BOSCOBEL - The City of Boscobel has a new police officer. Deputy Cody McCollough from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, will be sworn in to fill the vacancy left by Assistant Chief Kevin Copus’s retirement.
Officer Travis Dregne was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief. The switch will happen in April, when Copus officially steps down.
“We had two candidates, both very good, very qualified, and both current fulltime employees with neighboring agencies, and we brought both of them to the Personnel Committee,” Police Chief Jaden McCullick told the Boscobel council at its April 3 meeting.
“We had really good interviews with both of them. Ultimately, we made a decision as a group to recommend Cody McCullough, who brings a lot of training, a lot of experience, and lives here in town, and is just a good officer.”
Council approved the recommendation of McCullick and the Personnel Committee with a unanimous vote.
Street work around the city
City Engineer/Director of Public Works Mike Reynolds brought the council up to speed on various street projects planned for this summer.
On the north end of town, re-pavement, as well as new curbs and gutters will take place on a stretch of Chestnut Street between Airport Road and Grey Street, which has been taxed by truck traffic from surrounding businesses, including Town and Country Sanitation.
The council voted unanimously to move forward with a plan to help pay for the project with an assessment on local property owners that abut the streets in question.
City rules allow the council to assess one-half of the cost of the curb and gutter installation, according to Reynolds. He estimates that to be about $8 or $9 per foot for each property—but a formal bid for the project has yet to be let.
A public hearing will take place after the formal bids have been made, and property owners affected are alerted to the cost of their assessment, and the council will take a final vote on the matter, according to Reynolds.
Regular maintenance
Reynolds took some ribbing from the council when he shared the maps of this year’s street and alley maintenance: His own alley is one of two in the city that will receive work.
“I’ll take beating on it, and I know you guys probably will too,” he said. Previously, he’d informed the council that the alley had drainage problems.
As far as street maintenance is concerned, Reynolds presented a map of planned routes, which haven’t received attention in over a decade, according to him. Included are portions of Center and Commercial, Wisconsin, and Buchanan in the downtown area. Single block sections for East Le Grand and East DuBay Streets, and Morrison Drive between the railroad tracks and Johnson Street.
Levy limit resolution passes
The council also approved a resolution to exceed the levy limit for the current budget year.
That might sound alarming, but it’s not.
In the complicated rules that govern local taxes in Wisconsin, there’s a narrow exception for rising costs of fire protection.
In simplified terms, it basically allows the city to exceed the levy limit by the amount of the increase in its portion of the fire district budget, so long as all the municipalities in the district sign off on the budget, and the increase is below the Consumer Price Index, plus 2 percent. Got it?
In this case, the move added about $7,000 to the total city taxes.
Other business
• At its meeting, the Council also approved:
• City-wide cleanup day for May 20,. 2023.
• A conditional use permit for Leif and Norma Thoreson at Sterling Woodwerks on State Road 133 to use the premises as both a dwelling and a commercial shop. (The permit expires if the property changes hands.)
• A change in plans at Boscobel Mini Storage on Prairie Street to allow the elimination of the proposed country store, to be replaced by another storage unit.
• Advertising for annual stump removal.
• Street closing requests from BMZ Church, Boscobel Antique Club, and Trek the Trail 5k Race for their annual events.
• An alcohol beverage operator’s license for Stephanie Renee Stead.
• The mayor’s appointments of Krista Sierzant to the Library Board and Kathy Hall to the Housing Authority.
• A special pay request of $193,543.50 to G-PRO for street work.
