Colfax Village Board: informational meeting on CVTC referendum set for March 10
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — An informational meeting on the Chippewa Valley Technical College $48.8 million referendum in the April election has been scheduled for March 10.
Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, confirmed the date for the informational meeting at the Colfax Village Board’s February 21 meeting.
The village board had given Niggemann the go-ahead to work on scheduling a meeting in January.
“This will be an opportunity for people to ask questions and make comments,” Niggemann said.
The meeting will be held in the cafeteria at Colfax High School, she said, and will probably start at 7 p.m.
The cafeteria is reserved from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., she noted.
Representatives for CVTC will give a 20-minute presentation, and then people in the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions and make comments, Niggemann said.
Following the meeting, “people will be informed so they can vote on their ballots, ‘yes’ or ‘no,’”’ she said.
Scott Gunnufson, village president, asked if Niggemann had provided information to surrounding communities.
Niggemann said she had contacted the Towns of Tainter, Colfax and Grant as well as the village of Ridgeland.
Gunnufson said he hoped there would be a good turn-out for the informational meeting.
“I have some reservations on the referendum,” he said.
People may speak out about how they think the CVTC projects should be funded, Niggemann said.
Following the article published in the Colfax Messenger about the efforts to set up an informational meeting, Niggemann said she had received several e-mail messages.
“I think we’ll see all avenues of discussion here. I think that’s good that there’s discussion, and everybody from both sides can speak,” she said.
Bruce Barker, president of CVTC, had sent a letter to Niggemann stating that representatives of CVTC would like to present information about the referendum.
The $48.8 million CVTC referendum question will appear on the April 7 ballot for the spring election.
According to the letter Niggemann received from Barker, the funding would provide a new transportation center to replace outdated auto and truck learning labs with larger, modern labs equipped for larger enrollments and training on gasoline, hybrid and electric vehicles as well as “smart car” technology.
The money also would be used to expand training facilities for police, fire and paramedics to improve safety and protection for the CVTC campuses and the communities where they are located.
In addition, the referendum funding would purchase land in River Falls for future expansion; install a new automated fabrication manufacturing lab; and provide updates in Chippewa Falls and Menomonie to improve safety and to provide more programming.
If the referendum were to be approved by voters, the tax impact over the 11-county technical college district would be expected to increase property taxes by $13 per year per $100,000 of equalized property value, according to the letter from Barker.
The CVTC District Board approved a resolution on January 16 calling for an April 7 referendum to borrow $48.8 million to fund projects identified in the facilities plans.
The CVTC board authorized a survey of residents in the technical college district in September to find out what their “tax tolerance” would be for construction projects.
The survey determined residents would be likely to fund up to $55 million in construction projects.
February primary
The primary election on February 18 had a much higher turnout in Colfax than expected, Niggemann said.
The turn-out of Colfax voters was 23 percent — or 135 voters, she said.
Niggemann noted that in the time she has been administrator-clerk-treasurer in Colfax, prior to February 18, the most voters for a February election was 80.
Colfax has 582 registered voters.
Gunnufson asked if the village would be getting new voting equipment this year for the April election.
New voting equipment will not happen this year, Niggemann said.
“The reservation is that if the November election in 2020 causes a lot of uproar with new equipment, and they make modifications to what is a requirement, they would rather hold off until 2021,” she said.
Other business
The agenda for the February 24 village board meeting did not have any consideration items.
The only action taken by the village board was to approve the regular village board meeting minutes from February 10 and to approve paying invoices from February 10 to February 23.
The meeting adjourned a little over 10 minutes after Gunnufson called the meeting to order.
Anne Jenson, village trustee, was absent from the meeting.
