EM grants exemption for sewer and water requirements on University Street lots
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has approved a request to waive the requirement for installing sewer and water service at two residential lots on University Street because of the estimated cost of $250,000.
Elk Mound resident Lyn Harrison received the exemption at the village board’s March 4 meeting.
Harrison told the village board he’d had 36 acres surveyed and that an individual is interested in purchasing half of the acreage for a single dwelling.
Possible interest exists for the other half of the property as well for a single dwelling, he said.
The Harrison property is located near Mound View Elementary.
According to the village’s ordinances, the subdivider of a property is responsible for installing sewer and water.
Section 14-1-56 of the Elk Mound ordinances states, “the subdivider shall pay all the costs of all sanitary sewer work including the bringing of the sanitary sewer of adequate capacity and depth from where it exists to the land division in question as well as providing all sanitary sewer work within the land division.”
Section 14-1-57 of the Elk Mound ordinances states, “the subdivider shall cause such water supply and distribution facilities to be installed in such a manner as to make adequate water service available to each lot within the subdivision.”
Mark Levra, director of public works, said he was recommending the village board not require the property owner to install sewer and water service for those lots along University Street.
The house(s) built on the lot(s) would have a water well and a septic system, Harrison noted.
The people who purchase the property and build a house may want the choice of village sewer and water, said Steven Abraham, village president.
The cost would be $250,000 to bring utilities to those properties, Levra said.
A document on file states the school district would have to extend sewer and water service on school district property, said Terry Stamm, village trustee and the retired director of public works.
The school district has a $15 million referendum question on the April 7 ballot, he noted, adding that the school district probably would not be willing to take on the expense of installing sewer and water under the current circumstances.
The agreement would apply to the land east of the school district if a subdivision were planned beyond the school, Levra said.
Abraham asked if the request for an exemption should go to a committee for discussion and a recommendation.
The consensus of the village board was “no,” that Harrison’s request did not have to go to committee.
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved the request that property owners not be responsible for installing sewer and water utilities on single family lots on University Street at this time due to the financial burden.
In addition to Abraham and Stamm, also voting in favor of the motion were village trustees Paula Turner, Jesse Jensen, Deborah Creaser-Kipp, Greg Kipp and Rebecca Livingston.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Sent to the public works committee a request from Bruce Trachsel, B&B Electric, for additional payment on the installment of the SCADA system for the village’s sewer and water utilities. Certain portions of the project were delayed until after January 1 when a state requirement went into effect for additional inspections. The inspections were not included in the original bid, Trachsel said. Levra pointed out that B&B Electric is a subcontractor and that the request for additional payment should go to to the general contractor, LW Allen LLC.
• Delayed taking action on an updated version of the village’s bartender operator’s license review policy. The village’s attorney included language in the updated policy of “shall not be issued” and “may possibly not” in reference to if the applicant has been convicted of a felony. Village board members wondered why both options were included and asked Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer, to ask the attorney.
• Approved rental of the Lions Club Park for Tou Xiong with the following conditions: payment of $689.12 for cleanup of the park after last year’s rental (cleanup included 49 bags of garbage over the 10-bag limit and a water spigot that was left running for more than 12 hours); provide a 20-yard roll-off Dumpster; recycle.
• Approved bartender operator’s licenses for Kristen Semrow (The Pourhouse) and Desiree Thompson (The Pourhouse).
