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Edgar OKs zoning request with one dissent

Edgar OKs zoning request with one dissent Edgar OKs zoning request with one dissent

The Edgar Village Board on Monday approved a property owner’s zoning variance request to construct a second garage despite a trustee’s warning that granting the variance would inspire other residents to ask for building additional outbuildings.

The board voted 6-1 to grant David and Jean Wright the variance to construct a second 12 by 20 foot garage with a five foot property line setback at 217 No. Fourth Ave.

The lone no vote was cast by trustee Jon Streit who said the village should defend its zoning code. He said Wright, who has a large lot, did not need a reduced setback.

“This concerns me,” he said.”You are opening up a can of worms that doesn’t need to be opened.”

Streit further argued that building the garage so close to a village alley would complicate how village employees plow and pile snow during a snowy winter.

Other board members did not share Streit’s concerns. Trustee Cathy Schueller said that Wright had a narrow lot and that lining up the second garage behind a first one with a reduced setback was appropriate.

Streit said the board vote would be precedent setting. “You can’t say no to the next guy who comes in here,” he said.

In other board business:

_ Board members approved up to $10,000 in change orders for the Royal/Gumaer Streets road blacktopping project.

_ The board voted to use rubberized wood bark as landscaping material around the Edgar Village hall, not rock. The board will get bulk prices for the material. Trustee Cathy Schueller is heading up an effort to update the village hall landscaping.

_ Board members agreed to continue to work with Scott Lemmer, real estate agent for First-Weber, to market lots in the Edgar Business Park. Under a proposal under discussion, business park lots would be sold for $2,000 an acre, administrator Jennifer Lopez reported, with First-Weber taking a commission from the sale of land. She said First-Weber would advertise the business park properties on its website and with signs. Details of a contract between First-Weber and the village are still being discussed, Lopez said.

_ Board members agreed to purchase three diffusers from Aeration Central, Wausau, for $3,184 as part of algae control in the Minnow Ponds Park swimming pond.

The diffusers will replace a broken water fountain that administrator Lopez said was “aesthetic” but did not control weeds and algae.

Lopez said the diffusers would work best with the addition of bacteria and, possibly, blue dye added to the water.

Trustee Jon Streit argued against the addition of chemicals and dye, saying that these materials would flow to the next pond as the swimming pond filled up with new water from springs. He said the addition of chemicals and dye would be a waste of money.

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