New Haven delays parking lot, hears about school needs
By Andy Steinke, Dells Events
The New Haven Town Board decided to wait on paving the hall parking lot Thursday night and heard from school district Administrator Chuck Whitsell about the proposed Spring Hill addition.
After receiving bids from Davis Construction and D.L. Gasser Construction last month to repave part of the town hall parking lot for improved handicap stalls, the town decided to wait until next spring to complete the work.
The board didn’t award a contract at a meeting earlier this month because it wanted to check whether it could take money out of its money market account set aside for town hall improvements without a vote from residents.
Clerk Berniece Tangney checked with the town’s lawyer, who said the town could use the money because it was for town hall improvements.
The board voted to wait until next spring to do the work, however, because it is too late in the year, and the bids they had received had expired.
In road repair business, Chairman Mike Julson said Golden Court should be open in early November, and the board voted to send a letter to residents on Golden Avenue about a broken culvert.
The Golden Court project at Big Spring Dam is mostly completed, Julson said.
The town is waiting on a guardrail, which probably won’t be delivered for another two weeks. Once that is installed and signs and reflectors are properly erected, the road can open for use.
The road has an asphalt top, but the final mat won’t be laid until next spring.
The property owners of 424 Golden Avenue have been slow in ordering a culvert for their driveway, and with winter approaching, the board wants it fixed soon. The disrepair led to water pooling in the roadway last year, which created ice problems.
The town board also prepared for winter by signing contracts for snow removal and reserved a sand salt mix for its roads.
The board contracted with Adams County to clear its town roads and with Tom Evans to plow and shovel at the town hall and the waste transfer site. The board reserved 425 tons of sand salt with Adams County. The town reserved 250 tons last year, but used more than 440 tons. The town only has to pay for what it uses.
In its last piece of business before hearing from Whitsell, the board approved a driveway permit for Kevin Jensen on Golden Avenue.
During a brief Q&A with residents, Whitsell answered many of the same questions he has encountered at other meetings.
Two different questions included: Where will the students go during construction, and how will this project affect Neenah Creek and Lake Delton School?
Whitsell said the students would stay in their classrooms, and the school would put up a safety fence around the project site so students couldn’t go in there and get hurt.
He said when he led the Reedsburg School District that one of the second grade teachers used a school addition project at Westside Elementary as a teaching point.
Whitsell said he doesn’t think the project would have a negative affect on Neenah Creek or Lake Delton School, but losing the SAGE program would.
“I’d hate to see us stop utilizing one of those schools, but if we lose SAGE, we’ll have to eliminate nine to 10 teachers, and it won’t all be at Spring Hill,” he said.
SAGE is a state-run program that gives the school district money for students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals and for keeping class sizes smaller in 5K through 3rd grade.