Boyceville could lose $250,000 Safe Routes to School grant

By LeAnn R. Ralph

BOYCEVILLE — Through no fault of anyone associated with Boyceville, the village could lose its $252,300 Safe Routes to School grant.

Kevin Meyer of Corre Inc. spoke to the Boyceville Safe Routes to School Committee April 2 about the status of the grant.

In the last budget, the state Legislature included a provision setting a four-year deadline for the Safe Routes grant instead of the previous ten years, Meyer said.

Some municipalities received grants but never did anything about designing a Safe Routes project, he said.

The four-year deadline is intended to weed out those communities who received grants but have not started on a project, Meyer said.

Because those communities are not in the process of actively designing a project, the money is tied up and cannot be used for any other projects, Meyer noted.

Unfortunately, the new deadline will hurt a number of smaller municipalities, like Boyceville, that received a grant but have not yet completed advertising for bids and signing a contract with a contractor, he said.

The design phase of the Boyceville Safe Routes to School is already completed, he said.

The problem now is that Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials have not decided if they should acquire right-of-way from the railroad or if acquiring the right-of-way should be the village’s responsibility, Meyer said.

The construction contract for the project must be signed by October 5. If the contract is not signed by the deadline, Boyceville will lose the grant. The actual construction would not have to be completed until the following spring, he said.

The Safe Routes to School project will build sidewalks on six blocks of village streets: East Street, Charlotte Street, and Center Street.

The Safe Routes to School program is intended — just as it sounds — to develop safe walking or bicycling routes to help children safely arrive at their destination.

Perhaps the biggest challenge with the Boyceville project is the railroad right-of-way, Meyer said.

In the area of the crossing arms, the sidewalk will have to be built behind the arms, he noted.

Boyceville received the Safe Routes to School grant as one of Governor Jim Doyle’s last official acts in office, noted Gilbert Krueger, village president.

Village officials have been trying to keep the project moving forward, but without action from the DOT, there is not much Boyceville can do about speeding up the process, Krueger said.

Meyer suggested that the village board may want to contact area state legislators to see if they could do something about helping the project move forward.

“I don’t know how much I can crack the whip on the legislators,” Krueger said.

“Boyceville is not alone in being stuck in limbo. Some communities are four years past and have no chance of getting (the Safe Routes) done,” Meyer said.

Bidding and awarding contracts for the project will be a two or three month process, he noted.

In addition to making a decision on the railroad right-of-way, the DOT must also sign off on the construction contract, Meyer said.

Bud Gilbertson, village trustee and chair of the Safe Routes Committee, wondered if Boyceville would be reimbursed for the money it has already spent on the project if the village’s grant is cancelled.

Meyer said it was his understanding that municipalities that have spent money on design would be reimbursed for their expenses if their grants were cancelled.