and we had to have them reassessed,” said Guthman, adding that if someone has questions, they should call the town’s assessor. “There wasn’t any choice…the only choice we had was who did it.”

The assessor also shared that he is now required to place mobile home parks on the tax bill as “real property” and that it is up to the landlord, to divvy up costs between the tenants. To combat that, the town would need to issue a mobile home park permit, so the assessor can give tax bills to individual renters, who also don’t get notifications about the assessed value of their trailer.

“He says it’s more fair,” said Guthman. Doing so could cost a lot, until a township goes through it, then it’s essentially a “copy and paste” situation.

“Don’t some towns have a mobile home permit, just like they have a campground permit?” asked Larson.

Guthman says that could be and that there will probably be a lot more coming down the road. Ben Jordan, town roadman, suggested looking at neighboring municipalities, to see what they have in place.

“I don’t think it’s a new thing,” said Larson. The town board also agreed to seek bids for work that will be paid for by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds the town received. There’s $91,000 remaining in the ARPA infrastructure money, after new furnaces and air were installed at the town hall.

Included in the projects, would be the entryway at the west and north town hall entrances, as well as the exterior basement doors, repairs to doors at the shop, installing insulation and building a breakroom.

“It’s even just a matter of making improvements to the existing doors,” said Jordan.

If the project costs come in higher than expected, they can pare down the list of updates.

“We’ll probably have to set some priorities,” said Staudacher.