King’s Court is EM street project for 2013
By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has selected King’s Court as the street project for 2013 at an estimated cost of $28,000 to $30,000.
The engineering for the project is already done, and King’s Court is one of the streets in Elk Mound with a lower rating that needs to be resurfaced, said Terry Stamm, public works director, at the Elk Mound Village Board’s September 5 meeting.
Elk Mound Drive and University Street from Elk Mound High School out to Stardust Road also are in need of work, Stamm said.
Elk Mound Drive and University will each cost between $120,000 and $150,000, he noted.
The north half of University and the west half of Stardust Road are in the Village of Elk Mound; the other half of the roads are the Town of Elk Mound, Stamm said.
At some point in the past, the Elk Mound Village Board and the Elk Mound Town Board agreed that the village should take care of all of University and that the Town of Elk Mound should take care of all of Stardust Drive, he said.
“It just doesn’t work to pave half a road. That’s why the decision was made for the village to take all of one and the township to take all of the other,” Stamm said.
Village employees have been working on patching Elk Mound Drive this year and will work on patching University next year, he said.
During budget considerations this fall, the village board can decide whether to start saving money toward the larger street projects that will be coming up in the next several years, Stamm said.
Booster pump
In other business at the September 5 meeting, the Elk Mound Village Board approved putting the second backup booster pump online at Well No. 2 at a cost not to exceed $10,000.
In February of 1982, one backup booster pump was put online, but the system was supposed to have two backup booster pumps, Stamm said.
At the time, village officials made the argument to state Department of Natural Resources that the village could not afford to put the second backup booster pump into service, he said.
The booster pump shifts water from a 12,000 gallon reservoir at Well No. 2 to an 80,000 gallon reservoir, Stamm said.
A total of four pumps are needed to maintain the system, and after the other booster is rebuilt next year, all four pumps will be in good shape, he said.
Elk Mound is currently using about 100,000 gallons of water per day, so the 80,000 gallon reservoir does not hold enough for a single day of water usage, Stamm pointed out.
The Elk Mound Village Board voted unanimously to put the second backup booster pump into service.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Approved bow hunting within the village limits for deer and turkey using the same application process as in the past.
• Learned that the village will need a generator hookup for the new village hall so the building can be used as a headquarters if the emergency management plan needs to be implemented because of a disaster. The transfer switch will cost an estimated $5,600, and the property and finance committee is expected to consider the item during the development of the 2013 budget. Instead of buying a new generator, the village could contract with a company that supplies generators in emergency situations, Stamm said.
• Appointed Patrick Rebman as Elk Mound’s representative for the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation. Kathy Ertz, the previous representative, has too many conflicts to be able to continue attending the monthly meetings, according to Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer. Elk Mound’s DCEDC representative is paid $30 per meeting.
• Approved a two-year contract with the Dunn County Humane Society in the amount of $1.32 per capita for 2013 and $1.42 per capita for 2014.
• Approved paying Senn Blacktop $2,840 for blacktop repair on county Highway H for a water lateral break on Holly Avenue. The entire cost for fixing the break will be around $10,000, Stamm told the village board.