Sept. 2010 Elmwood Village Board Meeting

HWY 72 to have a Detour for one week in Downtown Elmwood

Submitted by citizen journalist Rick A. Talford


Elmwood, WI - Monday, September 13,2010 the Elmwood Village Board approved the closure of HWY 72 in Downtown. There will be a detour for one week, taking traffic away from the Main St. and HWY 72 intersection. This will begin on October 4th. There will be repairs made to the street, as well as to the curb and gutter between Highland Hollow and Rheil’s Funeral Home. This will not affect travel on Main St. It will be closed off, similar to UFO days. In other Public Works information, the board also approved a bid from BS Construction to do the repair work needed in the Weber Addition and Butternut Park. Flooding last Spring caused plenty of damage and the Village received funds from the county to get things repaired. The bid of $21,700.00 was accepted for the repair work. The end date for the project is set for October 15th.

In Public Input, JoAnn Baier spoke to the board on behalf of the children and older citizens of the community in regards to the need of “Yield to Pedestrian” signs at the intersection of Main St. and HWY 72, as well as by the new Post Office location. She stated there are troubles crossing the street in the two locations. Another possible location would be by the old Quinn Motors building. This is a difficult intersection for anything to be done at. Other possible problems would be the fact that there is no sidewalk by the post office for a crosswalk to be put in place. JoAnn requested the board give authorization to the public works employee’s to look into this, adding she would do anything she could to help.

The Board then heard from Lynn Hartung on a ATV Trail Proposal for the village to connect with the trail system being run through the county. She also had Dave, a member of the SV Board and Co. ATV Association along to help explain the process they have went through, up to this point. The proposal is to have the trail enter the village on 110th street, and cross the road to Riverwood Drive, then to Eau Galle Drive, then connecting to the current snowmobile trail that runs through the village. This is the only area they can direct the traffic, due to most of the main roads in Elmwood are Numbered or County Roads. These roads are not allowed to be used for ATV traffic. There are plenty of hurdles for them to get pass for the trail to be allowed, with the private land owners, snowmobile club, village board, and the DNR all having to give the OK. They added, all the signs are provided by the association, with no cost to the village for the trail. Bob Weix of the Village board asked about who polices the trail, and it was answered the County Sheriff Dept. and the Village Officer would. This would be a issue for the Board to send forward to their committee for more discussion.

In other news, the Board appointed Pam Marson to the Zoning Board of Appeals. They approved one operators License for the Sandbar, with the Village Officer approving the application. The Village Clerk then provided information to the Board on a Election Contingency/Emergency Plan. This would be a basic plan in the case of a fire, bad weather, or power failure style emergency. The Election equipment would be moved to a safe location. At this time, they are waiting for a response from the High School Superintendent. The plan is to have everything moved to the HS Gym. She also added that it would be preferred that the Village Officer be on duty during the Election to ensure the safety of everyone. This received approval pending the response by the School Superintendent. Last up was the Committee and Board Reports, with the Public Works Committee already going through their information. The Library Committee information was given by Bob Weix. He stated the Library is planning on putting in a 24x26 cement pad, including a bike rack behind the building. This would include handicapped parking. The Budget is doing well, the circulation was at 1400, and Jamie and Josh from the Village came and repaired the roof for them. In Closing, Village President Stewart Thanked Jamie and Josh for saving thousands of dollars during the last heavy storms by coming in to work early and keeping the possible flooding problems away from the Village.

SAFETY NOTICE…..I would like to add a notice to all readers about a serious threat that I seen posted at the Village Hall. There are individuals using pop bottles to make bombs that can seriously injure you if disturbed. I have included the web site that you can go to and get the full story. Please do take this seriously for the safety of yourself and your family. http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/bottlebomb.asp