Road committee to continue funding search

Belgium’s Silver Beach Road Committee is seeking expertise in grant funding to help pave the village road that leads into its industrial park.

Committee Chairman Tom Winker, appointed to the committee as an Ozaukee County Board member, has invited Rep. Glenn Grothman, Ozaukee County Economic Development Executive Director Kathleen Cady Schilling and Ozaukee County Director of Planning and Parks Andrew Struck to the committee’s Wednesday, Nov. 4 meeting.

Struck is so good at getting grants for the county that he has been asked to advise other entities.

Cady Schilling is scheduled to attend the meeting via Zoom. Struck and Grothman have committed to either attend or send someone from their offices, according to Village Treasurer Vickie Boehnlein.

The committee was appointed in spring to study paving the road, an issue that has been discussed for years. Members include Winker, Village President Pete Anzia, Public Works Director Dan Birenbaum, former village trustee Ron Weyker and business owner Brady Ingels.

The committee acts in an advisory role to the Village Board.

A separate ad hoc committee last December encouraged the village to pave the road. The Belgium Area Chamber of Commerce said the road’s surface is a barrier to businesses expansion and attraction.

The village in 2015 delayed paving the road, an estimated $3.2 million project, until Main Street was redone. That project has since been completed.

Engineering work has already been done, but committee members at the first meeting in September wondered if the five-year-old cost could be updated.

A portion of the project involves stormwater work, which may require the village to buy land. When it tried to buy property years ago, one land owner didn’t want to sell.

Without a grant, Anzia said, he expects the road won’t be paved for at least five or six years. Boehnlein concurred.

Weyker asked what the road would cost each taxpayer per $100,000 of property value. Boehnlein said she could get a loose estimate.

The portion of Silver Beach to be paved is in the Town of Belgium. Winker said he has no problem with the village annexing the road — he’s also the town chairman — but the town won’t help pay for the project.