Curtiss looks at adding sidewalk by apartments
With three new apartment buildings filling up, Curtiss is looking at installing sidewalk on its busiest stretches of road as part of a road reconstruction project being considered for county funding.
At a monthly board meeting on Dec. 7, DPW Larry Swarr said he spoke to Clark County officials about putting in sidewalks on the north side of Matthias Street, going one block east of CTH E, and on the east side of Plaza Drive, going south and east toward the apartments. Another stretch of sidewalk is also being considered that would connect with existing sidewalk in front of the new apartments and go east to the driveway of the Abbyland Foods distribution center.
This would allow apartment tenants who work at work either the Abbyland Foods pork plant or the distribution center to walk on sidewalks instead of sharing the roadway with semis and other vehicular traffic.
Swarr said he’s noticed there are not many vehicles in the apartment parking lots, suggesting that many of the tenants are permanent pedestrians.
“There’s got to be several families in there with no vehicles, that are just walking,” he said.
The village is applying to the county for Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) funds, which will be used to reconstruct portions of Matthias Street and Plaza Drive — two heavily traveled roads leading to Abbyland’s truck stop, truck wash and distribution center.
“We should really have sidewalks there,” said trustee Jon Unruh.
MSA Professional Services has provided the village with estimates to construct sidewalks along those roads. According to those estimates, constructing five-foot sidewalk on Matthias Street, from CTH E to the existing sidewalk on Plaza Drive, would cost about $76,000; finishing the sidewalk all the way to the distribution center would cost another $27,000.
All together, the cost of sidewalk would add about $100,000 to a road reconstruction project that’s estimated to cost about $740,000. The village expects to get as much as 90 percent LRIP funding for the project, with the work taking place in either 2024 or 2025.
The village’s portion of the sidewalks would be between $20,000 and $30,000, according to Swarr.
Swarr said the county would like the village to provide a daily count of pedestrians on the roads when considering the funding request.
The board approved a motion to include sidewalk funding in the LRIP application, and to have Swarr speak to Abbyland about connecting the sidewalks in front of its apartments to any future sidewalk.
Curtiss has already been awarded $15,000 in LRIP money for reconstructing a portion of Matthias Street on the west side of CTH E, where several potholes have formed. That work will take place in 2022.
Representatives from RWE Renewables spoke to the board about a proposal to lease 170 acres of villageowned land for the possible installation of an underground electrical transmission line for a wind farm in northeast Clark County.
“Even if we only use a tiny portion of it for the collection line, if you participate with a 170 acres, you would receive compensation for that entire 170 acres,” said Timur Shevket, wind development manager for RWE.
The collection line would be installed at least 48 inches below the surface using open trenching, Shevket said. It would connect several wind turbines together from land in the neighboring townships.
Shevket said the village could continue to use the land for whatever it wants, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the collection cable underneath.
“We’re not taking away any of your rights on the property,” he said.
Shevket said RWE has already enrolled 7,500 acres for the wind farm in the towns of Mayville and Hoard, which is about halfway toward the company’s goal of encompassing 15,000 acres.
If Curtiss were to sign an agreement, it would receive a per-acre payment just for offering its land for potential usage.
“With this easement, you would still receive compensation for the land even if there’s no collection line installed,” Shevket told the board.
The RWE representatives presented village officials with a sample contract to read over and promised to stay in touch about the possible land lease.
Abbyland asks for 4th option
After presenting Abbyland Foods with three options for upgrading the village’s wastewater treatment plant, the company asked for a fourth option that would allow it to reduce the amount of waste it hauls away.
Two of the three initial options presented by the village would have allowed Abbyland to pump more waste to the village’s treatment plant, but the company wants to know what it would cost to also treat waste that is normally taken to the company’s treatment plant in Abbotsford.
Swarr said a sampling station has been set up at the hauling point so the village can get a better idea of what kind of waste it would be treating.
The village is working with engineering firm CBS Squared to develop plans for the sewer treatment plant upgrades. Board members reviewed a master contract presented by the company, but did not approve it at the Dec. 7 meeting.
Trustees did approve a motion to pay CBS Squared up to $3,500 for developing a fourth option for Abbyland to consider, and another $2,000 to work on a dewatering proposal that will remove groundwater from underneath the village’s sewer treatment lagoons.
Swarr also shared an email exchange between him and CBS Squared engineer Jon Strand regarding the village’s desire to have an active role in designing the plant upgrades — beyond what a typical municipality may request.
“We agree that none of your ideas will be dismissed without your approval,” Strand wrote. “We do need to design according to state statutes and codes. We also need to use good professional judgement for our designers and our design work needs to be a benefit for the overall public that we are serving.”
_ Village president Betty Rettig said she recently spoke to the village president of Dorchester, who is still “very interested” in sharing a Clark County deputy with Curtiss, which would allow for more regular patrols and enforcement of local ordinances.
“It’s still an open option,” she said.
Rettig said the opening of three new apartment buildings in Curtiss — and the use of STH 29 as a major conduit for drug trafficking — creates a need for the village to have a regular police presence.
Clark County deputies currently patrol the village when available, but for a cost of about $28,000 per year, a deputy would be assigned to spend about 20 percent of his or her time in the village.
Right now, Unruh said the village doesn’t have the money in its budget to pay for a portion of the deputy’s wages. He said the board will have to see how much tax revenue the new apartments add to the general fund and how much more rent money the village can get for its fire hall.
“Having someone patrolling here would be beneficial,” he said. “We just need the money to do it.”
_ The board approved a motion to work with the Wisconsin Geological Survey to survey the area’s underground topography in order to find promising locations for groundwater. This could reduce the number of test wells that need to be drilled as the village searches for more water.
_ The board appointed Jane Stoiber as the village’s chief election inspector for 2022, with Kris Erdman, Nick Wirtala and Bob May as poll workers.
_ The board approved the purchase of a five-gas meter from Vorpahl Fire and Safety for $1,872. The meter will be used by village employees when working in certain confined spaces.
_ The board approved a motion to pay $316.88 in annual dues to the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, which provides legal guidance and other information to village offi cials.
_ The board reviewed a proposed ordinance regulating mobile home parks within the village, as prepared by Swarr. Board members questioned a provision that would require the owner of a mobile home park to keep a registry of all guests that could be reviewed by the fire department and “state and federal officers.”
Swarr said the registry would be used in case of an emergency to determine how many people could be in each trailer, but Unruh thought it would be impractical to require such a registry.
“I don’t know how we could enforce that,” he said.
Swarr said he would check with the League of Municipalities to see if a registry was a state legal requirement. He said it would most likely apply only to permanent tenants.
_ The board discussed a proposed land swap with D& S Milling in exchange for the village abandoning Bowen Road, which runs right in front of the mill. Unruh and Rettig both said they would like to see the road remain open if possible, and Swarr said he’s not sure if D& S can build a new mill after the original was destroyed by fire, due to road setbacks.
_ The board authorized Swarr to purchase a new drill press for up to $350.
_ Swarr told the board that he was really disappointed in the work done by KLM Engineering, which was hired to inspect Champion Tank’s refurbishing and repainting of the village’s west water tower. He said multiple rust spots and areas of improper painting were left behind. The board voted to pay KLM and Champion only half their contract amounts and to seek a second opinion from the another inspection firm.
_ The board reviewed estimates from Lane Tank Company to fix a circulating pump, vent and drain pipe on the village’s east tower. Trustees asked Swarr to get additional quotes before making a decision.
_ Unruh praised MSA engineer Mike Voss for continuing to work with the board through billing disputes and other differences of opinion between the board and the company.
“Mike has done a great job representing MSA to the village,” he said.
