Advertisement The Holland Town Board at its October meeting approved a measure that would have handed over a mile-long portion of the road to the village. Briggs Road runs through portions of Holland, the town of Onalaska and Holmen.
Holland officials, after registering requests from Briggs Road residents who someday would like a sidewalk to better accommodate pedestrian traffic, reasoned Holmen was in the best position to one day provide a sidewalk.
Holmen public works officials thought otherwise. The public works committee voted to take no action on the matter, and therefore the full board did not consider it, sending it into limbo.
Part of the reason Holland voted to hand the section of road over to Holmen was that the state Department of Transportation had labeled Briggs Road a “collector street,” and an implication of that designation is that state and/or federal funds could be available to widen the road and/or add sidewalks if the village were to apply for them.
However, said Holmen Public Works Committee Chairman Ryan Olson, the town has access to some of the same funding. Therefore, if the Holland’s wish is to for sidewalks on Briggs Road, it can apply for the same grants, or the same type of grants, as the village.
Weed enforcement
The village will deal a little differently with habitual offenders of its noxious weed and tall grass ordinance. Under a measure approved last week by the board, those who regularly disregard the ordinance will no longer need certified mail notices sent to them.
The action, coming after the acknowledgement that most offenders are habitual, will save the village money sending expensive certified notices to the same handful of residents.
Other business
In other action, the board:
The biggest change is that overtime will be calculated on a weekly basis beyond 40 hours, instead of on a daily basis for hours worked beyond the standard eight-hour day. Next year’s budget all but eliminates overtime pay to help keep the village’s books in balance.
Bids ranged from $28,000 to about $5,000, but the low bid was for a portable system that was beyond the scope of the request for proposals.
A developer would like to develop a parcel north of the drive. He has told officials he would be willing to continue Crooked Avenue.
The process will go into next month’s meeting and a public hearing will need to be held. Preliminary indications are that there will be six lots developed in that area.
