Residents face assessments for sewer, sidewalk upgrades

Following combined public hearings that drew a dozen people last week, the Fredonia Village Board  approved assessing affected property owners for infrastructure improvements, including the repair or replacement of sanitary laterals and the installation of sidewalks.

Payment options, as approved by trustees, include payment in full at the completion of the project or payment in five annual installments at a 2% interest rate.

Properties assessed for the repair or replacement of sanitary laterals are 300 Washington Ave. and 105, 110, 111, 114, 115, 118, 119, 122-124, 200, 204, 209, 212, 216, 217, 218, 222, 223, 227, 228, 232 and 233 N. Wilson St.

Public Works Director Roger Strohm said the lateral replacements and repairs are part of a larger program to replace aging, breakage-prone water lines and problematic old-style clay sewer lines in the area.

“We have a lot of water main breaks,” Strohm said.

“And we have a lot more flow at the treatment plant than we pump out of our wells to provide our residents to drink. That means we’re getting water into our sewers from groundwater, sump pumps, roof drains ...”

Strohm noted that the cumulative annual water inflow into the village’s sewage system above pumping for customer use is an extra 15 million gallons, calling it the equivalent of 50 fills of Fredonia’s 300,000-gallon water tower.

Old-style clay sewer lines, installed with “a lot of joints” and no gaskets, will be replaced with plastic PVC piping, according to  Strohm, who said the existing clay sewer lines and laterals have been infiltrated by tree roots to varying degrees.

In response to citizen questioning, Strohm said that, while there is “no hard start date,” work on the sewer and water main replacement project will likely begin in mid to late June and take anywhere from eight weeks to three months, with sanitary lateral replacement or repair work expected to take “a couple to three hours” per home.

Affected property owners will only be assessed for costs associated with lateral repairs or replacement.

Properties assessed for the installation of sidewalks are 303 Washington Ave., 321 Martin Dr., and 222, 228 and 232 N. Wilson St.

Costs for the sidewalk installations will be split 50-50 between the village and the affected property owners.

Acting on the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the board also:

• Approved a community service project plan by Ozaukee Middle School eighth-grader Brice Schueller to construct a 16-foot-diameter octagonal wood frame recreational GaGa Pit at Fireman’s Park.

GaGa is a fast-paced, high-energy dodgeball variant played in a small fenced-in hexagonal or octagonal game pit.

• Approved amendments to the Village ordinances regarding rebuild approval permits and accessory uses, buildings or structures.

In other news, certified public accountant Wendi Unger of Baker Tilly appeared before trustees to make a presentation on the village’s audited financial statements for the year that ended Dec. 31, 2020.

“We’ve issued a clean, unmodified opinion — the highest level of assurance that you’re gonna get from us as your auditors,” Unger said.

“What that means is the financial information contained in your audited statements is believed to be materially accurate and all disclosures required to be included have been included, and that generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been adhered to.”

Unger reported that the village ended the year with a $593,000 fund balance.

With Gov. Tony Evers’ declaration of May 2 to 8 as Professional Municipal Clerks Appreciation Week, board members expressed their appreciation to seven-year Clerk-Treasurer Sandi Tretow.

Village President Don Dohrwardt offered Tretow “well-deserved congratulations and due appreciation” for her work as clerk.

“Thank you, Sandi, for all that you do,” added Trustee Joshua Haas. “I really do appreciate it.

“I know I speak for everyone here when I say I really appreciate all the work that you do and the time that you put in. You make our jobs a lot easier.”