Warehouse won’t be an eyesore

A new business is moving into Cadott, at 653 Tower Drive, to house traffic control equipment and supplies. Located at the old Viking Sink property, approval was secured from the village board, Aug. 18, to get the warehouse up and running.

“The use meets all the zoning requirements,” said representative Lee Gregory.

Currently, the business has a location in Altoona and one in Eau Claire, but is consolidating the two and moving to Cadott, employing 20-25 employees. The property will store glass beads and paint in the warehouse, and store orange cones outside, but out of sight of the road.

“We want to be good neighbors,” said Gregory.

The board also approved a utility easement for the Winger development, in accordance with wishes from the school district. Members wished the project well and gave their full moral support.

“We’ll do everything we can to help you,” said village president Randy Kuehni.

Members also approved Resolution 2025-8, authorizing village employees who are part of emergency services, to respond to fire and ambulance calls during work hours.

“Emergencies are emergencies,” said village trustee Ronnie Duncan.

Also approved, was giving public works director Jeremy Kenealy authorization to bid on a truck for the department, on the Wisconsin Surplus Auction. The vehicle is only three years old and has 16,000 miles on it, having been used in a similar setting and is already outfitted to what the village needs.

“We looked into it and it’s actually a really good deal,” said Duncan.

Kenealy was given the go ahead to place a maximum bid of $30,250, if needed, as well as the auction fee.

“Any higher than that, we may as well consider getting a new one,” said Duncan.

While there was no guarantee that they will win the bidding, it was agreed there was no harm in trying.

“If we have the opportunity to get it, it’d be a considerable savings,” said Kuehni.

The board also agreed to have village clerk April Bruhn set up a separate tax account, as a new tax software system through Chippewa County, is in the works, for residents to pay online.

“I didn’t feel comfortable using our main account,” said Bruhn, adding that the payments could then be transferred to the main account.

Members also agreed to an understanding with Brightspeed, who is updating their pole attachments.

It was also reluctantly agreed to accept the resignation of Tony Helstern, as a full-time police officer, with Helstern staying on as part-time officer. He leaves the full-time position to be a criminal justice program teacher at CVTC.

“He’s a good officer,” said Kuehni.

They also agreed to move the next board meeting to Wednesday, Sept. 3, because of the Labor Day holiday.

As for the County Hwy. X project, there are approximately five or six days of pipe work left, before getting down to the actual construction. However, it hasn’t been without its challenges, as a few unexpected catch basins were discovered, that apparently drain somewhere onto the Winger property.

“We have no idea where it discharges,” said Brian Chapman, Cedar Corp.