County

Three Dane County Board Supervisors Resign, Board Accepting Appointment Applications

DANE COUNTY–Three Dane County Board Supervisors have resigned from the Dane County Board. Alex Joers (District 9), Mike Bare (District 32) and Olivia Xistris-Songpanya (District 13) all gave their resignations last week, Joers and Bare on Aug. 18 and Xistris-Songpanya on Aug. 15.

Joers said that the decision was made because he wants to spend more time with his growing family. “My wife and I are expecting the birth of our second child in the coming months. I thought it was time to step back from one of my elected positions so I can have more evenings with my family,” he told the Times-Tribune.

CROSS PLAINS–Needing to catch up with state statutes and the popularity of rental services like, Airbnb, prompted the village of Cross Plains to advance an ordinance to allow short-term residential rentals in all zoning districts.

“We don’t have anything for short term rental, which is why we’re doing an ordinance now,” Village President Jay Lengfeld said last week.

As online vacation rental services like Airbnb and VRBO became popular alternatives to hotels and motels for travelers, many municipalities banned stays of less than 30 days. They feared renters would create noise and parking problems in otherwise residential neighborhoods.

However, state law changed in 2021 to prevent municipalities from prohibiting short-term rentals in residential zoning districts for seven days or longer. Rentals of six or fewer days are permitted but subject to additional regulations, which the village has been finalizing.

CROSS PLAINS–This fall, the Ice Age Trail Alliance (IATA)will turn a $100,000 donation into three new miles of trail at the National Park Service site near Cross Plains State Park.

The Department of Natural Resources Board last week (June 28) acknowledged the IATA’s generosity in donating a project valued in six-figures.

Having one anonymous individual put up the funding is uncommon, said Melissa Pierick, IATA marketing and community relations director. The project will reflect the donor’s interest in public outreach and accessibility, Pierick said.

“We’ve had many, many donors, and a few fortunate to have supported us in large ways. This donation will help get kids out onto the trail and increase its accessibility to others,” Pierick said.

CROSS PLAINS–Taking a “first stab” at creating a village employee compensation plan that offers a competitive starting wage and a progressive wage scale received an initial airing Monday before the village board.

Like other employers, the village has found competing for new hires increasingly expensive as job seekers know it’s a sellers’ market these days. Even job candidates without work experience ask for pay at the top of the scale and the maximum amount of vacation.

That also increases the financial pressure on the village to keep its continuing employees who don’t want their wages eclipsed by the newly hired.

The proposed pay plan increases base wages by 30 percent from year two to year 18 of an employee’s tenure, which Village President Jay Lengfeld called, “very generous.”

“It seems like a longevity increase, which most are half of that,” he said.

CROSS PLAINS–Cross Plains’ library director and police lieutenant are retiring after decades of service to the village.

Pamela Bosben’s association with the library extends 46 years to when she was a high school library page working under then director Rosemary Garfoot, for whom the library later would be named.

After high school, Bosben became assistant director and succeeded Garfoot in 1991 when the latter became ill.

For the next 32 years, Bosben ensured that the library gave access to materials in a variety of formats to meet the educational, recreational and informational needs of the patrons, according to the resolution of recognition Village Administrator Brian Mooney read during the May 22 village board meeting.

She encouraged promotion of the library as a “living laboratory” for learning and boosted the collection of environmental and ecological materials to teach future generations about resource conservation.

CROSS PLAINS–The Village Board hired consultants to determine the cost to repair or replace the Cross Plains outdoor swimming pool, after a thorough debate Monday on the scope of task.

Village President Jay Lengfeld contended that it was “too early” to pay anyone to estimate the cost of a new pool before knowing the price of renovating the existing pool.

“I just think we’re pushing it. If it costs $250,000 or $300,000 to fix the pool, would we need a new one?” he asked.

It’s also rushing a project for which there is no plan in place to fund or is included in the current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which is the village’s blueprint for major projects, he added.

Replacing the 54-year-old pool had been included in the CIP as a $5 million item slated for 2026, but it was removed when the board approved revisions to the CIP last September.

“I have no say on what goes in (the CIP),” Lengfeld said.

DANE COUNTY–The Dane County Supervisors are poised to vote on the construction of a new Dane County Jail at their meeting on April 20.

The board will vote on resolutions that would approve additional funding for the project without a referendum or additional taxes to residents. 2022 RES-287 would allow the board to funnel leftover funds from the Terminal 19 Modernization project ($3,359,1130) and the CNG Trailer project ($6,598,000) into the jail budget. 2023 RES-13 would increase the budget amount by $13.5 million for general obligation bonds.

In a memo to the board on March 27, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi urged supervisors to vote for the resolutions to get construction started on the project which the board has discussed since the 1990s. At that time the board heard plans for adding on to the existing jail. Since then, little has been done to update the facility, making for sometimes unsafe conditions for residents and staff.

CROSS PLAINS–Like most public and private sector employers, the Village of Cross Plains is dealing with an increasingly costly and tight labor market.

Replacing a program coordinator in the Parks and Recreational Department drew few applicants, including one with little job experience but insisted getting paid at the top of the salary range and five weeks’ vacation.

“I don’t even get five weeks’ vacation, and I’ve been here 16 years,” Mike Axon, Parks and Recreation director, told the village board last month.

The board told him to widen the candidate search area to include Illinois in hopes of getting an applicant who will work for what the village pays.

Village President Jay Lengfeld acknowledged that it’s a buyers’ market for job candidates as municipal positions can go unfilled or have become more expensive to staff.

CROSS PLAINS–A popular Cross Plains eatery hosted a film crew on March 22 when America’s Best Restaurants (ABR) stopped by to feature The Vessel Café. 

Owners Shaun and Krystal Williams applied to be on the show, which is streamed on the ABR website, and said they expect the segment to be released in about 6-8 weeks. 

The restaurant features breakfast and lunch items as well as baked goods and opened in 2021. 

“When we meet with them for our first interview, we were very nervous to see if we would be chosen and when we told them our history and where we got our recipes from, I think we sealed the deal!” said the Williams’.

The show filmed from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and residents from the community came out to show their support for the restaurant, filling the space to enjoy a pastry or breakfast at the family run business.

CROSS PLAINS–Looking for a method to raise more revenue without it affecting the levy limit, the Cross Plains Village Board wants to further study establishing a transportation utility fee (TUF).

Some board members appeared to favor a TUF over a wheel tax for its potential to raise more money and involve every property owner not just residents who own vehicles.

Finance Director Bobbi Zauner said at Monday’s board meeting that the idea of a TUF comes from the perspective that streets should be funded by users like a water or sewer utility.

Regardless of the method chosen, residents would pay but Village President Jay Lengfeld said that a TUF would be fairer because it captures revenue from schools, churches and other tax-exempt property owners.

“Those not paying property taxes would pay for roads to some extent,” he said.