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March 3, 2010 |
By Jen Schultz
The house at 114 W. Cass Street in Prairie du Chien has been given a second lease to life thanks to Prairie du Chien Downtown Revitalization Inc. (PDRI) and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
In their fifth year of being present in Prairie du Chien, PDRI has expanded its work plan to include residential housing in the city of Prairie du Chien.
"Housing is an important part to the downtown area. It’s important to have an active residential base to support the businesses of downtown," states Judy Wall, Neighborhood Stabilization Program administrator.
PDRI is one of two Main Street Community Programs to receive technical assistance on housing from the state of Wisconsin. This assistance has led PDRI to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).
NSP was established for the purpose of stabilizing communities that have suffered from foreclosures and abandonment. NSP grants give communities the ability to purchase and redevelop foreclosed and abandoned homes in residential areas and restore them to homeownership. NSP uses stimulus money from the 2008 economic housing recovery act.
PDRI was awarded the NSP grant was achieved by Judy Wall in the spring of 2009. The house on Cass Street seems to be the perfect match for this grant program.
The Cass Street house has been abandoned for about two years. The previous owners left it with broken windows that exposed the house to weather and animals.
In August of 2009 the city condemned the property and filed a petition to tear it down. Members of the community were concerned about the effects of a vacant lot or a new building. They believed that the new development would not fit in with the style of homes on the rest of the block. Crawford County took possession of the home at the end of 2009 and PDRI purchased the home in the middle of Jan. 2010.
The demolition/clean-up process was completed last week with the objective to make sure the house was structurally sound. The next phase is to determine what amount of construction is needed to make the house habitable again.
"The house has great structure—its just been neglected. We’re hoping to restore the front and back porches; add a half-bath to the first floor; put in new sewer, plumbing and electric; re-roof the house and restore the fireplace and hardwood floors," Wall says.
The NSP grant has some restrictions to what PDRI can do with the house. They cannot turn over the house with repairs still needing to be done or repairs that will need to be done within the near future. PDRI can not sell the house at a profit. The house must be sold at market value. There is also an income restriction that the buyer must have an income under 120 percent of the county’s median income which is approx. $72,000 or less for a family of four. 69 percent of Prairie du Chien’s population falls into this category.
"This is an exciting process for the neighborhood and the community," says Wall.
Parties interested in the purchase of 114 W. Cass Street or NSP can contact Judy Wall at 412-1271.
By Jen Schultz
The Prairie du Chien Tourism Council gave their annual presentation to the City Council and Hoffman Hall gets another chance with a motion to develop a long-term plan at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
All members of the council were present at the March 2 city council meeting. Also present were City Administrator Aaron Kramer, City Attorney Tom Peterson, Park and Rec Director Michael Ulrich, and City Planner Garth Frable.
Michael Douglas representing the Tourism Council gave a presentation to the council and provided an annual report updating the council on the uses of the room tax revenue and plans for 2010. This is the 20th year of the room tax. Twenty years ago Prairie du Chien had 153 available hotel rooms; currently there are 435 hotel rooms in Prairie du Chien. The hotel tax is the Tourism Council’s main funding source. The Tourism Council’s activities include: creating informational brochures, general advertising in print publications, on the radio and over the internet, billboard advertising and movie advertising, email newsletter blasts, show promotions, cooperative ad partnerships, regional tourism center partnership, television advertising with Discover Wisconsin, Bald Eagle Event, and much more. Douglas also explained about the problems that the Tourism Council was facing including delinquent room tax payments.
The Board of Public Works and Park Board along with the Hoffman Hall Task Force agreed to move ahead with a multi-layered plan to developing a long-term plan to keep Hoffman Hall open and upgrade the facilities. The motion consisted of four parts:
•Have staff meet with HSR to determine a revised facility plan
•Develop accurate cost estimates for bid so council can clearly see what our costs are
•Develop a more detailed annual and long-term operational breakdown (revenues, partnerships, etc.)
•Allow staff to seek out professional fundraising group for capital campaign scenarios
City Planner Garth Frable is hoping for bid specs to be ready by March 15 and an entire report completed in about 8 weeks.
Mayor Steiner suggested that the council gets more accurate numbers and then send the Hoffman Hall decision to the general public as a referendum.
The vote passed 11 to 3 with Joe Ruskey, Mary Wayne and Frank Pintz Jr. voting against.
Other items discussed and acted upon by the council included:
•A notice given to the council by City Attorney Tom Peterson about the city’s position on a property foreclosure. The city’s CDBG program is involved in a foreclosure on Sarah Knight. The property is located at 863 N. Michigan Street. CitiMortgage, Inc is foreclosing on the first mortgage which is in Sarah Knight’s name. The amount of the first mortgage as of March 1 is $70,911.40. The city has a second mortgage on the property of $2,013. A motion was made to keep the city involved in the process in the hope that the city may recoup the money owed.
•The Finance Committee and Board of Public Works brought a motion forward to accept the outdoor pool bids involving the pool heating system pool tile replacement, hair/lint strainer and variable frequency drive pump. These improvements need to be done in order to open the pool this summer. Motion passed to approve.
•Authorization to bid for reservoir roof repair and replacement by the board of public works. The Water Dept. is seeking permission to spend up to $50,000, which was budgeted for in 2010 to repair and replace the roof on Reservoir #1. Motion passed.
•A new City Hall usage policy passed last night with Jaaren Riebe and Linda Munson against the motion. Under the new policy there will be a rental fee of $50 per room rented. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011 the rental fee will be $50 per room per event, with no organization paying more than $200 in a calendar year. An additional $25 per room per event will be charged if the event is a fundraiser for a non-profit event.
•A motion failed for permission to purchase a police canine vehicle. Many council members did not like the idea of purchasing a 2001 vehicle for $6,000.
•A motion passed to waive the development agreement job creation penalties for another year due to the state of the economy.
•Mayor Karl Steiner originally vetoed the LaRiviere Goverance Ordinance that the council passed on Feb. 23, but at the council meeting he withdrew his veto stating that he had talked with Park and Rec Director Michael Ulrich and believes that this will be a good idea.
•Mayor Steiner also vetoed the Prairie Maison Purchase Agreement the council passed on Feb. 23 The vote had directed the City Attorney Tom Peterson to redraft the agreement to make the contingencies correspond with the timetable to close on the property. Steiner vetoed the measure asserting the action was improperly noticed on the Feb. 23 agenda. Steiner said he was not against the redraft, just the way that it was handled in the agenda. The council passed a motion to override the veto.
•A motion passed to create a new ordinance prohibiting the retention of past due library materials. The motion was first drafted in Feb. of 2009 but was never acted upon.
•The council passed a motion authorizing City Administrator Aaron Kramer as the agent for the city to sign crop and other pertinent reports for the Farm Service Agency.
•A motion passed to apply to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for a Municipal Flood Control Grant. The application is to secure funds to assist homeowners to protect their homes from flooding either through elevating of the structures or through other flood protection measures.
•After reconvening into open session, the Council voted to delay the closing of the Prairie Maison Purchase until at least March 16 while a budget and plan for the project is finalized.
After the council meeting, the Common Council met as a Committee of the Whole to review a proposal to combine the current five committees down to three and set a possible schedule for the Committee meetings after the April election. After considerable debate, the issue was tabled.
March 1, 2010 |
Lots of ideas were tossed around on how to help offset the operational costs of Hoffman Hall at a joint meeting of the Public Works, Parks Board and Hoffman Hall Task Force on Thursday, Feb. 25. Several concerned citizens were in attendance as well.
The Hoffman Hall Task Force did not have a quorum as only 3 of the 6 members were in attendance, therefore no motions were made by that committee. The Public Works and Parks Board made a motion that will appear before the city council on Tuesday, March 2. The motion includes:
•Have staff meet with HSR (who did the original feasbility study) to determine a revised facility plan with more accurate and specific numbers.
•Develop accurate cost estimates for bid so Council can clearly see what our costs are.
•Develop a more detailed operational breakdown (revenues, partnerships, etc) for annual revenue and expenses.
•Allow staff to seek out professional fundraising group for a possible capital campaign scenario.
There was a general agreement that Hoffman Hall is a great facility to keep in the community. However members are worried about how the city will be able to afford the facility.
Ethics hearing rescheduled
The Ethics Board of the Prairie du Chien City Council has rescheduled the Ethics Hearing involving Mayor Karl Steiner and police officer Max Erickson for Wednesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall. The hearing was originally set for Monday, Feb. 22 but the mayor was hospitalized for an illness and unable to attend.
The dispute is from a Feb. 1 voicemail Mayor Steiner left for Officer Erickson regarding an election sign in Erickson’s yard for another mayoral candidate.
By Ted Pennekamp
With the approaching of spring, many people may soon be thinking about shifting gears and getting out for a good bike ride.
A $221,000 grant should enhance cycling opportunities for Prairie du Chien residents and visitors through the construction this spring and summer of another portion of the Prairie du Chien Area Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail.
The city adopted the Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail Plan in 2004 and many cyclists have enjoyed the trail on St. Feriole Island since its completion a few years ago.
Now the $221,000 Safe Routes to School grant will allow for the construction of another portion of the trail in the area of Bluff View Intermediate School.
A 10-foot-wide asphalt trail will be constructed from the intersection of Taylor and Fremont streets and will run east. The trail will then turn south and will run behind Bluff View. The trail will continue south along 22nd Street to Campion Boulevard. This portion of the trail will be a "dedicated" trail, which means that it will be separate from any roadway.
The trail will then run west on Campion Boulevard from 22nd Street to 11th Street. This portion of the trail is not dedicated and will be a shared roadway with signage and a painted line.
There will also be a 10-foot-wide dedicated trail constructed along Dousman Street from near the high school and running south to Wells Street.
The trail will then run east along Wells Street to Bluff View, where it will join up with the new trail. The portion of the trail along Wells Street will be reconstructed and widened from six feet to 10 feet. This portion of the trail will be dedicated.
Gary Koch of Community Development Alternatives of Prairie du Chien said that city crews can do the grading for the trail, and that an asphalt contractor and a sign contractor will need to be hired.
"Where hoping to be done by summer so that the trail is ready for the school year," said Koch, who noted that the trail will increase safety and will help alleviate congestion.
Eric Frydenlund of Community Development Alternatives said that the Safe Routes to School program also has an educational component and encourages students to bicycle or walk to school instead of getting a ride from their parents.
Frydenlund said that a volunteer or volunteers will be chosen to distribute free educational materials to students and parents or to give presentations about safety and other aspects of bicycling.
"We’re looking for more interested citizens, hopefully parents, to serve on the Safe Routes to School Task Force," said Frydenlund, who noted that the Task Force will meet in order to find the best ways of educating students and encouraging bicycling. There are about six people on the Task Force so far. Frydenlund said that upon completion of its mission, the Task Force will end. Anyone wishing to volunteer for the Task Force can call Community Development Alternatives at 326-7333.
Frydenlund said that walking or bicycling to school improves health and physical fitness, establishes positive walking and bicycling behavior, promotes independence and improves safety awareness, reduces congestion, noise and pollution in the community, and reduces the environmental impact of automobiles.
Frydenlund also emphasized that the new and reconstructed trails are not just for students, but will be there for everyone to enjoy.
"We are certainly hoping that local citizens, as well as tourists, will use and enjoy our trails," said Frydenlund. "The Safe Routes to School trails are meant for everybody."
