De Pere Council approves I-41 Southbridge concept

DE PERE – The De Pere Common Council recently approved a concept for the I-41 Southbridge Interchange bridge.

The state’s portion of the cost is $16 million, while the city of De Pere and town of Lawrence will split $30,000 in costs for aesthetic details to make the bridge similar to one at Scheuring Road.

City of champions
The De Pere Common Council recognized the De Pere Redbirds boys baseball team for its state championship win earlier this summer.

“We like to pay respect and honor to the championship teams of De Pere and West De Pere high schools,” Mayor James Boyd said. “In the past three years, we have honored the De Pere boys basketball team, the West De Pere dance and pom team, the West De Pere girls’ track team, and now we’re going to add the De Pere boys baseball team to this illustrious list.”

He said it looks like De Pere is now “championship city.”

In June, the De Pere Redbirds boys baseball team finished a 27–3 season with a 5–1 victory over Sun Prairie East at the Fox Cities Stadium, earning its first-ever division one WIAA state championship title.

Head Coach Bob Van Rens thanked his three coaches, the booster club, and the De Pere Youth Program. which he said enables about 1,000 youth athletes between East and West De Pere to play baseball in the summer.

“The time that the booster club and the youth program puts in to make this happen is tremendous,” Van Rens said.

Adopt-a-drain initiative

The city wants to encourage residents to adopt a storm drain in their neighborhoods and ensure local storm sewer inlets are kept clear of debris, sticks, and leaves.

The Adopt-a-Drain program aims to keep drainage systems working efficiently and protect water quality by keeping storm drains clear of blockages.

More details can be found on the city’s website, including signup sheets that ask volunteers to report when and how much debris they clear.

Although the forms ask volunteers for amounts removed in gallons, they’re looking for estimates, not exact amounts, according to Assistant City Engineer Chase Kuffel.

Volunteers should wear bright clothing when they clear drains, only do so in daylight hours, stay out of the drains themselves, and stay out of traffic.

More than a dozen cities in Wisconsin have similar adopt-a-drain programs, including Green Bay.

Other business
In other business, the Common Council voted to:
• Accept a donation of $4,161.16 to the De Pere fire department from Casa ALBA Melanie for stroke education. Casa ALBA Melanie is the Association for Latino Well-Being and Assistance, named for Sister Melanie Maczka, its first executive director.
• Award a contract of $68,824.80 to De Groot, Inc. for manhole cover replacement.

• Accept a grant of $4,271.51 to the De Pere police department from the Brown County Crime Prevention Funding Board for traffic radar speed boards.
• Approve an agreement with the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office to nominate the State Bank of De Pere building, 127 North Broadway St., De Pere, to the National Register of Historic Places. The agreement is necessary in order to secure $6,000 in funding for improvements through a sub-grant from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office.
• Approve agreements between the De Pere Health Department, Gundersen Lutheran Administrative Services, Inc. and Hospital Sisters Health System for the De Pere Health Department to share patient information if necessary.