Edgar board considering special assessments

By Kevin O’Brien

Edgar residents on four different streets will likely have to pay for a portion of the work being done in front of their properties later this year after the village board passed a trio of resolutions Monday night to levy special assessments.

The preliminary resolutions state that residents will be charged for 80 percent of the cost of new curb and gutters and driveway aprons on Wisconsin Avenue, George Wagner Drive, Thomas Hill Road and on Birch Street, from Second Avenue to Kaiser Avenue. Property owners on Thomas Hill and Birch streets will also be assessed for 50 percent of the cost of sidewalks.

Village administrator Jennifer Lopez told board members that the resolutions are the first step toward billing property owners along the construction routes. Before that happens, though, the village’s engineers need to develop estimates for the total cost of improvements and a schedule of the proposed assessments.

Now that the resolutions have been adopted, Lopez said the village will send letters to the affected property owners notifying them of the proposed assessments. A public hearing is planned before the board’s March 11 meeting, which is when trustees plan on reviewing bids for the project on Wisconsin Avenue and George Wagner Drive.

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end,” she said, noting that people would still have an opportunity to speak at the public hearing if they want.

The board voted last month to seek bids for replacing water and sewer lines on Wisconsin and Wagner, along with adding new curb and gutter and repaving the road. If the bids come in too high, trustees could decide to forgo the work this year. The village has qualified for low-interest loans through the DNR, which would primarily be paid back with water bill revenues.

Lopez said the engineering reports will explain to each resident how much road frontage they are responsible for and what the estimated costs are for new curb and gutter, driveway aprons and sidewalks.

With the Birch Street project, a majority of the special assessments will be charged to the Edgar School District, which has most of the street frontage on those blocks. Lopez said the village has already shared early cost estimates with district officials.

On Thomas Street, Lopez noted that curb and gutter will be installed along the entire length of the street, and one stretch of curb and gutter between Madison and Wisconsin avenues is in good enough condition to be saved. A few “odd” stretches of sidewalk may also be ripped out during the project, she said.

Engineer Gary Strand of Cooper Engineering said the stormwater improvements have been designed to keep water from running off of Thomas Hill Street onto Brewster Court.

In the past, Lopez said the village has offered residents the option of paying their special assessments 100 percent upfront or paying it back over five years, with an interest rate equal to what the village is charged by the bank.

Other business

n The board approved a motion to advertise for a new police chief. Police officer Matthew Krembs recommended that the board hire someone who could serve in an administrative capacity for the police department. The village will accept applications for either a part-time or a full-time chief, and depending the applicants who step forward, trustees will decide how the department will be structured going forward.

n The board voted to reimburse officer-incharge Ramsay Plautz for half the cost of a new uniform shirt and pair of pants. Officer Krembs initially asked the board to provide Plautz with the full $600 clothing allowance normally offered to the police chief, but trustee John Streit objected to spending that much money without knowing who will lead the police department.

“We are spending money without a leader,” he said. “We still don’t have a direction.”

n Officer Krembs told trustees that one of the five applicants who applied for a part-time officer position, Ben Smith, has been offered the job, pending a successful background check. One of the other four applicants was also impressive enough to be offered a job, he said, so the board voted to approve the hiring of an additional part-time officer.

n The board approved a motion to spend $245, plus $129 per night in a hotel and mileage for Lopez to attend the Wisconsin City/ County Manager Association winter conference in Elkhart Lake, Feb. 28-March 1.

n The board approved a memorandum of understand to allow the village of Weston to join the the village’s joint municipal court, which also covers Marathon and Rothschild. For the court to work, Lopez said the four villages will need to make sure all of their local ordinances match up.