Lake Holcombe Town Board; Property assessments come back for residents

Resident Larry Becker asked if there were any updates on the sanitary district, during a regular Town of Lake Holcombe meeting April 13. Sanitary board chairman Buck Steele, who was also on hand at the meeting, said they did not get the audit results back yet, but did find out that the sanitary district is the whole town. The sanitary board also intends to send out postcards, since extra water is entering the system, likely from sump pumps. Photo by Julia Wolf

By Julia Wolf

Lake Holcombe Town chairman Brian Guthman said the big topic of the month, is the new assessments. The assessments were addressed as part of the chairman’s report, during a regular Town of Lake Holcombe meeting April 13.

Guthman says the first step people should take, if they have concerns with their assessed value, is to contact Prochnow Assessing. They can also attend the open book Saturday, April 22, from 9-11 a.m., at the Lake Holcombe Town Hall. The Board of Review is Tuesday, May 30, from 6:308:30 p.m.

“We didn’t really have any choice in reassessing,” said Guthman.

Guthman says either they had to hire someone to reassess, or the state would, to make sure they are in compliance.

He also says the Chippewa County road bans are set to end Thursday, April 20, and he and Ben Jordan, town roadman, will make a decision on the town roads, after the weekend.

“Depending on how our roads are, we may take them off of our roads completely, or we may keep some of the road bans on some of the roads,” said Guthman.

He also encouraged people to take the Chippewa County Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan survey, available until Friday, May 12, at www.surveymonkey.com/r/chippewarec. The survey helps identify potential future improvements.

Guthman also reported that he was able to share his thoughts on fiscal priorities at the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee listening session, earlier in the week.

“I did share with them, that water was running over the road on that day,” said Guthman. “And that we’d better start thinking about infrastructure and safety.”

He says he also talked about the need for more funding for fire and EMS services, especially as a new fire station building is in the works.

Resident Larry Becker asked if there is an update on plans for a fire department building in Holcombe.

“We do have the donated land for a place to put it up here,” said Guthman, adding the decision to move forward with building has not come up for an official vote yet.

He says they will know more after an upcoming fire board meeting.

Becker also asked if there is an update on the sanitary district. Buck Steele, sanitary board chairman, says they have not gotten the DNR audit results back yet.

Steele did report that he got paperwork back from the county and the whole Town of Lake Holcombe is the sanitary district.

“I got the legal description,” said Steele. Steele also says the sanitary district plans to send out a postcard.

“We’re having a problem with extra water coming in,” said Steele.

He says they think some people’s sump pump water may be going through the sanitary system, which can cause problems.

The board voted to go with L& M Mail and Courier, to print and mail the Comprehensive Planning surveys. Clerk Tracey Larson also asked the board to set a return by date for the surveys. They decided to make the date three weeks after L& M sends the surveys.

Guthman reminded everyone that the survey asks questions about things like transportation, education, recreation, community and housing.