Town Board Meeting Reports by Dorothy Hollatz

January 2004
Concord still looking to
purchase school building
CONCORD — Concord town officials this week discussed the possibility of purchasing the closed Concord
Center Elementary School from the Watertown Unified School District.
At the monthly Concord Town Board meeting, officials said the school building could be used to open a charter school, a private school or as a community center.
The board voted to refer the issue to the town's park and planning commission to study the idea and make a recommendation The commission will meet Tuesday at 7 p m The school building and its surrounding property were recently appraised at $175,000 Watertown school officials are considering putting the property up for sale, and the school board may make a motion to that effect at its meeting Thursday.

In other town board business, a pair of town government vacancies were filled Watertown Humane Society member Carol Hemken was named the animal control officer, and Jay Liebling was appointed to the park and planning commission, replacing the late Terry Otto.

Property splits or rezonings were approved for Dave and Bev Stendl, Dwayne Waldock and Irma Lindemann.

Several residents attended the town board meeting in support of the new 45 mph speed limit on County Trunk E from West River Road to Interstate 94 Although several people have written letters to the Watertown Daily Times to complain about the speed limit drop from 55 mph, the residents in attendance were in favor of it Some even suggested lobbying Jefferson County to extend the 45 mph limit north to Pipersville.

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February 2004

Concord board considering purchase of Center school

By Bob Perkins
for the Daily Times

CONCORD — The Concord Town Board has approved sending a delega tion to meet with the Watertown Unified School District buildings and grounds committee to open negotiations for the possible purchase of the shuttered Concord Center Elementary School.

The meeting is scheduled tor Friday at 2 pm at the Educational Service Center Under Wisconsin law. Concord cannot purchase the school without holding a public hearing and having a  referendum The earliest that could happen is at the annual meeting on April 5.

The building has been discussed as potentially being a day care site, a senior center, a new town hall or a recreation center

Watertown district officials are considering selling the building and its five acres of land on the open market The property was recently appraised at $175,000.

In other action at the board's regular session this week, the panel approved helping the Sullivan First Responders get a loan through the state to upgrade their facility and purchase an ambulance Concord would underwrite $90,000 of the loan, to be repaid over a 10-year period

This became necessary because the Oconomowoc EMS has said it will no longer service any part of Concord after next January.

The board appointed Bill Ingersoll to be Concord's delegate to the committee that will govern the Sullivan First Responders.

The board also approved property splits for John Dahm and Duane Waldoch, a variance for Diana Radtke, and a one-day beer license for the St Mary's Church fish fry on Feb 27.  
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Concord votes to reject park
and ride along Interstate 94
By Bob Perkins
for the Daily Times
CONCORD — The Concord Town Board voted unanimously Monday to reject the state's proposal for a park and ride lot at the northeastern comer of County Trunk F and Interstate 94
The land belongs to the state and the lot would have been constructed at state expense.
According to the proposed agreement, however, after that, Concord would have been responsible for landscaping, snow and garbage removal, law enforcement, insurance and the electric bill None of the approximately 25 citizens attending spoke in favor of the lot Several spoke vigorously against it, on the grounds that it would cost the community money with little or no benefits
There was lengthy discussion about the possibility of purchasing the Concord Center School property from the Watertown School District The town board the Park and Planning Committee and any interested citizens will tour the school at 9 a m March 20 to get a better sense of the school's condition.  The next meeting of the Park and Planning Committee is set for March 23 at 7 p m at the school so others resident may have a chance to inspect the building and register their opinions.
Finally, the annual town meeting will be held in the school at 7 p m on April 12 A binding referendum will be taken at that time on whether or not to purchase the property.
Proposed uses include having some rooms dedicated to day care, a room for a senior center, a new town hall and use of the gym as a community center.
In other action, the board approved zoning or property splits tor Robert and Joyce Puza, Barry Mertz, John Simon and Ernie Bankert and voted to allow Kevin Hrbacek to build a garage adjoining his home.
Randy Callison submitted a proposed ordinance to regulate and control quarrying, which the board referred to the Park and Planning Committee.
Finally, the board approved two one-day beer licenses to St Mary's Church, one for the Kent Hoffman benefit on May 22 and one for the Knights of Columbus fund raiser on March 19.