17 Downtown BD Buildings Targeted for Demolition
7/23/08 - Recent flooding in Beaver Dam has led city officials to identify 17 downtown buildings for demolition, paving the way for a riverwalk. Its part of an extensive redevelopment plan approved by the Community Development Committee last night that also includes the elimination of a portion of the Tower Parking Lot, to free up the river flow, and the formation of a downtown TIF district The riverfront properties include Doc’s Corner and El Viejo Oeste on the 100 block of Front St, Julie R Dancewear on S. Center St, and the entire 200 block of Front Street, except Park Plaza Pizza. Under the terms of the redevelopment plan, the city would purchase the parcels from the property owner at 65% of the assessed value as part of a “one-time offer program,” or begin condemnation proceedings. Committee Chair Robert Ballweg (right) says the city’s action will protect the property owners from potential DNR condemnation proceedings due to floodplain restrictions. The estimated cost of land acquisition and demolition is just shy of $1.8 million, though the city will apply for state and federal grant funding. Beyond that, the city could borrow $1.5 million as part of the 2009 Capital Improvement Plan, possibly requiring officials to reprioritize some projects. The components of the plan, like the creation of a TIF district or financial expenditures, will require further committee or city council approval. Pictured Below: The 200 block of Front St in Beaver Dam.
New Developments Possible in Downtown Beaver Dam
Use of County Sales Tax Decided
7/23/08 - The Dodge County Board of Supervisors approved the allocation of county sales tax and general funds as part of the financial plan for the 2009 county budget during last nights monthly meeting. Included in the nearly $5.4-million is more than $2.3-million to rehabilitate and resurface county roads. The plan also calls for the county to start setting aside funds for the construction of two new jail pods at the justice facility and detention center. This year they plan to set aside nearly $2-million and will continue to do so until 2012 when construction will begin. Also outlined in the plan, is $2-million in undesignated general funds. These funds can be transferred at meetings scheduled to be held in August, September, October, and November of 2008. The money left over can be used to fill any holes in the 2009 budget. This past winter some undesignated general funds were used for paying the excess costs of snow removal.
DC Administrator Down to Three
7/23/08 - The candidates for the first Dodge County Administrator position have been narrowed down to three. The Human Resources Department issued a press release announcing current Dodge County Human Services and Health Director David Titus, Ogle County, Illinois Administrator James Mielke, and Portage City Administrator Larry Plaster made the latest cut. Those candidates will be invited to tour County buildings and operations August 1st, followed by meetings with county department heads and elected officials. The Board of Supervisors Executive Committee will conduct the formal interviews the following day. The goal of the Executive Committee is to forward a name to the full county board for approval during their August 19th meeting.
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7/22/08 - South Center Street in Beaver Dam could be reopened by this weekend. That’s according to Director of Facilities David Stoiser who says the county bridge inspector determined there was no damage to the South Center Street bridge. Cooper Street, meanwhile, has been opened for a week even though city officials anticipated extensive sub-surface damage as the result of high flood waters. Stoiser says usage of the two dumpsters on South Center is tapering off. He says he hopes to have them removed by Friday and the street back open by Saturday.
North Spring Street will be Closed Next Week
7/22/08 - North Spring Street in Beaver Dam will be closed for a week beginning next Monday so that the railroads tracks can be replaced. Director of Facilities David Stoiser says the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Company will be removing three of the rail lines and installing one new one. There is no cost to the city. The project is expected to take 5 days. A majority of North Spring Street will be closed next month for asphalt resurfacing. Rail officials told the city they wanted to act quickly on the replacement because they are hauling heavier loads like ethanol and need a heavier gauge track. The detour route will be Industrial Drive to Green Valley Road to Parallel Street.
BDACT MOU OKed
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7/22/08 - The Beaver Dam Common Council last night approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Beaver Dam Area Community Theater. Alderpersons approved the resolution on a 12 to 1 vote on the basis that it was a show of support for the community theater and not a binding contract. The theater wants the city to designate the land around the former YMCA building as a park. The non-profit organization is in negotiations to purchase the property and the park designation would exempt them from paying property taxes. Details about maintenance, liability and responsibility will be hammered out and voted on following the planned August 20th closing on the $450,000 Park Avenue property.
Ward 6 Applications Being Accepted
7/22/08 - The Beaver Dam Common Council last night approved the advertisement to fill the coming vacancy in Ward 6. Alderman Ron Andrews submitted his letter of resignation effective at the end of this month because he is moving out of the district. The application deadline is August 13. The council will consider the appointment at their August 18th meeting. The term runs through the spring 2010 election. Information will be posted on the city of Beaver Dam website.
New Co-Curricular Policy at Beaver Dam
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7/22/08 - A new co-curricular fee policy was unanimously approved last night by the Beaver Dam Board of Education. Principal Don Patnode says with the changing demographics of the community the ability for every student to afford the opportunity to play a high school sport was becoming even more important. The previous policy increased the fees on a yearly basis before topping out at $125 per sport and $500 dollars max per family. With the new policy, people who complete the Free and Reduced Lunch form will pay just $100 for athletics for the entire year. There will also be a $25 fee assessed to all students which will allow participation in all activities outside of athletics and will act as a ticket for all athletic and activity events.
End of the Year Monitoring Report Presented to Board of Education
7/22/08 - The final ends policies monitoring report was presented to the Beaver Dam Board of Education last night. The nearly inch-thick document outlines the academic progress of the students through the 2007-2008 school year. Beaver Dam Superintendent Don Childs (left) says overall he likes the way the final numbers played out but believes there is plenty of room for improvement, especially in special education. The board plans to discuss the report more during their August meeting after all of the members have a chance to digest the entire document.
DOT to Study Major Highway Flooding
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7/22/08 - The state D-O-T will see if there’s anything they can do to prevent future flooding on three major highways near Portage. Interstate-39, I-90-94, and Highway 33 were all closed during the June floods – causing major traffic delays and detours. Some of the road bases were eroded, and it took time to fix them. The D-O-T’s Todd Matheson says the study will determine how drainage affects the three highways, and how the roads inter-act with each other. He says the study could take months, and it will cost about 100-thousand dollars.
Toddlers Death Ruled an Accident
7/22/08 - Fond du Lac County authorities say the drowning of a 15-month-old baby girl in a family pool near Campbellsport was nothing more than a “terrible accident.” Investigators have ruled out foul play and neglect in the accident that claimed the life of Madison Gruber. The toddler apparently wandered out of a patio door onto a deck. She went down 15 stairs and fell into the pool. Madison had been playing with her 9-year-old uncle and another 12-year-old child just moments before the accident. The 9-year-boy was the one who found her floating in the pool. The infant wasn’t breathing when she was taken to St. Agnes Hospital where she died. (Bob Nelson KFIZ)
Attendance Figures Up at Columbus Pool
7/22/08 - Columbus Area Aquatics Center Pool Manager, Loren Glasbrenner, told the CAAC Board last night that revenues and attendance records are slightly above the numbers for the two previous years of operation. Pool families were also told that the Board decided to add Wednesday evenings to the “Toddler Time” currently held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the outdoor facility. Starting August 1st membership passes will be available at reduced prices as the C A A C enters the final full month of the Aquatic Center’s summer swim programs.
1-Vehicle Rollover in DC
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7/21/08 - A 25-year-old Columbus man was seriously injured in a one vehicle rollover accident late last night. According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, Neil A. Dykstra was traveling southbound on Highway 73 in the Town of Westford just before 10pm, when he failed to negotiate the curve, lost control and overturned. Dykstra was flown by MedFlight to the UW-Hospital in Madison. It is not known if Dykstra was wearing his seat belt but officials say alcohol was a factor.
Teen Killed in Sheboygan Crash
7/21/08 - A 19-year-old Sheboygan Falls man died early this morning after his car collided with a Sheboygan County Sheriff’s squad car. The deputy was responding to a call for assistance from another deputy when the teen pulled out in front of his squad at County Highway OK and Stahl Road. The teen’s car rolled into a ditch and the squad caught fire, but the deputy got out. The Sheboygan Falls man died at the scene. The deputy was taken to St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan where he was treated and released. The State Patrol is handling the accident investigation.
Fond du Lac County Toddler Identified in Drowning
7/21/08 - A young Fond du Lac County girl who drowned in her family’s swimming pool has been identified as 15-month-old Madison Gruber of the town of Osceola. Sheriff’s deputies said Madison’s nine-year-old uncle saw her floating in the pool on Saturday, and pulled her out. She died later at a Fond du Lac hospital. Officials said the toddler was playing in the house when she went through an unlocked patio door to the pool.
Markesan Puppy Mill Adoptions Underway
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7/21/08 - The first dogs rescued from a puppy mill in Green Lake County have been adopted. The Wisconsin Humane Society of Milwaukee gave 67 dogs new homes this weekend. Spokeswoman Angela Speed said folks lined up to adopt some of the 11-hundred pets to be made available from the Puppy Havens Kennel in Markesan. The Wisconsin Humane Society bought the facility, and it plans to shut it down. It was one of the nation’s largest puppy mills. And it had numerous complaints from both local-and-national humane groups about the way the young dogs were treated. Speed said the dog rescue has drawn worldwide attention – and people from England and India have called to ask how they can help. While some waited in line for pets this weekend, others dropped off donations to the Humane Society. Speed says more pets will arrive at the shelter on Milwaukee’s west side almost daily.
Gas Prices Dropping
7/21/08 - Wisconsin gas prices are almost nine cents cheaper than they were four days ago. That’s according to the Triple-“A,” which reports a statewide average of 4.02-point-seven per gallon for unleaded regular. That’s down from almost 4.11 last Thursday. Crude oil prices went down on international markets last week. The decline was almost 20-dollars a barrel, from a record of 147-dollars set July 11th. Beaver Dam is at $3.99 along with Johnson Creek, Horicon, Mayville, and Watertown. The high price is in Park Falls at $4.23; the low price in the state is $3.79 in Rhinelander. Milwaukee Gas Prices-Dot-Com reports a 32-cent swing in gas prices – from 3.87 to 4.19. Observers say some of the lower-priced stations might not take credit cards, and the convenience fees that must pay with that.
Weekend Garage Fire in Beaver Dam
7/21/08 - Fire damaged a garage and destroyed a truck in Beaver Dam over the weekend. Authorities responded to 139 Burchard just after 1am Saturday morning for a report of a vehicle fire. The garage itself sustained minor damage but the pick-up inside was a total loss. Firefighters were on the scene for about two hours. Beaver Dam Fire Captain Don Wellnitz says there has been no determination as to the cause of the fire.
Authorities in BD Look For Hit and Run Suspect
7/21/08 - There were a couple personal injury accidents in Beaver Dam this weekend. A nine-year-old girl was struck by a vehicle on the 100 block of Haskell Street Saturday evening just after 6pm. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene and authorities are still looking for him. He is described as a white male with blond, curly hair driving a green Grand-Am. Beaver Dam EMS responded, treated the girl at the scene but she did not require hospital transport. On Friday morning, a woman struck a 70-year-old man who was driving a moped on Beichl Avenue. The man was transported to the Beaver Dam Community Hospital for treatment of a broken ankle.
Weekend Beaver Dam Police Beat
7/21/08 - A Beaver Dam man was cited for Disorderly Conduct Saturday morning for allegedly threatening a woman with a knife. The victim reported that Jason Valdovinos approached her while she was sitting in her vehicle on Beichl Avenue and made threatening remarks. The suspect fled when authorities were called but was apprehended a short time later, cited and released to a responsible party.
Officers responded to a breaking and entering report at St Peters School on South Spring Street Sunday morning. Forced entry was made to gain access to the building but there was no other damage reported and nothing missing.
There was also a breaking and entering report on the 200 block of West Maple Avenue on Friday afternoon. The victim reported the theft of money, food and other items.
Lake Delton Business Owners Struggling
7/21/08 - Business owners on muddy Lake Delton cannot wait for the summer to be over. Dawn Baker, who co-owns the Sunset Bay Resort, still pleads with folks not to cancel their reservations. She said the mud-filled remains of Lake Delton are not bad, just different. But her revenues are down 60-percent this summer, as Baker blames worldwide news coverage of the lake being flushed the down the Wisconsin River on June ninth. Heavy rains caused a breach in the lake and the buckling of nearby County Trunk "A." Officials say both will be fixed by next summer. But Bill Stecky says it won't help him. He had to re-finance his bait shop to keep it in business -- and he fears it will take years for the fish to return to Lake Delton. The Tommy Bartlett Show continues with its stage and sky elements, minus its world-famous water-skiers. But it only gets just a few hundred people per performance. Last month, Governor Jim Doyle freed up a quarter-million dollars to help tourist businesses cope with the flooding -- and the state has an ad campaign in Chicago and the Twin Cities to convince folks that Wisconsin is not under water.
Sesqui-centennial Plates Nearing End
7/21/08 - Almost 210-thousand Wisconsin vehicles still have the state’s 150th anniversary license plates from 1998. And the D-O-T will stop giving out replacement Sesqui-centennial plates on August first. That’s because the supply is almost gone. The plates were extremely popular around the time of the state’s anniversary. But they have not been given out since ’98 except as replacements. Those with Sesqui-centennial plates can get them renewed if they act by August first. After that, those folks will go back to the state’s normal design.
Wet Cars Airbags “Ticking Time-Bomb”
7/21/08 - A number of vehicles damaged by last months flooding could be a big hazard to your health. General Motors is attempting to get the word out that if certain cars ever get wet, and the floorboards were soaked, drivers should stop driving the car and disconnect the battery. According to GM, the air bag module is located under the passenger seat in some models made in 1996 and 1997. If the module gets wet, it makes the air bag a ticking time bomb. The cars at risk include the Chevy Cavalier, Pontiac Grand Am, Pontiac Sunfire, Buick Skylark, and Oldsmobile Achieva. Drivers who own a 1996 or 1997 model of these cars should have their electrical systems checked if the car was flood-damaged.
Campaign Finance Reports Due Today
7/21/08 - We'll have a better idea by tonight how well the candidates for the state Legislature are doing. Those candidates have until the end of the day to file their campaign finance reports with the Government Accountability Board. The only place where Democrats have an uphill battle this fall is in the state Assembly, where they need to gain three seats to win the majority. Republicans are fighting that effort -- and they're working to regain control of the Senate, where they need to gain two seats in November. Meanwhile, political insiders are curious to see how much money Governor Jim Doyle's campaign has raised for that contest in 2010. The Democrat Doyle refuses to say if he'll run for a third term. But he's trying to raise as much as he can, to keep potential opponents at bay if he does decide to run.
Appleton Putting Up a Fight
7/21/08 - The city of Appleton will spend up to 50-thousand dollars to try-and-stop taxpayers from getting part of the clean-up bill on the Fox River. Over a half-dozen paper companies are on the hook for a 400-million-dollar clean-up of harmful P-C-B’s they put into the river as late as the 1970’s. Now, N-C-R and the Appleton company have asked a federal judge to make communities pay part of the tab – claiming their sewage plants were partially to blame. Their suit started with six communities as defendants. It’s now up to 22. Appleton city attorney James Walsh is not sure how much the city’s legal tab will be to fight the new lawsuit. The Common Council has budgeted 50-thousand-dollars. Walsh says all the parties named in the suit will meet next week to talk about it.
7/21/08 - The streets around the Kraft Foods plant in Beaver Dam were closed Saturday morning as part of a disaster preparedness drill involving seven local agencies. Captain Don Wellnitz says the simulation allowed emergency responders to identify areas of strength and weakness. John Machkovech, head of the HazMat Response Team at the Kraft plant, says it was a successful drill that proved to be a learning experience for all those involved. In addition to Kraft personnel, there were officials with Dodge County Emergency Management, the Dodge County Hazardous Materials Team, the Dodge County Emergency Response Team, the Beaver Dam Fire Department, the Beaver Dam Fire and Rescue Team and the Beaver Dam Community Hospital.
DC Humane Society Prepares for Opening
7/21/08 - It’s a busy time for the Dodge County Humane Society. Staff and volunteers this weekend are moving from their cramped quarters in Beaver Dam to a spacious facility near Juneau. Among those touring the new facility before the doors officially open was Kathleen Foulkes, who says her whole family is a supporter of the humane cause. The Duane and Kathleen Foulkes Foundation this past winter pledged $25,000 over three years for the new shelter. Capital Campaign Chair Mary Vogl-Rauscher says the donation was made before the shelter realized another $75,000 would be needed to complete Phase One of the move. As part of the newest push, an anonymous donor came forward with $30,000 in matching grant funds, though the Foundation donation is not part of that. Vogl-Rauscher says the matching grant expires at the end of the month. The Humane Society opened in its new location Monday. Pictured from left to right: Shelter Board President Jeff Nowicki, Kathleen Foulkes and Vogl-Rauscher.