Local

TOWN OF CROSS PLAINS – The Village Board last week (OCT. 6) awarded a $7.024 million contract to construct the new Village Hall/Police Station to a West Salem company.

The Middleton Common Council voted on Oct. 7 to set the date for the 2026 City of Middleton Budget Hearing for Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Middleton City Hall, which is located at 7426 Hubbard Ave, in downtown Middleton.

Acting on a recommendation from city staff, the Middleton Common Council on Oct. 7 approved a five-year lease with T-Mobile for $35,000 per year plus the change in the consumer price index from the previous five years.

For more than four decades, Middleton Assistant Fire Chief Gary Gillitzer has lived by a simple philosophy: do the right thing, especially when no one is looking. It’s a mantra he’s carried with him, one that he’s now passing down to the next generation.

When Suzy Scudder retired from the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District in 2020 after nearly three decades of teaching, she imagined her life would quiet down. Instead, she woke up one night at 4 a.m. with an idea that wouldn’t let her go.

During the same Sept. 16 meeting the Middleton Common Council voted to discontinue a Middleton Police Department battery storage project, Sustainability Coordinator Kelly Hilyard reported that tons of food — literally — have been composted as part of the Scrap Stop program.

Following a closed session, the Middleton Common Council approved an excessive assessment settlement with TGA 8500-8551 Research Way LLC that calls for the city to repay $543,481.14 in partial property tax payments based on property tax assessments for 2024.

School budget approved at annual meeting

TOWN OF MIDDLETON – Looking to add more shade-giving, carbon-sequestering trees to open areas, the Town Board last week (SEPT. 15) authorized applying for a $5,000 urban forestry state grant.

An LLC that owned a 14-acre parcel in Pheasant Branch Creek filed a quitclaim deed that now allows the City of Middleton to take ownership of the land for the Pheasant Branch Conservancy. A resolution approved Sept. 16 by the Middleton Common Council allows the city to accept the donation.