Abbotsford Fifth Street project pushed to 2025
The City of Abbotsford will not be getting a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in 2023 for its upcoming Fifth Street project.
Dave Rasmussen of MSA said the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) changed their new application rules for the CDBG on Sept. 15. He said municipalities are now required to wait two or more application cycles before reapplying for the grant. This means Abbotsford won’t be able to apply for the CDBG until 2024 since they applied and were awarded with a $1 million grant in 2021.
The original plan was to begin construction on the Fifth Street project in the summer of 2024 after applying for the grant in 2023. Construction is now expected to occur in May of 2025, assuming the application process goes smoothly in 2024.
Rasmussen said the city could still administer the survey required for the application of the grant and do other small amendments to the project to ensure the city is ready for the application in 2024.
Due to the delay, Stuttgen said he is now looking for a smaller road project for 2024. He suggested the dead-end portion of South Seventh Street would be a good candidate because it is a shorter stretch of road.
“We’ve had this street on our fiveyear plan forever it seems,” Stuttgen said.
The council agreed that this was an appropriate time to take care of the road and approved Stuttgen’s proposal.
Red Arrow Park basketball
The Red Arrow Park basketball courts will be receiving an upgrade at some point in 2023.
Alderman Jeremiah Zeiset asked for the item to be on the agenda for this meeting and said he had talked to community members and kids who stated the basketball hoops at Red Arrow Park needed upgrades.
The new courts that were installed as a part of the Schilling Park expansion received new basketball hoops and rims that are more modern than the hoops and rims at Red Arrow Park. City Administrator Josh Soyk said it cost the city $3,000 to install those hoops and estimated a similar cost to put new hoops in at the Red Arrow Courts.
The council discussed the matter and wondered if there were other plans for the court area in the future like putting in a new pickle ball court or resurfacing the existing basketball court. Alderman Dale Rachu said he’s not sure which sport would be more popular in the future. Zeiset said he sees a lot of people at both courts playing basketball but that doesn’t mean that won’t change.
“Time will tell. There’s a lot of people playing basketball and pickle ball but that doesn’t mean two [pickle ball] courts would be used,” he said.
Ultimately, the council decided to install new hoops next year, keeping the court as a basketball court for the foreseeable future. The money for the hoops will come as part of the $50,000 in TIF parks upgrades available.
In previous meetings, Soyk and Public Works Director Craig Stuttgen have alluded to the fact that a second pickle ball court could be placed at the Schilling Park site in the future.
Schilling Park parking lot
A parking lot will be installed at the site of the new pickle and basketball courts located at West Pine Street and North Third Avenue. Currently, parkgoers have been using a driveway that is near the property but it is private property. Stuttgen said it would be nice to get a parking lot in there soon so that people wouldn’t be driving on private property to get to the park or parking on the street.
Stuttgen suggested they put a gravel parking lot in for the time being but the plan would be to eventually blacktop the lot and put up a bathroom or small shelter there. Zeiset suggested that the city put a port-a-potty in at the park site as a temporary measure. He sited the popularity of the courts and the tournaments that are hosted there as reasons to put in a temporary solution.
Other business
n The council went through the city’s budget for 2023 and found that they would be at a deficit of $9,500 in its general fund. No motion was made to approve the budget at the Oct. 3 meeting and Soyk said he would wait for numbers to come in to get more of an idea where their budget would be.
n The council set it’s trick-or-treating hours for Oct. 31 from 4 - 7 p.m. They also determined the last day for residents to place leaves on the curb to be collected would be Nov. 3.
n Lucas Dorn of Johnson Block CPAs shared a presentation about the city’s 2021 audit report. Dorn stated that nothing on the audit stood out and the city was in good shape with its 2021 bookkeeping.
n Rasmussen gave an update on projects throughout the city. He said MSA and the city reviewed the Butternut Street project and alleyway after crews had completed the project weeks ago. He said there are a couple of issues with the alleyway that they have asked Melvin to complete. Those punchlist items are scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1.
n The city received 60 percent principal loan forgiveness on its $360,140 Safe Drinking Water Loan project. The forgiveness gives the city a $216,084 grant for the cost of the Cedar Street Project that is scheduled for May 2023.
n The water tower rehabilitation project was also eligible for 60 percent loan forgiveness which gives the city a $300,993 grant for that project.
n The DNR rejected the city’s Safe Drinking Water Loan application for new wells due to the fact that the locations of the wells had not been determined at the time of the application. MSA said they would resubmit the application in June of 2023 at no cost to the city. CTW Corporation is scheduled to drill test wells at the end of October through early November.
