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April 9, 2008

Council approves jump start on Blackhawk street project

Last night’s Prairie du Chien meeting of the Common Council was a lengthy but busy one, involving sewer and water projects, a development agreement project, application for another grant, and a discussion of whether or not to purchase additional police cars.

Council approved a change order to the current sewer and water construction on Prairie and Main Streets to include the first block of Blackhawk Ave. This would remove the portion of Blackhawk between Prairie and Main from the pending bids for improvements to that street and allow that to occur a week or two ahead of the rest. The change, said City Administrator Jim Gitz, has been recommended by the consulting engineers and arises from the desire to have the street project completed by October.

Council members Frank Pintz and Aaron Collins expressed reservations about the change, stating they might get a better price if it were included in the bid for the rest of Blackhawk.

Bill Nelson, representing the consulting firm of Vierbicher Associates, said that this is not an addition to the work to be done, but a transfer. He said he would not expect to do significantly better on the new contract. Council member Jack Kluesner stated, "We’re ready; the merchants are ready; let’s get it done."

After a year’s delay, during which it was approved but never drafted or executed, the city acted on an agreement for development of Block 43, the property along Marquette Road north of Walgreens. Frable said it is virtually the same agreement as previously, but more specific with penalties added for noncompliance.

The agreement stipulates that there has to be at least one building with a value of $750,000 built this year, and improvements have to equal at least $1.5 million by the end of next year. Frable said he expects the first building will be a restaurant at the north end of the block.

Frable said that, all things considered, the project initiated in Feb. 2006 has moved quickly. The city received a $1.5 million grant from the DOT for land acquisition, cleanup, building demolition and other work. Walgreens was completed in October, 2006. Buildings were purchased and property owners successfully relocated to sites where they would be able to grow.

The city still owns Wolf Machine property on Block 43, and under terms of the agreement, the developer, Marty Rifkin, will pay $66,000 for the land. In addition, he will also pay back $37,000 of loan money by the end of the year. This money will go into a revolving loan program for downtown development. Over the next seven years, said Frable, there should be more than $200,00 in the loan program. "We wanted to be flexible," he said, "but we also wanted to ensure that we’re seeing additional tax money coming on the city’s tax rolls both this year and next. Walgreens, he added, has already brought in more revenue than expected.

Council turned down a Protection and Health Committee recommendation to purchase two more used police vehicles, but council members expressed willingness to revisit the proposal once enough data has accumulated to make an informed decision.

The police department has been buying used vehicles to provide each officer who lives within the city a car which can be taken home. Police Chief King said it was his observation that cars driven by one person received better maintenance, and he now wanted two additional vehicles for officers who lived outside the city but would not take the cars home.

Council member Pintz voiced one of the concerns—that there would be vehicles sitting around unused for hours at a time. Council member Collins suggested that, to achieve more personal responsibility, each person who comes on a shift go through a checklist and assume responsibility for that car.

Other questions related to cost effectiveness of the existing program. Council member Kathleen Hein said she felt they should start collecting data now. Phil Dagnon added that they could do a cost per mile per vehicle study over a 12 month period. Chief King said he was keeping all records to that could be accomplished.

Acting on a recommendation from the Public Works Committee, council approved an indemnification agreement for Godden’s Pit.

The contractor for the Senior Village project, which is next to the city-owned pit, had asked to be allowed to exchange topsoil from the project for fill from the pit if he cleaned it out. The proposal would exchange equal amounts of topsoil with sand from the pit. The end product, said Frable, would be a nicer pit and topsoil for city projects. Although the city feels that such onetime use would not require a mining reclamation permit, the agreement stipulates that the developer would pay for any fees or expenses incurred if such action is necessary.

Although the council approved taking out Bond Anticipation Notes for the 2008 sewer and water project, the financing will be only temporary. The city has received a $1.6 million low interest Clean Water loan from the DNR. The anticipatory notes are necessary, said Gitz, because the DNR loan will take months to process. As soon as the DNR loan comes through, the project can be refinanced.

Council also approved applications for a loan and a grant. Council approved application for a Ready for ReUse Loan for rehabilitation of the Quality Wood property. Frable said the city had been approved for a land recycling loan, which had many restrictions. The DNR suggested taking this loan off the table and substituting a zero interest ready for reuse loan which provides more flexibility. The loan has a repayment period of 20 years, and revenue from environmental TIFs would be used to repay it. Prairie du Chien, said Frable, is only the second community in the state to have received one of the loans.

Application for a second transportation enhancement grant which would extend the streetscape from Blackhawk to Wisconsin along Main Street was approved. The application is to extend amenities such as lighting and paving along this stretch, connecting it with the Hwy 18 bypass which would begin at Wisconsin. If the city receives the grant, the DOT will provide 80 percent of the funding and the city will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent. Frable said if they received the grant they would still have the option of declining it. Preparation fee is $2,100.

In other business, council:

•Approved a contract with Ayers for remediation on the Herried site. This would include demolition of the Quality Wood kiln, which would have to be decontaminated. Expenses would be covered by grants or matching funds. Although the city does not own the site, Frable said, it is an opportunity to help clean up a site and a possible opportunity for future development.

•Approved a land exchange with Cabela’s which will trade one 3.2 acre parcel for another. The exchange, said Frable, would give the city an opportunity to put together a few parcels for a larger development if one materialized.

Correctional staff show support for officer charged with sexual assault

A full courthouse of more than 50 people, including approximately 40 Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution employees, were on hand for the initial appearance of James L. Trentin in Crawford County Circuit Court Monday afternoon.

Trentin is charged with 22 counts of second degree sexual assault and six counts of procuring contraband for inmates while he was working as a correctional officer at the institution.

Trentin faces up to 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the sexual assault counts and 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each of the six counts of delivering illegal articles, if convicted.

A member of the correctional institution staff said that the correctional officers and other staff at the initial appearance were showing their support for Trentin, who began as a correctional officer at the institution in October of 2000.

Trentin has denied the charges during questioning by police. He is charged with having sexual contact with four inmates on numerous occasions between July 2007 and January 2008.

Special Prosecutor Tim Gaskell, the Vernon County District Attorney, asked Judge Michael Kirchman for a $10,000 signature bond for Trentin. Defense attorney Craig Day agreed with the signature bond. As conditions of bond, Trentin must have no contact with past or present inmates of Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for April 25 at 9 a.m.

Trentin has been on paid leave since Feb. 1.

City receives $200,000 grant

The city of Prairie du Chien received notice yesterday that it had received a $200,000 Brownfield site assessment grant from EPA to do site assessments for potential projects.

City Planner Garth Frable said the funds have been earmarked for the river front area including St. Feriole Island and downtown, but could potentially be used anywhere in the community. No matching funds are required from the city.

"It’s a nice feather in the cap to get it," said Frable. "It took us three years, but we finally picked it up."

According to the fact sheet accompanying the notification, a brownfield site is property whose redevelopment, expansion or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance.

The community description notes that over the past 30 years, many factories and industrial operations closed, and hundreds of jobs were lost. "The city," the statement reads, "is targeting sites in its historic riverfront and downtown areas for brownfields assessment. The area contains underused and abandoned properties in blighted and potentially contaminated condition. Brownfields assessments are expected to help the city leverage funding for the cleanup of contaminated sites and catalyze redevelopment."

April 7, 2008

VHS-related bait rule eased

Wisconsin wildlife officials have approved new regulations that would allow anglers to reuse bait minnows under certain conditions. The new rules went into effect April 4 and are designed to help contain the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS).

When VHS was discovered in Lake Michigan and in Lake Winnebago in May of 2007, the Natural Resources Board adopted emergency rules to contain the water-borne virus, which is deadly to fish. The rules applied to all VHS-affected waters, Lake Superior and the Mississippi River, which is connected to Lake Michigan.

In November of 2007, the rules were extended statewide. The rules prohibited moving any live fish off of any Wisconsin waters. In December of 2007, the board voted to make the rules permanent.

Some anglers and legislators objected, however, saying that the rules forced fishermen to throw away expensive, unused bait minnows at the end of an outing, even if they were fishing in VHS-free waters. Changes were demanded and the rules were sent back to the Department of Natural Resources.

The rules were modified on March 26 and took effect on Friday, April 4. Under the new rules, minnows must be purchased from a Wisconsin bait dealer. Unused minnows can be taken home if the minnows are to be used later in the same water. Unused minnows can be taken home and later used in a different body of water if they had not come in contact with the previous water.

For example, if someone were to fish in the Mississippi River and they kept their minnows in the boat in a container not connected to the river, they could take the minnows home and use them the next day in Lake Mendota in Madison, if they so choose. There would be no potential to transfer VHS.

Also, if an angler fished in the Mississippi River and put his minnows in a container over the side of the boat in the river, he could take his minnows home and then fish with them again in the Mississippi River. He could not, however, take those minnows to another body of water because they had already come in contact with the Mississippi River.

Under the new rules, nobody can harvest minnows in VHS-affected waters. This includes the Mississippi River. Although VHS has not yet been discovered in the Mississippi River, it is connected to Lake Michigan by way of the Illinois River. Wildlife officials think that it is just a matter of time before VHS is found in the Mississippi.

Mike Staggs, fisheries management director of the DNR, said that VHS is most active in the spring because fish stressed during spring spawning are more susceptible to the virus, enabling it to spread easier.

"The new rules (that went into effect on Friday) will continue in the foreseeable future," said Staggs. "They are currently under legislative review and will probably become permanent sometime within the next 30 to 60 days."

Staggs and other wildlife officials have urged anglers and boaters to get acquainted with and to follow the new rules.

VHS can’t hurt humans. But, the virus can cause a wide variety of trophy fish to bleed to death internally. Musky, trout, bass and numerous other species are all susceptible. VHS has caused massive fish kills in the Great Lakes.

Other provisions of the new rules require boaters to drain their equipment and to empty live wells before leaving the landing. Bait dealers must also get a permit to harvest wild bait from any water.

Street work begins

On April 1, work began on the sanitary sewer and water main project in the City of Prairie du Chien. The existing asphalt pavement on Main Street and Prairie Street was milled off to be recycled for other projects.

Beginning Monday, April 7, the intersection of Main Street and Blackhawk Avenue will be closed as the contractor, Rezin Construction of Tomah, installs a new manhole, sewer mains, and water mains. The intersection is expected to be closed all week. While the closure is in effect, Washington Street should be used for access to the island.

After utility installation in the intersection is complete, work will proceed north on Main Street, and the Main Street/Blackhawk Avenue intersection will be opened to traffic.

It is anticipated that work on S. Prairie from Blackhawk to Iowa St. should begin around May 1.

New curator has ancestral ties to Villa Louis

Susan Caya, the new curator of interpretation and collections at Villa Louis, is excited to be returning to work as a curator at the site where she had served as a part time tour guide since 1999, but she also has a very personal reason for her excitement: her own family history. Her great-great grandfather shows up on records as having purchased items from Hercules Dousman, and a great-great uncle was threshing on the Mill Coulee Farm, then owned by the Dousmans. Other family members also worked for the Dousmans.

Now, here she is, completing the circle, once again, in a sense, working for the Dousmans. "I’m very excited to have this position," she said, "As a part time tour guide I fell in love with the Dousmans and the house. I never expected to be a curator here."

In her new position, Caya’s duties include daily maintenance of the mansion and its collections, tours and tour guides, and special event programming.

According to director Michael Douglass, the curator position has been vacant for four years due to a lack of funding. Douglas said they had strong people in that position in the past, but he has since rewritten the job description to make it more focused on programs than previously. "We’re very happy to be able to hire for this position," he said, "It will enable use to increase our program offerings and explore new incomes."

Caya said she is looking at new special events to keep up attendance, and is also exploring new ways in which to use the collection. "We’d like to display things that people haven’t seen before and give them a reason to keep coming back."

Another goal, now that the house itself is almost completely restored, is to do more research on family members. Caya said she would particularly like to take a look at Jane Dousman, and would like to research all the children’s schooling, especially where they spent their high school years. She also hopes to obtain more information on the servants and their personal stories. "They were a very important part of this house and its history," she explained.

Caya has a degree in public history from UW-Whitewater and will receive a masters in history from UW-Eau Claire in May. Her hometown is Oregon, Wis., but her parents, George and Diane Caya, graduated from Seneca High School. She and her fiance, Charles Slusser, a history teacher in Oregon, plan an October wedding and then hope to settle somewhere in between to avoid a long commute for either of them.

In summing up her feelings about her new position, she says, "The Dousman history and collection are amazing; it’s exciting to be able to bring that to life and present it to the public. Prairie du Chien is a great place to work because it’s so rich in history—you’re surrounded by it."