Residential developer sets sights on Elk Mound TIF

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND  —  A residential developer proposing to build duplexes and four-plexes in Elk Mound is now considering the village’s Tax Increment Finance District on the south side of the village.

Len Schreiber of Cedar Corporation, along with developers Gene Caron and Mike Ruwowski, appeared before the Elk Mound Village Board at the May 4 meeting to say they have changed the proposed location for a housing development from the north side of the village to the south side.

At the April 6 meeting of the Elk Mound Village Board, Schreiber, Caron and Ruwowski spoke about building a residential development on University Street across the road from Mound View Elementary on the northeast side of Elk Mound.

Although the housing development was not an agenda item for the Elk Mound Village Board’s May 4 meeting, Schreiber, Caron and Ruwowski talked to the board about the proposed development during the public comments portion of the meeting.

“We have decided against the University Street site and are looking in the TID,” Schreiber told the village board.

A total of six lots are being considered in the village’s TIF district, and three options have been identified, he said.

The first option would involve developing three or four lots off the existing road. The second option would be to install a road down the center of the property to develop six units. And the third option would be a Planned Unit Development with a total of 16 dwelling units, Schreiber said.

All of the residential structures that would be built in the TIF district would be duplexes, he noted.

Both duplexes and four-plexes had been proposed for the University Street site.

The cost of installing a loop in the water main for the University Street site is about $300,000. The loop would be necessary to increase water pressure to improve firefighting capabilities for the housing development and for Mound View Elementary.

At a previous meeting, village board members had said the developer would have to pay for the water main loop.

Utilities are already located in the street at the site in the TIF district on south side of Elk Mound.

One lot has already been created in that area of the TIF, and it is zoned Business 1, said Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer, noting that the remainder of the lots are zoned agriculture.

The next step for the developers would be to apply for a rezone and meet with the Elk Mound Plan Commission.

The Elk Mound Village Board also would have to amend the village’s ordinances to include Residential 3 zoning for multi-family housing units.

Other business 

In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board learned that the sidewalk would be poured for the North Garland Street construction project several days after the village board meeting and that the pavement would be installed the following week.

The original bid for the Garland Street project was $32,746, but the project has reached $38,856 as of the village board meeting, said Mark Levra, director of public works.

The village board budgeted $60,000 for Garland Street, he noted.