For the week of March 25, 2022

SEYMOUR SCHOOL BOARD

Outgoing board members

School Board President Greg Leisgang and board member Kurt Peterson were recognized by Superintendent Laurie Asher at the Tuesday, March 22, meeting, as neither have seeked reelection in April and attended their last meeting.

Leisgang

Peterson

Asher said Leisgang served on the board for four years, the last two as board president, and during that time, he has attended 71 of 72 meetings.

“He missed one meeting in all the time he was here; even when he was traveling, he made it a priority to stay connected,” Asher said.

Asher also thanked Peterson’s six years of board service.

Both members were presented with a plaque for their service.

COVID-19 update

Asher said the district hasn’t had any new staff or student positive COVID-19 cases for nearly three weeks.

“Testing is way down,” she said. “We still offer testing – rapids and PCRs. As for in the community, when I checked (March 21), there were five total cases in the whole school district community, so numbers seem to be staying consistently down. So that is good news.”

Asher said schools are returning as close to “normal” as possible.

“We are starting to let visitors come back in,” she said. “Large group gathering again… Prior, if students had two or more symptoms they would be sent home. We are now going to move that to just treating it like we would influenza. If they come to school and parents feel comfortable for them to be at school (then they can). We still really encourage staying home if you are sick. For the rest of the year, we would still like to keep in place that a positive case stays home for 10 days, and quarantining family members. Those would be the only two things we’d like to stay in place. We really aren’t seeing any cases right now, so we’re not really seeing that impact.”

ASHWAUBENON VILLAGE BOARD

Former nursing home rezoning denied

The Village Board denied a request Tuesday, March 22, to rezone a former assisted living/nursing home property at 2305 San Luis Pl. to redevelop the site for 76 market-rate apartment units, in line with the recommendation from the village’s Plan Commission.

Trustee Steve Kubacki said he believes there is a “higher and better use” for the site than redeveloping it for apartments with the surrounding area zoned B-3.

“It’s an interesting location in the community – right off of Cormier, right off of Oneida Street,” he said. “I think it has a higher and better use. I’m concerned about the size of the units and the densities.”

Along with expressing concerns about the rooms being too small for apartments, Kubacki previously suggested tearing down the facility as a possible answer for using the site.

Business park property rezoned for apartment use

The board approved the rezoning of two lots between Cypress Road and West Main Avenue from BP Business Park to R-3 Multi-Family Residence for a proposed apartment development.

Ashwaubenon’s Community Development Authority, owner of the parcels, previously authorized the sale to Alliance Maintenance for $473,000, or approximately $55,025 per acre, contingent upon the 8.596 acres being rezoned R-3.

Alliance Maintenance has announced plans to construct market-rate apartments at that location.

Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said a review of a site plan for the apartment development will have to take place separately by the village’s Site Plan Review Committee for the project to proceed.

Schuette said the land uses around the two parcels include an existing apartment development zoned R-3 to the west, as well as BP zoning surrounding the site.

Rezoning approved to rehab Ashland Avenue building

In other business, the board approved a rezoning request related to rehabilitating an existing building at 2600 S. Ashland Ave. for wholesale distribution.

The board’s motion rezones the property from B-3 Community Business to I-1 Light Industry.

Schuette said the rezoning will permit two wholesale businesses – floral sales and heating, ventilation and air conditioning sales – to locate there.

Rick Fisher, the project architect with Fisher and Associates, said he thinks this is a good reuse of this building.

“Over the years, it’s had a number of different uses, and what we’re planning to do with the facility is to replace all the paving, restore the terraces, add green space back into the site (and) increase some of the parking spaces – approximately doubling the number of spaces,” Fisher said.

Village attorney appointed

The board appointed Patrick Leigl as the new village attorney.

Leigl, who most recently served as an assistant district attorney (ADA) in Milwaukee County, also was an ADA in Outagamie and St. Croix counties.

Before working as a prosecutor, he was an assistant city attorney for the cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay.

He replaces Tony Wachewicz, who resigned from the position in December after five years to work for the von Briesen & Roper law firm. 

DE PERE SCHOOL BOARD

Virtual meetings

The School Board discussed the possibility of simulcasting its meetings when it met Monday, March 22.

“I felt that during the pandemic, the ability for parents to observe us had some benefits,” Board President David Youngquist said.

Superintendent Ben Villarruel described two versions of virtual meetings to the board.

“So we are all talking about the same verbiage… Zoom would mean that it would be interactive,” Villarruel said. “If you are (using) Zoom, people who are not physically here can interact with you. Simulcasting means that it is a one-way communication stream, so that people who are at home… would be able to view it.”

Youngquist said as far as public comment “you should do it (here) in the open forum.”

Youngquist

“So, I am not advocating or a big proponent of (public comment) being a part of that model,” he said.

There was some concern from the board about the potential cost associated with simulcasting – such as staff time, equipment and storage needs.

“I get nervous when I hear things like, we might have to hire someone or someone on staff needs to be here every night for three hours to run a camera,” Youngquist said.

Villarruel said it is doable, “other districts do it.”

Board member Mike Paroubek said a community poll to gauge the want/need of the option might be a good idea.

“I think we should poll the parents and say ‘Hey, we are going to put this out there for investment, and we can do it, but it is going to cost x amount of dollars,’” he said.

Villarruel said any movement on this topic would need to wait until the district’s new technology director starts next month.

“On the technology part, I wouldn’t be able to advise you until we get our technology director, probably I want him to get his feet going, so in the summer, by that time you have the new superintendent. I think that is something you should include with him in the conversation.”

“But it is doable,” he said. “Other districts do it. Other districts don’t do it. So, there is nowhere a wrong answer.”

SUAMICO VILLAGE BOARD

Code amendments proposed

The first reading of proposed changes to the village code as it relates to emergency alarms and possible penalties for false alarms was held Monday, March 21, by the Suamico Village Board.

Village Administrator Alex Kaker said the code currently contains “some gray areas that pertain to the definition of leasee.”

Kaker

He said he worked with Deputy Marc Pisani to revise the code.

“We tweaked a few definitions, we removed some unnecessary definitions and rewrote the purpose of the subchapter,” Kaker said. “Really, at the end of the day, we want reliable alarm systems in our community, and we don’t want fire engines and police vehicles flying through the village when responding to an alarm when an emergency situation does not actually exist.”

The revised wording changes the definition of “alarm user” from “any person who owns or rents the premises on which an alarm system is maintained within the village” to “any person, firm, partnership or corporation on whose premises an alarm system is maintained.”

Kaker said the revision designates who is responsible for a false alarm.

The revised wording also defines a false alarm as a “signal from an alarm system which causes the police and/or fire department to respond when an emergency situation does not exist.”

The service fees for false alarms occurring within a two-year period would be: $0 for the first false alarm; not less than $50 nor more than $500, plus the costs of the prosecution, for the second and third false alarms; and not less than $100 nor more than $500, plus the costs of prosecution, for each subsequent false alarm.

Kaker said the second reading of the ordinance revision for final approval will be held at the board’s April 4 meeting.

Property for sale

In other action, the board approved a request for proposals (RFP) seeking to sell approximately 23 acres of land owned by the village’s sanitary district at 3070 Mink Ranch Road, where a sewage plant was taken offline more than 20 years ago.

Kaker said interested buyers will have until June 1 to submit their proposals to the village.

“(Money generated from the sale) goes into the sewer fund, and the board gets to decide what to do with it,” he said. 

The RFP states the property’s appraised value last month was $210,000.

Grant presentation

The board also heard a presentation from Ben Rodgers, the grant writer shared between the Howard-Suamico School District and the villages of Howard and Suamico.

Rodgers said the pending total of possible grants for Suamico is more than $300,000, with applications for two federal grants and one foundation grant.

He said he is nearing completion of a $50,000 foundation grant request for new soccer fields at Calavera Park.

DE PERE BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

Changes are coming to basketball leagues

Revisions to the park department’s adult basketball format were approved by the Board of Park Commissioners March 17.

Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry Marty Kosobucki said last year they didn’t have enough officials for one league, let alone seven.

He said the city refunded teams part of their fees if they were willing to play in unofficiated leagues.

Recreation Supervisor Angela George said the parks department looked into how players would like to proceed with the program.

She said some liked the unofficiated league, others said they would pay “whatever they had to, in order to have officiated leagues.”

This year, the program will consist of four officiated leagues and three unofficated leagues. 

Kosobucki said wages for officials will be $40 for those not WIAA certified and $45 for WIAA-certified officials.

Team fees will be $550 for officiated leagues, up from $242, and there will be no fee for unofficiated leagues.

Player fees will remain $39 per player.

Donations up

The parks department received more than $73,000 in donations and community contributions for its programs and projects in 2021.

Contributions ranged from $23,500 from De Pere Baseball for refurbishments to Kelly Danen fields to $20 from area restaurants toward the annual senior picnic.

Kosobucki said many improvements and programs might not have happened without community involvement.

“We’re very fortunate in the field that we’re in, in that all that we do is about improving quality of life for residents and visitors,” he said. “We have a lot of people that understand that, and they want to see those things happen.”

He said that over the last 10 years, the department has received $50,000 to $100,000 per year in donations and community contributions.

WEST DE PERE SCHOOL DISTRICT

COVID-19 masking threshold eliminated

With masks now optional district-wide, the School Board agreed March 16 to remove the masking threshold from its guidelines.

Superintendent Dennis Krueger said the number of students and staff testing positive for COVID-19 had been between 0-3 for the previous three weeks.

“We had contemplated keeping the criteria there (for when masks would be required) just in case (the number of positive cases increased),” he said. “But should something happen, we’d be back talking about it, and we could re-implement or reinstitute the criteria.”

Krueger said the district plans to continue its COVID-19 dashboard indicating the number of positive cases through the remainder of the school year.

“Hopefully, we keep seeing (the number of positive cases at) 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, and probably, hopefully, next fall not have that (dashboard) anymore,” he said.

School Nurse Michelle Neumann said the criteria the district used for COVID-19 doesn’t make sense anymore after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed how it rates community levels for the virus.

“We put that 2.5% on it (for the threshold level), but our school doesn’t take into consideration hospitalizations, deaths – you know, how many cases,” she said. “We’re strictly looking at cases and nothing else, and now the CDC is looking at everything as a whole versus just that case number.”

Neumann said the district now “would have to see a significant number of cases in order to meet that 2.5% (threshold).”

“Even all school year, we met it once, I believe, and it was right after Christmas, when everybody was gathering (and the number of COVID-19 cases) was surging,” she said. “I think the way the cases are going, and the guidance that is coming out from the CDC, is basically the variants (of the virus) are getting weaker, and the hospitalizations are down, deaths are down.”

Technology plan

In other action, the board approved a technology plan designed to provide each K-12 student with a digital device in the future.

The plan calls for increasing the current annual technology budget of $300,000 over the next four school years to $350,000 in 2022-23, $355,000 in 2023-24, $435,000 in 2024-25 and $385,000 in 2025.

Currently, all students in grades 5-12 are supplied with Chromebooks, while K-4 students share devices.

The new plan includes iPads for grades K-1 and Chromebooks for grades 2-4, with the devices in those grades intended to stay at school, while Chromebooks would continue to be available for all intermediate, middle and high school students, and all teachers would continue to each have a digital device.

Curriculum adoption

The board also approved an amendment to the district’s policy on curriculum adoption.

Language was added to a provision related to instructional materials and texts reflecting the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of American society, which states, “Should a parent/guardian desire an alternative reading selection, it shall be requested of the teacher, and a district-approved alternate that is in alignment with existing course goals and standards will be provided.” 

Sales tax share

With a portion of the district’s boundaries in Outagamie County, West De Pere will be able to keep a portion of the sales tax it collects.

The board approved a resolution informing the county it is interested in receiving those funds, which Krueger said the anticipated revenue will be approximately $1,500 for 2022.

He said Brown County does not allow districts to keep a portion of the sales tax they collect.

BROWN COUNTY BOARD

Supervisors receive commendations at final meeting

Four Brown County supervisors not seeking reelection in April – Joan Brusky (District 14), Lindsay Dorff (District 4), Tom Sieber (District 1) and Cassandra Erickson (District 19) – were recognized March 16 by the County Board.

Buckley said Sieber has been a valuable asset to the County Board for the last 10 years

“Over the last 10 years, I’ve gotten to know him real well,” Buckley said.  “The best part is, we’ve been able to agree to disagree. He’s always been really helpful, and I appreciate him as my vice chair.”

Brusky served on the Health and Human Services committee for six years.

“She did a remarkable job of leading the committee through the years of the pandemic,”   Siebert said. “She’s done a lot of really good work for the county, including funding for additional district attorneys across the state. I don’t think Brown County would have gotten that without her leadership.”

Supervisor Dorff and Erickson both began their terms in April 2020.

“You were one of those supervisors who were kind of quiet, but when you did speak, you really had something to say,” Buckley said of Dorff. “We appreciate all of the service… everybody else that’s leaving us, maybe someday you’ll come back.”

Library expansion funding

The board unanimously approved the architectural plan and the usage of approximately $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the proposed new County Board meeting room in the lower level of the Brown County Central Library.

The County Board previously earmarked the $1.1 million in November 2021 giving the Library Board the go ahead to explore consultation services for the project.

The board’s March 16 vote gave the final approval for the funds to be used for that purpose.

Public works department reorganization

Supervisors unanimously approved the reorganization of the county’s public works department.

Following an internal evaluation of the facilities division of public works, Director Paul Fontecchio said it was determined it was in the best interest of the county to split the public works department into a highway department and a facility department, which will be reorganized by job duties instead of geographical campuses.

The board also increased the housekeeper and lead housekeeper pay rates due to the difficulty in hiring.

Fontecchio said the financial impact of the change will be absorbed by operations and no additional levy is required.

Press Times Editor Heather Graves, Staff Writers Kevin Boneske and Josh Staloch, and Correspondent Lee Reinsch contributed to these briefs.