Sign planned for State 22/156 intersection
By Bert Lehman
The cost to place a marquee sign at the State Highway 22/156 intersection will be covered by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Since the sign is part of the Main Street reconstruction project currently being finished, the location of the sign has to be located in that area of the city. It was originally thought that the city would have to pay a portion of the cost of the sign.
Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland informed the Clintonville City Council at its Oct. 10 meeting that she found additional CSS funds that were originally part of the municipal agreement with the state of Wisconsin for the first phase of the Main Street reconstruction project in 2015.
“When I was going through the agreement when I was researching the funding for the marquee sign I discovered that we in essence left some money on the table with the DOT,” Eveland said. “So I was able to work with DOT on a revised agreement that allows us access to that full amount that we had originally been allowed by about $24,000.”
The funds will cover the cost of a new marquee sign that will be located at the Highway 22/156 intersection, as well as way signage and landscaping that the city would have been required to pay for.
Eveland also told the council that the city is currently in discussions regarding a maintenance agreement with the Clintonville School District since the sign will be located on school district property. Electricity cost is part of that discussion.
The cost of the marquee sign is $27,000, and it will cost $3,700 to install it. The council approved $34,000 for the marquee sign, which will cover the costs of the sign, installation, running electricity to the sign and landscaping. The funds will come from the city’s Capital Fund but the total cost will be reimbursed by the Wisconsin DOT.
ADA Transition Plan
The council adopted an Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan for updates to city facilities.
The plan was required to complete requirements to secure a loan from USDA Rural Development for the new wastewater treatment facility.
“It basically states that the city is aware of these issues and that the small, minor things will be corrected and addressed in the next 12 months and the larger, more expansive projects or corrections as funds are available and when new facilities are built,” said Eveland.
Administrator objectives
Eveland updated the council on some of her goals and objectives since being named city administrator.
She said the city website project wouldn’t be completed as soon as originally planned. The new website won’t get launched until the end of October.
“There were some delays in the contract negotiations after the council approved the company,” Eveland told the council.
She added that it was more important for the city to be protected than meeting the planned completion date.
To achieve the goal of building relationships within the community, Eveland said she’s been meeting with smaller businesses as well as businesses on Main Street.
“We have the downtown study going on so I’ve been meeting with the downtown businesses,” Eveland said.
She said she has also been communicating with groups within the community such as the Clintonville School Board.
In addition, Eveland said she has participated in a couple of training and workshop sessions, including CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) training.
“I can honestly say that if I had not attended that training I think we would have had some issues with our CDB grant,” Eveland told the council. “There are some things we need to be doing a little bit differently.”
Fire Department approach
Eveland informed the council that the cost of redoing the approach to the Clintonville Fire Department cost less than what the council had approved.
The council had originally approved up to $30,000 for the project, but it cost just a little more than $14,000.
“I want to thank Kray (Brown) and his (Public Works Department) staff, they did a really good job with that,” Eveland said. “Because we did this in house we saved a little over $7,000.”