Spencer residents given updates on current and upcoming village projects

By Cheyenne Thomas This summer, residents in the village of Spencer can expect to see many changes in the village as work is set to begin on several projects to improve different areas of the village. From streets to new buildings, residents were given updates at the What’s Happening in Spencer event held March 7 at the Spencer Public Library.

Spencer administrator/clerk/treasurer Chris Helgestad and chief of police Shawn Bauer spoke to residents at the event, giving updates and addressing questions and concerns. Helgestad informed residents of various projects the village has planned for the next several months, while Bauer presented a report of the work the police had done in the past year.

The village has several projects that are in various stages of progress. The first is a new gun range that will be east of the village at 106263 County Highway C. Helgestad said the village is waiting for the DNR grant funding for the project to be finalized. Once the village receives the funds, it will be able to begin bidding out the project, which will have six shooting lanes for gun and archery. There are still some details that need to be finalized, such as hours of operation and maintenance, but he said the range could be completed as soon as this fall.

“The DNR are excited about this,” he said. “This is the first time that their grant has been used to fund a public shooting range. They are very excited about this project.”

Helgestad also gave an update on the progress to fundraise for a new bandshell that will be in the Spencer Lions Park. Right now, the village is about $50,000 short of meeting the goal to have the bandshell built, and at this point, he said it is unlikely that it will be finished before Spencerama is held this June.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to keep fundraising for this,” he said. “As soon as we can afford to do the project, we will.”

The bandshell will be constructed in two pieces. The first part is the stage itself, which will be made of concrete. The second part is the awning above the stage, which will be a free-standing structure made of wood placed over the stage. The awning itself will be constructed in a way that would improve the acoustics at the bandshell.

“We also have the option to add bathrooms to the back of the stage if we can fundraise enough money,” he said. “We are not sure what that would cost because we didn’t include it in our plans, but we are building the bandshell to accommodate that addition if we want to add bathrooms in the future using a different fundraiser.”

During the summer, Helgestad said there will be a few major street projects in the village. The largest of these projects will be on Park Street. The entire section from East Clark Street to Willow Drive will be redone with new water, sewer, storm sewer and curb and gutter. Currently, Helgestad said, the village is waiting to receive notification on whether or not it will receive a $500,000 grant for concrete to decide if the final project will be done with paved concrete or asphalt. Once they know if they received the grant, the village will be able to start the project.

“If we get the grant, the project will be delayed a little bit to start so we can get those funds in order,” he said. “If we don’t get it, the good news is that we will be able to start on the project sooner as we will be repaving the street with asphalt.”

Because of the street’s location near the Land O’ Lakes plant, Helgestad said the project will be done in three stages so workers at the plant will be able to access the building at all times during the project.

“We had a discussion with Land O’ Lakes about the timeline of the project and discussed how we were going to do it so they had access to everything,” he said. “They are happy with the arrangement.”

There will also be a street project on Highway 13. The Department of Transportation is in charge of that project, which will see improvements made to Highway 13 between Colby and Spencer. Most of that project will not affect the village, said Helgestad, until work begins at the East Clark Street/ South Pacific Street intersection. The DOT has been working with both the village and the Spencer School District on the intersection, which will be changed to address concerns with street crossing.

“They will be changing the intersection after the DOT consulted with the village and the school district to find a better way for pedestrians to cross the street,” he said. “On the north end of the intersection, it will be changed from having four lanes of traffic to just two lanes, with a middle lane that will be for turning. It will be similar to some of the roads that you see in Marshfield. The hope is to make it safer for kids to cross that intersection when they go to and from school. They won’t have to try to cross four lanes of traffic.”

When asked about the timeline for the Highway 13 project, Helgestad said he wasn’t sure when exactly work on the intersection will begin, but he expects it to occur some time later this summer. Traffic from Highway 13 will be rerouted at that time to Highway 97.

Helgestad also briefly talked about construction of Well 7. The new well has been drilled and a building will be constructed at the site this year. Due to its distance from other wells in the village, Helgestad said the new well will have its own water treatment system, which will have enough capacity to have up to two other wells hooked up to it, if new wells would be dug in the area.

“We will eventually need to find Well 8,” he said. “The search for water does not stop. The plant will be built with the idea that any new well in that area can be connected to the treatment system in that building.”

Bauer also spoke at the meeting, giving his annual report on the incidents handled by the Spencer Police Department in 2023. Last year, he said they took care of 2,494 incidents. The top calls for the year were traffic stops (847 incidents), extra patrols (254 incidents), service miscellaneous (184 calls), medical emergencies (155 calls), criminal complaints (107 calls), follow-up investigations (90 calls), business security checks (56 calls), nuisance on private property (54 calls) and parking (50 calls).

After he gave his report, Bauer answered several questions from residents about some concerns they had regarding traffic stops as well as concerns about malfunctions of some of the lights at the railroad crossings in the village. Bauer said the best way for the department to be able to help in those incidents is for people to call their number so they can get out there and keep the village safe.

“If you see a problem, call us,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Bauer said residents can call 715-659-5453 to contact the Spencer Police Department with concerns. On the prompts, he said to press 1 to reach them directly. If there is no answer right away, he said there is a system in place that will send the call to the local dispatch center after the fourth ring. From there, residents can speak to a dispatcher about the problem and the officers will be alerted on their radios and will respond.