Stoughton Courier Hub 09/05/2013
The
Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page
5th Annual
Stoughton
CourierHub Thursday, September 5, 2013 •
Vol. 132, No. 5 •
Stoughton, WI •
ConnectStoughton.com •
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 9:00 am-Noon - Expo Noon-2:30 pm - Lunch, Entertainment & Bingo FREE Admission - Open to the Public Need A Call 845-9559 for more information Booth? Stoughton Wellness and Athletic Center Call us! 2300 US Highway 51-138, Stoughton, WI
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City of Stoughton
Council picks newcomer for Dist. 4 Majority opts for youth over experience The Common Council last week selected Urven – a The council’s decision may 27-year-old with well have surprised everyone no prior political in the room, but none more than experience who’s Urven lived in Stoughton Ross Urven.
Bill livick
Unified Newspaper Group
for less than two years – to represent Aldermanic Dist. 4 until the April 2014 election. By a 6-3 vote, with one abstention, the council chose Urven over Tim Carter, a 17-year resident who served on the council from April 2008-11 and had been elected council president. Carter
also served as chair of the Public Works Committee and was a member of the Finance, Public Safety and Community Affairs/ Council Policy committees. By paper ballot, Alds. Tim Swadley, David Kneebone, Tom Majewski, Greg Jenson, Tricia Suess and Tom Selsor voted for
Urven, while Sonny Swangstu, Paul Lawrence and council president Eric Hohol voted for Carter. Ald. Ron Christianson recorded a vote of no preference. Following the meeting, an elated Urven said he was very surprised – he seemed almost
Turn to Alder/Page 12
Back to school
U.S. Hwy. 51
Road repairs planned to north, east Delays, closures expected as highway gets news surface Mark ignatowski Unified Newspaper Group
Drivers can expect travel delays as two stretches of Hwy. 51 are up for repair this month. The first section – east of the city between Spring Road and Hwy. W – gets underway this week. This project will fix about 4.8 miles of the road. Drivers will have to contend with lane closures and flagging operations as crews widen shoulders and lay new asphalt, Wisconsin Department of Transportation project manager Curt Neuhauser told the Hub. “It’s sorely needed,” Neuhauser said of the repairs. The road will remain open during construction, the WisDOT said in a news release, but delays of up to 15 minutes can be expected during daylight hours when flagging operations are taking place. “Access to intersecting roads and properties along Hwy. 51 will have 15-30 minute temporary closures during removal and repaving operations,” the release said. “At times there will be uneven lanes and low shoulders with a grade differential up to 2 inches.” Drivers heading north of the city will have to deal with a detour when about two miles of Hwy. 51 will be closed for repairs starting around Sept. 23. This $1.7 million project aims to fix deteriorating road conditions along a 2.2-mile stretch from South Quam Drive to County Hwy. B (West)/ Hwy. AB, the WisDOT said in a news release. The project is slated for completion in
Photo by Scott De Laruelle
Lunch buddies Tuesday was the first day of the 2013-14 school year, and students at Kegonsa Elementary School were excited to dig in and find out what was in store for lunch.
Back to school See more back to school photos
Turn to Repairs/Page 7
CourierHub
Page 16
City of Stoughton
Lack of growth forces city to consider cutting services For budgeting purposes, new construction less than half a percent Bill livick Unified Newspaper Group
City officials have gotten far enough along on the 2014 budget that one thing is clear: They will almost
certainly have to scale back, if not eliminate, some services next year. That is largely due to the fact that the city is not growing. Its growth rate last year, which determines
how much the city can increase its operating revenue by levying taxes in any given year, was less than 1 percent, said Mayor Donna Olson. “The only way you can increase your operating funds is through net new construction,” she explained. “Our net new
construction equals 0.45 percent. That increases our levy by $30,000.” Olson said department heads are continually looking for ways to implement efficiencies to be more cost effective and improve services.
Turn to Budget/Page 12
September 17, 2013 3:07 pm /