July 11, 2008
Rib Lake board orders house to come down
by Brian Wilson
After years of working with the owner to try to get a property in the Village of Rib Lake cleaned up, board members voted on July 9 to move forward with the condemnation process.
The building located at 521 Maple Street is uninhabited and is in disrepair. Earlier this year, the village set out a series of conditions including the requirement for monthly progress reports and established goals to prevent the house from being demolished.
According to Village Clerk Dawn Swenson, the property is tax delinquent. The cost of the demolition will be initially paid by the village but charged back to the property owners as a special tax. This tax will be settled by the county if the property is taken on tax deed in the future.
In other business, the board:
Began the discussion on how the village should handle law enforcement issues. Police Chief Roger Engel resigned leaving a vacancy and Taylor County Sheriff's deputies are covering the village with extra patrols as a stopgap measure. At issue is if the village wants to continue to maintain its own police department or if a part-time department would be sufficient. It will appear for further discussion at the next village board meeting.
The board also discussed a proposed ordinance to enforce anti-littering rules in the village.
