Stratford board tables vote on village lot sale

John “Rocky” Roggenbauer still wants to purchase the lot between Rocky’s Bar and the village of Stratford office but the village board isn’t ready to make a sale.

The village board tabled a vote on the lot purchase, which includes the village police squad garage attached to Roggenbauer’s building, at its July 14 meeting. Roggenbauer wants to create a small park on the lot to allow a place for his tavern customers to relax outdoors.

Roggenbauer is revisiting his plan to buy the lot after first introducing his idea to the village board nearly a decade ago. His initial plan didn’t gain any traction with the village board in 2012.

Stratford police chief Tim Miller opposes the village selling the property at this time, because the village has no alternative plan for an alternative police garage. A village of Stratford ordinance states the village board can’t approve the sale of the property without having a public auction or a sealed bidding process.

In other news:

_ The village of Stratford has hired part-time police officers Derek Wheatley from Athens and Alicia Lang from Wausau.

Stratford Police Department fulltime employees include Police Chief Tim Miller and patrol officers Kyle Guralski and Sydney Nussbaum.

_ Village police officer Guralski proposed to village of Stratford president Keith Grell his idea of beginning a Cops & Robbers program as a means of community outreach.

Guralski wants to work with Stratford High School’s agriculture department to conduct water testing anddetermine which village pond would be most suitable for sustaining a fish population. The village’s public works committee will likely discuss the idea once a detailed plan is in place.