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October 25, 2006 |
Prairie
du Chien City Hall council chambers were packed last night, mainly with
people objecting to the proposed stormwater utility.
Stormwater plan generates flood of protest
Although the public hearing on the proposed stormwater utility is yet to come, city council chambers were packed to overflowing last night with people, mainly those representing area businesses, protesting the project.
The original plan for the evening was to have the chairperson of the Stormwater advisory committee present the feasibility report to the council without public discussion. Mayor Cheryl Mader suggested there would be a better time for input from the public since several other meetings are scheduled between now and the time council considers the proposal at a Nov. 14 public hearing.
However, because of the overflow crowd and the request of several council members that they be heard, a number of representatives were allowed to speak. Council member Kathleen Hein was among those who expressed a desire to hear them out, saying, "I don't like to hear the opposition to a proposal for the first time just before I have to vote on it." Council member Frank Pintz agreed, saying that at least some of the people be allowed to voice their concerns.
Under the current system for stormwater, residents bear the greatest burden of expense, contributing 61 percent of the expenses. With the utility in place they would pay only 28 percent. While this represents a break for the residents, the rest of the expense would be picked up by non-residential properties.
This means, in some cases, a substantial increase in expense to businesses and non-profit organizations such as churches. At one time, an exemption for non-profit organizations was considered, but that would have increased the total cost to others.
Jim Hutchinson of Prairie Industries spoke on behalf of many of the business people present, saying he was afraid the city was creating a bureaucracy. The distribution of fees, he said, would be a big detriment to business. "This will be a big burden to industry," he said.
Brian Edwards, president of the Prairie du Chien School Board, said creating the utility would mean cutting the equivalent of half a teacher. "We're unable to raise the budget," he said, "and we have been forced to make cuts for the last seven years."
Speaking for the ministerial group, Father Hubert Boschert said the group could understand the need and the proposal made, but stated, "We certainly can't raise taxes to pay assessments."
An additional question raised by Ken Hess, owner of Prairie Fun Land, concerned compensation for businesses which have systems in place to handle their own stormwater. Joe Dorava of Vierbicher associates, engineering firm for the city, said that the proposal calls for setting aside 10 percent of the utility budget to credit such businesses, but he could not guarantee they would receive 100 percent credit.
Council members also raised concerns about the report. Nate Gilberts stated that "the money for schools will still come from taxpayers, and church money still comes out of taxpayers' pockets."
A major question arose about surrounding communities which contribute to the city's stormwater problems. Dorava said the city couldn't simply bill them but could approach them and hope they would agree to contribute their share of the costs.
In response to a question about why the basic unit cost (ERU) was so high compared to some other cities with a stormwater utility, Dorava said there were two reasons: Many of the cities with lower costs either had a much greater population or put their utilities in place prior to additional governmental regulations on stormwater. An additional factor is that the proposal for the city utility includes additional funding for solving some of the ongoing stormwater problems. "It has been planned for the first five years," he said, "and if we solve the problems we have, the costs should go down after that."
No decisions will be made about the utility until the Nov. 14 public hearing, but Mayor Mader suggested that those concerned view the feasibility report on the city's website and/or attend the Oct. 31 stormwater advisory committee meeting at 8 a.m. at City Hall, the November 1 noon meeting at Huckleberry's Restaurant or the official hearing.
In other business council:
´Appointed Pam Ritchie to fill the seats vacated by the resignation of Craig Moser on the Planning Commission, Design and Preservation Committee and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
´Passed an initial resolution vacating the alley in Block 44, Union Plat, running between Illinois Street and Marquette Road. The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., Dec. 5.
´Passed an initial resolution vacating streets and alleys on the site if the proposed senior village. The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 5
Joint dispatch project makes more headway
The Joint Dispatch project involving Crawford County and the city of Prairie du Chien took another significant step forward Monday night. During a meeting of the City-County Joint Dispatch Committee, members representing the city said that the city has financially committed to the project and have given the "go ahead" to City Attorney Tom Peterson to pursue the financial aspects.
It has been estimated that it would cost $370,000 to construct the new dispatch center and get it up and running. The costs would be split on a per capita basis between the city and the county, which means that the city would pay roughly one-third and the county two-thirds. There are 17,493 residents in Crawford County and a little more that 6,000 in the city of Prairie du Chien.
The city and the county would split the costs of the yearly operation of the joint dispatch center in the same way. A rough estimate of the yearly costs is $600,000. Crawford County Chief Deputy Jerry Matousek cautioned, however, that the joint dispatch center would have to be up and running for a year before the yearly operational costs can be truly known.
Stacey Black and John Harbaugh, who have been hired as consultants for the project, were on hand to answer questions concerning the technical aspects. Black told committee members that he would like to aim for Jan. 2, 2007 by which a vendor would be under contract for the construction of the joint dispatch center. The construction bid process, the selection process and contract negotiations should be completed by that time. The county can then tell Black and Harbaugh when they would want construction to begin.
At Monday's meeting, the committee voted to seek bids concerning furniture needed for the new joint dispatch center and for the construction. It was agreed that the current Prairie du Chien Police Department Dispatch Center would be the location of the joint dispatch center and that a wall will have to be taken out so that the room can be expanded.
Black also said that the committee should consider beginning the training process for dispatchers now.
"This project is moving forward," he said, in noting that crosstraining of city and county dispatchers would be necessary in order to have everyone ready by the time the joint dispatch center is completed and ready for operation.
Black noted that there are computer-aided training issues to be worked out, as well as having the county dispatchers and city dispatchers learn each other's jargon so that everyone knows exactly how to handle a law enforcement or emergency situation in the city or in the county.
"Training also helps to break down any barriers that may exist and would help to bring this together," he said. Black also noted that crosstraining could be done during inservice sessions so that the city and the county could get reimbursed by the state and therefore save on training costs.
John Harbaugh said that he is working on finding a way to retrieve data from the police department's computers so that no data is lost during the process of creating the joint dispatch center.
When the joint dispatch center is up and running, all dispatchers will be county employees. There will be either eight or nine dispatchers, depending upon the work schedule that is adopted. There will be two dispatchers on duty at any given time.
In addition to financial issues, technical issues and training issues, the City-County Joint Dispatch Committee is still working on personnel issues such as union contracts, wages and benefits. There are 12 jailer-dispatchers in the Sheriff's Department and three dispatchers and one dispatcher vacancy in the police department.
Chief Deputy Jerry Matousek has said that a joint dispatch center would be better for everyone, including the city, the county and the citizens.
The monthly meetings of the City-County Joint Dispatch Committee are open to the public.
City planner search narrowed to 3 candidates
The search for a city planner and zoning administrator to replace Garth Frable, who is resigning to return to Iowa, has been narrowed to three candidates from an initial list of 17.
Bridget Land of Middleton, currently a landscape architect working for MSA Professional Services, has bachelor's degrees in landscape architecture and communication arts and has done graduate study in art history.
Marc Dennison of Waunakee is working for Alliant Energy through Kelly Services as a product coordinator. He has a bachelor's degree in public administration, political science and Spanish, and a master's degree in public administration.
Marty Larson of Viroqua is employed by Smith Cycle and Fitness in La Crosse. He holds a bachelor's degree in geography and is working toward a master's degree in planning at Mankato State University.
The three will be interviewed tonight, but it is not known when a final decision will be made. "They all have backgrounds worthy of consideration," said City Administrator Gordon Gallagher.
October 23, 2006 |
Prairie du Chien School Board approves budget, discusses other goals and concerns
The Prairie du Chien School Board approved the final 2006-2007 district budget at a special meeting Wednesday night at B.A. Kennedy Elementary School.
The board approved of a general fund of $12,998,246, special projects of $1,923,889, debt service of $1,432,500, food service of $400,000 and community service of $225,000.
The district tax levy is $4,282,336, which is up from last year's levy of $4,166,786. The tax rate is $9.88, which is down from the 2005-2006 tax rate of $9.96. The tax rate for school purposes has consistently gone down over the past six years. The tax rate in 2001-2002 was $10.62, in 2002-2003 $10.43, in 2003-2004 $10.40, in 2004-2005 $10.46, in 2005-2006 $9.96 and in 2006-2007 $9.88.
With a tax rate of $9.88, the owners of a home valued at $100,000 would pay $988 for school purposes. This is down $74.03 from what it was five years ago. It is down $8 from last year.
The owners of a home valued at $75,000 would pay $741 in taxes for school purposes. This is down $55.52 from five years ago and $6 from last year.
Following the budget approval, the board heard presentations by Bluff View Principal Joan Wick, High School Principal Andy Banasik and High School Assistant Principal Ron Sedgwick concerning new ideas and possible new directions for the district, the district's goals, educational philosophy and issues and concerns.
Wick told the board about the Unit Plans, which are available to parents on the Prairie du Chien District website and which outline the evolving curriculum as pertaining to state standards. The website is www.pdc.k12.wi.us.
Banasik told the board about the possibility of making certain academic requirements tougher so students don't just slide by as their senior years wind down. He also talked about a speaker that he recently heard who had said that schools in Wisconsin and in the United States in general need to change how some subjects are taught to keep abreast of the times in a global economy.
Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the global marketplace has opened up immensely and thus, competition for jobs is keen. Banasik said that the United States, therefore, should be a bit "nervous" about countries such as China and India, which have much higher populations. In those two countries, all graduating high school students know two languages. In addition, by the time those students graduate, they will have had twice as much education time-wise as students in the U.S.
Banasik said that some other countries are beginning to look at schools in the U.S. as "museums" because U.S. schools haven't changed in their approach. The effect continues to be felt when students in the United States graduate from college and then seek jobs in businesses involved in the global marketplace. The thought is that United States' students will lose out to much more highly educated and qualified college graduates from other countries.
Banasik said that changing how biology, chemistry and physics is taught, for example, and making the requirements tougher, will be met with resistance from teachers, parents and students. Most change, especially if something hasn't been changed in a long time, is met with resistance. Yet, changes may be necessary, Banasik said. What worked well 20 years ago, doesn't necessarily work as well today.
He said that Wisconsin, for the most part, has had a stable economy and the education system has consistently ranked in the top five nationwide over the years. Yet, while schools such as Prairie du Chien are good schools, it might be high time to meet the challenge to push them towards becoming great schools.
Another concern that board members discussed was reading. It was noted that Prairie du Chien schools need to improve students' reading proficiency. Reading, of course, is of prime importance because all other subjects involve reading. If a student can't read or understand the "real-life" story problem in a math class, for example, he or she can't solve the problem correctly. If a student can't read at the proper level for their age, it reflects poorly upon his or her grades and proficiency in all subjects. Such a deficiency is carried over year after year throughout a students' educational career.
Need to upgrade nursing home spursdevelopment of senior village concept
When the Prairie du Chien City Council approved the rezoning of almost 15 acres of land from low density residential housing and agricultural to Planned Community Development last week, it brought a proposed senior village one giant step closer to realization, but the dream and the vision have been two years or more in the making, according to Harold Brown, chief executive officer of Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital and president of Community Health Services, the developer for the project.
It all began with the desire to provide a locally owned skilled nursing facility for the Prairie du Chien area. Since Wisconsin state law prohibits adding new nursing home facilities when there are beds available in existing homes, they needed a pre-existing structure.
In the fall of 2004, Community Health Services Corporation (CHSC), formerly known as Memorial Hospital Housing Association, purchased two nursing homes in the county, Prairie Maison in Prairie du Chien, and Sannes Skogdalen in Soldiers Grove. They invested between $250,000 and $300,00 to bring the Prairie Maison facilities up to a minimum standard.
However, despite the fact that the staff was able to provide quality care to the residents, an evaluation of the Prairie Maison structure by architects, engineers and contractors revealed it would take another 2.5 to four million dollars to thoroughly upgrade the building. At that time, the CHSC board of directors made the decision to research building a new facility.
That research, done in cooperation with PDC Midwest, a planning and development architectural firm, the CHSC board and the city planner and planning commission, bloomed into a plan for an entire senior village.
The hospital board, said Brown, had been talking about a senior village for a number of years. Brown credits board members Judy Bebow of Prairie du Chien and Bill Burke from McGregor for promoting this idea.
With the concept already discussed, the availability of funds the hospital had been accumulating for long term care and a feasibility study done by PDC Midwest showing a need, the time was right, and things fell into place.
According to Bob Gummer of PDC Midwest, the study, encompassing an area within a 60-mile radius of Prairie du Chien, showed that although the area population was not expected to grow rapidly, the senior population would increase dramatically, and the demand for senior care facilities would exceed the existing capacity in the community.
The result, still on paper, is a complete senior facility, ranging from skilled nursing care to independent senior condominiums and cottages to be built on a 15 acres site near the hospital, bounded by Taylor and Webster Streets to the north and south, Talbot and Fillmore Street (both platted but not built) to the east and west.
In particular, the nursing home would have 95 beds to replace the 95 beds in Prairie Maison, which will probably be razed. There will be an assisted living residence with 30 units, a senior condominium with 20 units, 14 single and duplex cottages, and a village square, with a multi-purpose community room and shops such as a barber and beauty shop, convenience store, gift shop, ice cream parlor and coffee shop.
Although the rest of the site will be developed and owned CHSC, the hospital plans to build a new rehab center on the campus, including a wellness center, as an outpatient facility. This would be convenient to the senior village as well as to other patients, since parking facilities would be adjacent to the building.
The new rehab center would ease the crowding in the hospital. Both the emergency room and the rehab center have seen increased demand in the last few years, and if the rehab center is moved, there will be room for expansion of emergency room facilities. Brown said that when he came to the hospital in 1973 there was one part time person who worked in the rehab center three days a week. At present, there are 24 staff members in the center.
Apart from the condominiums and cottages, the other campus buildings will be interconnected, making it easy to move between the buildings despite the weather.
Although the housing will be reserved exclusively for seniors, the planners envision a campus which can be accessed by the entire community. There will be walking paths around and within the perimeter of the campus, and area residents may be interested in many activities in the community room as well as the shops in the village square.
The Board hopes to sell the existing five acre site of Prairie Maison to a developer for construction of residential homes.
Brown anticipates that groundbreaking could take place as soon as next spring, but there is much to be done before then. They have a verbal commitment to purchase the land, but that has to be finalized; streets have to be vacated and a great deal more planning has to be done. Nevertheless, the CHSC board hopes to have the first phase, the nursing facility, assisted living and village square, completed by fall of 2008, and the entire project finished within three years.
Planners are still working on a cost estimate, but the hospital has committed up to $10 million to be donated for the project.
In summing up the plans, Brown said "It is a non-profit community project for the entire community. We certainly hope the community will back the project."
