The Cottage Grove merger study committee met for a third time on May 23.
This time they threw their collective concerns related to the potential merger into a list that members felt the Committee needed to research.
Village Trustee and Committee member Micah Zielke, in an effort to bring order to what was becoming a rapidly growing list of concerns, suggested that major issues be assigned to Committee members as “homework items.” Members would be assigned to research their issues and bring findings to the next Committee meeting for discussion. Town resident and Committee member Dave Morrow asked Zielke if he had a plan for administering the homework in a way that would be evenly distributed. “Could we think about the priorities,” said Morrow. “Then we can take reasonable bites.” Zielke said every member has areas they are passionate about and assigning topics to members interested in those areas would create efficiency within the process.
An area of concern receiving plenty of attention was how water and sewer utilities might change under a merged Cottage Grove. Cottage Grove Town Supervisor and Committee member Mike DuPlayee said the Township subdivision where he lives is next to the Village and would likely be next in line to hook into the Village’s water and sewer system. Currently Town residents maintain their own well and septic systems. DuPlayee said he has neighbors who have built mound septic systems within the last few years and to have to pay to hook into the Village’s sewer would be financially detrimental. “Why would they build new systems if they knew the Village was going to run sewer.”
Zielke, looking for possible ways to fairly manage the utility issue, suggested giving a credit to homeowners who hook up to Village water and sewer. The credit would be biggest for homeowners who decided to hook up right away and would decrease as time went by. Village Resident and Committee member Don Brinkmeier said a sunset period might be the way to go, giving Town residents 20 years to hook into the Village utilities.
Curb and gutter installations for all Town residents was also a concern for Town members, but Zielke said that these installations are not always mandatory. They are considered on a case-by-case basis within the Village and he said they would likely work the same for Town residents.
Taxes came out of the meeting as another central issue with the questions of how rates might change for landowners under a merged Cottage Grove. Town Chairman and Committee Co-chairperson Kris Hampton said the new millage rate would be a question on residents’ minds. And if there is an increase, a question of how it will be phased in would need to be answered, said Zielke.
Another area that garnered concern was potential debt brought into a municipal marriage. Town would include upkeep of the Town’s roads, said Town resident and Committee member Dave Muehl. A couple of bridges will also need to be rebuilt at some point, said Hampton. Hepfinger asked whether the Town has a contingency fund for significant jobs like this. Hampton said there is a contingency fund, but for the last bridge project the Town barrowed and paid back the loan.
Staffing was also on the list with questions regarding what benefits would be offered and what staff would be needed at the top of the list. “I assume we would continue with what we have,” said Hampton, seeing as the same amount of administrative and maintenance work would be there so a need for same staffing would be necessary.
Meshing the municipality’s long-range comprehensive plans so they would work together was an area that Village President and Committee Co-chairperson Diane Wiedenbeck saw needing attention. Hampton said this is something that would likely require drafting a new plan that encompassed the future of a newly merged Cottage Grove.
Hunting and open burning were brought up since the Town and Village ordinances differ on both of these items. Zielke said that hunting would be tricky, as new development continued to extend out from the urban areas. Committee member and Village resident Don Brinkmeier said the Wisconsin DNR would regulate rules where hunting could occur, which he said would make this a nonissue at the local level.
Hunting and open burning are allowed in the Town with the proper licenses and permission, but neither activity is allowed within Village boundaries. There was discussion of tying the hunting laws to zoning, so hunting would only be allowed in sparsely populated areas like agricultural land.
Beyond boundaries for hunting was talk of a need for drawing ward lines to divide a new Cottage Grove into voting districts. Merging the two Cottage Groves would make one large municipality, which the Committee agreed would require the need for represented districts rather than the at-large structure that both governments currently use.
Fairness was a concern, and making sure that the rural areas would be given the same representation as the urban sections was something that Wiedenbeck said needed to be addressed. Hepfinger said it seemed like this would be a problem and the Village, with a majority of the population, would have an advantage. Wiedenbeck said this would likely be an issue the Committee would have a third party come in and help them with.
Looking at an alternative aside from the actual merger, Hepfinger asked if there was any way that the Town could change its municipal status and become a Village on its own. A study to look into the possibility for such a conversion would cost about $25,000, said Hampton, adding that chances of approval would be unlikely since a Village requires a well defined downtown area, which the Town lacks.
Animal ownership, primarily addressing livestock, was also brought up for discussion. The Village and Town currently have different rules regarding animals and especially livestock since the majority of the Town is agricultural land and the Village is mostly urban. Currently the Town is regulated by Dane County zoning regarding livestock rules, but Hampton said that if the merger were to go through the new municipality would take care of rules regarding zoning animal limits.
Capital equipment, facilities, committees, law enforcement, fire and rescue services were of little concern to the Committee since many of these items were already jointly shared resources between the governments.
Speed limits were another area of lesser concern. Zielke said there is no desire to change any roadway speed limits. Under the current rules, the Town must receive County approval to change any of its roadway speed limits, and the Village is authorized to approve changes for its streets. There was some talk of what DuPlayee said was excessive stop signs in some areas of the Village. While he said there was a definite need for the stop signs in these areas for speed control purposes he said it could be maintained with fewer signs and that the cost of maintaining those signs was another issue needing attention.
