Dorchester to sell land for new business
Dorchester officials are planning on selling a parcel of village-owned land near STH 13 to someone who wants to establish a new location for their heating and plumbing business.
At is monthly meeting on Dec. 1, the village board voted to accept a recommendation from the planning commission to sell a half-acre of land on Sunrise Avenue, next to Baxter Speed Shop & Custom, to the unnamed owner of a heating and plumbing company.
Village president Kurt Schwoch said the land sale is similar to one approved earlier this year to Brody Halopka, owner of Pac Knife Sales, on the east side of STH 13 near Meyer Lumber.
In that deal, the village sold Halopka empty land for $5,000, with the understanding that he build something within three years or return the land to the village. If he builds something within that time frame, all but $1 of his investment will be refunded to him.
At first, Schwoch did not want to say anything about the business looking to buy land, as he was trying to honor a request for anonymity made by the owner.
Trustees, however, wanted to know something about the prospective buyer before approving a land sale.
“I understand the guy not wanting to be in the public eye, but he’s going to have to be, because we’re not approving anything until we get to know more,” trustee Keith Lageman said.
After Schwoch revealed what kind of company it was, trustee Eric Klemetson made a motion to approve the sale of the land.
“A plumbing and heating business would be fine in my eyes,” he said.
Schwoch said village attorney Bonnie Wachsmuth will need to draw up a sales agreement between the village and the buyer for the board to approve.
Erikson said it is up to the board to set the terms of the sale.
“You guys ultimately negotiate the cost and everything else,” she said. “The planning commission does not negotiate the cost. They can suggest.”
Other business
_ The board approved a resolution to adopt the 2022 general fund budget, with a property tax levy of $235,581 — an increase of $388 over this year.
_ DPW Clint Penney told trustees that he can start writing first warning tickets and placing them on the windshields of vehicles that park overnight illegally. He said it will be up to a future law enforcement officer to write citations for repeat offenders.
“Most of them just need a reminder,” he said.
Penney also told the board that eight contractors have taken out paperwork to submit bids on the village’s street projects next year. A bid opening is planned for Dec. 16.
_ Deputy clerk Christie Erikson said the Clark County Board of Supervisors has approved 30 percent county funding for a deputy position that will focus on Dorchester. The position will first be offered to existing sheriff’s deputies, she said, which will likely require the county to hire an additional person.
“Don’t expect an officer here right away in January,” she said. “It’s going to be very unlikely that we’ll even have a contract in place by January.”
_ The board accepted an offer of $151.37 from Clint Penney to purchase an abandoned shed on village-owned property at 127 S. Front St. Three companies and one individual also submitted bids to remove the shed at the village’s expense.
_ The board voted to extend Memorial Hall’s closing hours until 5 a.m. for the Abbotsford High School’s post-prom celebration next spring. The event is supervised by adults, and the students participating are not allowed to go outside.
_ The board voted to make a $1,000 donation to the Dorchester Park Corporation.
_ The board voted to make a $2,000 donation to the Dorchester Cemetery Association to help cover operational expenses.
_ The board voted to look for a new administrator for the village’s revolving home loan program, which provides Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money for homeowners to make improvements to their properties.
Village clerk Sue Ballerstein said the village currently has 18 loans out, totalling $374,000, with about $17,000 still available to be loaned out.
“I think we’ve had one or two people who have paid theirs off recently,” she said.
MSA Professional Services had been administering the program for the village, but the company is no longer doing that kind of work. If the village does not maintain its own loan program, Ballerstein said it would have to switch to a regional fund that would require more paperwork by village officials.
Ballerstein said an outside administrator would collect all of its fees from the loan recipients, so the village will not have to pay anything.
_ The board rescinded a motion made at the November meeting to acquire additional FDIC insurance on the village’s deposits at Nicolet National Bank. Instead, the board voted to securitize the deposits through the bank itself.
_ The board appointed the following as election inspectors for 2022-2023: Linda Baumann, Kate Reynolds, Karla Anderson, Yvonne Pawlowicz, Kathy Schwoch, Pam Leichtman and Marie Becker.
_ The board set Jan. 5, 2022, as the date of the village’s spring caucus. In April, the terms expire for trustees Daniella Schauer, Tom Carter and Julie Goldschmidt.
_ The board approved a $5,000 transfer from the water utility to future expenditures, and a total of $152,500 in transfers from the general fund to future expenditures. This money represents unspent funds that are being saved for the future.
