At the May 15 council meeting, Rushford Village Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit indicated the Planning and Zoning Board had met with village landowner Vern Bunke regarding his plans for development of land south of Highway 16 near Oakwood Sherwood Cemetery.
“Most of you are aware of the development that he’s been bringing around for quite some time,” said Pettit. “Tonight, he brought a concept plan. Planning and Zoning, after looking at the concept plan, see it favorably.”
According to Pettit, everything looked to be in order and the board requested he bring a preliminary plan for further review.
“We will be involving the council at that time,” added Pettit. “I think that’s very favorable for housing in the area. If you know the area, it would be an excellent location for development, but he’s got to meet the hurdles now along the way.”
Councilor Rick Ruberg asked after the potential Ladewig development. Pettit indicated there’d been no movement on anything, but developers are asking what it is and when they can build there.
“It gets pretty onerous for the owner if you’re not the developer. It’s not long until you have to pull quite a few dollars out of your pocket and that can be tough. I can understand why things hit a roadblock or slowed down considerably,” continued Pettit.
Mayor Dennis Overland added that Planning and Zoning discussed things the village could do to help developers out. One is utilizing grants, but another is using existing flood loan funds. There is currently $243,000 of flood funding remaining and there’s been no requests for its use. However, there are certain stipulations on how the funding can be used.
“We could use some of that to help out a developer or assist in meeting some of the early preliminary expenses that come along with a development. With council’s permission, I would like to have Rebecca check into that a little bit,” said Overland referencing Rebecca Charles, Community and Business Development Specialist for Community Economic Development Associates (CEDA), with whom the city contracts. “I think CEDA helped us set that up initially. They have all the background information and the connections with DEED (Department of Employment and Economic Development). Let’s see if there’s a way that money could be used for these purposes.”
The council also approved the purchase of a 550 truck for Public Works, in addition to an added box, sander and plow. The council has discussed the truck and equipment at length during budget talks and the village has set aside $115,000 for the purchase. Public Works Supervisor Trenten Chiglo went over the specs including the cost which totals to $107,105 – $58,000 for the truck and the remaining for the added equipment, safety equipment and retrofitting into the truck. The latter will be done through a contract with Universal Equipment.
Had the village not approved the order, there was concern over rising prices as the manufacturer warned that if not ordered by May 5, it would get pushed down the line to a later production grouping at a higher cost. Chiglo was questioned about the add-ons and whether there was anything he wouldn’t consider.
“Not really. That’s a pretty refined list with everything that would be needed and to make the truck safer to use, but there’s nothing lacking either,” noted Chiglo.
The purchase does not take into consideration any potential trade-ins or sales on the current truck and equipment. Chiglo estimated it could net $15,000-20,000 with the right buyer.
Rock bids were also opened and the council unanimously approved splitting the award, as they did last year. Both Bruening Rock Products and Milestone Materials are each awarded a portion.
“It worked well,” said Chiglo about the shared contracts. “It was different rock and different quarries. I don’t think you can say one was better. It all depends on the application.”
The village spring clean-up will happen Saturday, May 3, from 8 a.m. to noon, at village hall. The public is reminded that they will not accept fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, paint and other hazardous items.