Village of Stratford speed limits to change on STH 153
By Casey Krautkramer
The Stratford Village Board on Dec. 12 reviewed the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) traffic study it conducted last summer on STH 153 in the village east and west of the intersection of STH 97/153.
Tony Kemmitz, traffic safety engineer at the state DOT’s Rhinelander office, sent a letter to Stratford Village Board president Keith Grell stating the current 25 miles per hour speed limit on STH 153 in the village will be raised to 30 miles per hour. Kemmitz told Grell the DOT will extend the 45 miles per hour speed limit zone to the west village limits on STH 153 and from South 4th Avenue out 0.6 miles to Karen Drive. The new speed limits will not go into effect until the DOT installs the new speed limit signs on STH 153.
Tom Koontz, who is celebrating his one-year anniversary as Stratford Police Chief, told the village board he is concerned about people at first thinking the speed limit is still 55 miles per hour by the bridge at the bottom on the hill on STH 153 near Karen Drive, even after the speed limit is changed to 45 miles per hour. He said it may take motorists some time to adjust to the new speed limits on STH 153 in the village.
Stratford village residents can view the DOT’s traffic study on STH 153 by clicking on the following website link: http:// tinyurl.com/2023-Hwy-153-Traffic-Study.
In other news:
n The village public safety committee will discuss the issue of people driving ATVs/UTVs on the village dump property on STH 153.
n Village board members voted to allow Bill’s Service Center to build an addition onto the front of its building so it meets Polaris’ requirement to have a larger showroom. The business will not be allowed to park vehicles between the new building addition and the front sidewalk on STH 97. n The village board approved to start having its regular board meetings at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday in February.
n Village board members approved the Klemme Reserve timber sale harvest to Weber Logging. Dale Heil abstained from the vote because he works with Weber Logging in the timber industry.
n The village board approved the discontinuance of a street that was originally planned to be constructed in the Sunset Ridge Subdivision. Katie Marten abstained from the vote because she lives in the subdivision next to where this street was planned to be built. Heil was concerned about another cul de sac being created in the village which makes it tough for village workers to remove snow off the streets in this area.
n Village board members approved changes to the village’s hunting ordinance to open or deny the special permit hunting area each year at the August village board meeting and to have five special zone hunting permits and 10 hunting permits for all other hunting zones designated in the village. The fee will be $15 per hunter and $30 total if a hunter is allowed to both hunt in the special zone and the normal zone.
n The village board approved changes to the employee handbook so all nonunion hourly employees will need to receive permission from their supervisor before they work overtime.
n Village board members met in closed session and then reconvened into open session to approve the sale of a parcel of land in the Stratford Business/Industrial Park to Premium Impressions, approve the sale of a resurveyed parcel of land in the business/industrial park to DuWayne Dahlke and to require him to pay for the completed Certified Survey Map and to approve the five-year first right of refusal for a parcel of land in the business/industrial park to Dropkick Properties.
