Marathon trustees accept CTH B transfer
The Marathon City Village Board last week Wednesday voted 4-2 to accept a section of CTH B as part of the village road system after the Marathon County Highway Department repaves the highway next year.
Voting for the jurisdictional transfer were trustees Connie Ruplinger, Ken Sorenson, Keith Paul and Barb Parlier. Voting no were trustees Mark Ahrens and Jeff Lawrence.
Village administrator Andy Kurtz reported that the county would reconstruct and widen CTH B with a four-inch blacktop mat and four-to-five foot wide pedestrian and bicycle lane. The county would pay to install curb and gutter along a stretch of the road.
He said the new road would likely last 20 years after which the village would be responsible for its maintenance.
Kurtz said the stretch of CTH B would add to the village’s inventory of roads and help boost state transportation aids, but only to a degree.The main way you increase the aids, Kurtz said, was spending money on road maintenance. In this case, he explained, the county was spending the dollars on road repair.
Trustee Ahrens said it made no sense for the village to take jurisdiction of the road. He said the village was already burdened with fixing more roads than it can afford. “We are borrowing money to fix roads,” he said.
Kurtz said the county had planned to repave CTH B whether or not the village took ownership of the road.
In other business:
n Police Chief Kory Gertschen said a speed enforcement program was underway. “For the most part, it’s doing okay,” he said. Gertschen said officers were paying most attention to CTH B and STH 107.
n Administrator Kurtz said the Marathon Fire Department received a $31,140 Wisconsin Department of Health Services grant to replace old defibrillators. The grant pays for new batteries, as well.
n Kurtz announced there will be an IRONBULL fat tire bicycle race through Marathon City on Saturday, Oct. 15. The village is part of a 50-mile loop.
n Administrator Kurtz announced that the Good News Project, Wausau, picked up 932 pounds of electronics during a recent village fall clean-up.
n Village board members discussed a proposed ATV/UTV ordinance but took no action. Administrator Kurtz said opening the village up for ATV/UTV use would require 17 to 18 signs at $50 apiece. He said individuals may collect private donations for the signs.
n Board members approved a $108,925 contract with KL Engineering, Madison, to design installation of STH 107 signal lights at the intersection with the North Business Park frontage road.
Trustees discussed the possibility of traffic lights at the intersection of STH 107 and MaraTech Ave. Administrator Kurtz said the DOT will not authorize signal lights at the intersection without an increase of daily traffic counts or accidents, including fatal accidents.
n The board voted to plow its far-western 419 foot section of Otter Falls Rd. go-ing forward and to reimburse the town of Rib Falls $200 for plowing the section of road this past year. The town had sought $1,000 for five years of plowing. Trustee Sorenson voted no.
n Trustees approved Halloween trick or treating Sunday, Oct. 30, 3-6 p.m.
n The village board agreed to sell portions of East and Third Streets to Marathon Cheese Corp. for $120,805. The money will be used for Fourth Street sidewalk construction. Trustee Ahrens abstained from the vote.
