County

DNR Seeking Public Comment for Environmental Review of Cross Plains Safe Drinking Water Loan Program Project

MADISON–The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the village of Cross Plains is an applicant for funding through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP) to improve its public drinking water system. This project includes the replacement of watermains and sanitary sewers along a portion of West Brewery Road in the village of Cross Plains.

Activities related to this project are minor actions under Chapter NR 150, Wis. Admin. Code, for which no environmental analysis is required; however, following the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program federal requirement 40 C.F.R. §35.3580, an environmental review must be conducted before funding this project.

MADISON–Preliminary data shows the Flex Lane is significantly improving travel times on Madison’s Beltline (US 12/18) in Dane County. The Flex Lane opened in July as one solution to help ease backups and improve traffic flow on one of Wisconsin’s busiest highways.

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Secretary Craig Thompson, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, Madison Region Economic Partnership President and CEO Jason Fields and a few Beltline drivers join WisDOT’s latest “Transportation Connects Us” to discuss how the Beltline improvements are benefitting drivers, alleviating congestion and how an improved Beltline can aid economic development throughout Dane County.

DANE COUNTY-On Oct 3, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi introduced his 2023 budget proposal at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, where he laid out Dane County’s plans to prioritize investments in life’s basic needs, housing, mental health supports, restorative justice, conservation initiatives, addressing climate change, and more. The $834 million dollar spending plan builds on successful county initiatives while exploring new opportunities to make a substantive difference for individuals and families in the Dane County community.

DANE COUNTY–The Dane County Board of Supervisors will be holding two public hearings to hear the budget requests from the individual departments in the County. The hearings will be held on Sept. 14 and Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. with half of the departments presenting their budget requests at one meeting, and the other half at the other meeting.

The hearings are held annually prior to County Executive Parisi releasing his proposed budget.

The hearings will be held in a hybrid format with the option to attend and register to speak both virtually and in person. Information to connect virtually will be available on top of the agendas which will be posted the Friday prior to the hearing date and available here: https://dane.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

CROSS PLAINS–Cross Plains police will staff the school crossing on Church Street for the next few weeks but after that Police Chief Tony Ruesga asked the village board Monday to find other help.

Efforts to hire a crossing guard last year weren’t successful and a police officer filled in, but Ruesga said that’s not feasible given the department’s staffing constraints.

“Emergency calls can take us away from the street crossing…Parents depend on someone being there…but the police can’t handle it anymore,” Ruesga said.

The Middleton Cross Plains Area School District has posted the position and it’s been publicized on social media but no takers yet for the job that pays $12 an hour.

“I don’t think it’s about the money…even at $20 an hour,” said Village President Jay Lengfeld. 

The job requires a half hour’s work in the morning and again in the afternoon, five days a week.

TOWN OF MIDDLETON–Roadside brush chipping, a popular service offered by the Town of Middleton has again grown to where it needs to be trimmed back, town staff requested Monday.

“It’s an ongoing battle. It was getting better...but we’re asking for a new policy,” Scott Ballweg, crew leader told the town board.

The town’s chipping service is not geared for residents who want their land cleared or entire trees removed. Instead, it’s aimed at brush piles that can be chipped in 15 minutes. 

Ballweg sees the burden growing as the town grows, however, the town’s crew remains at four full-time and two part-time employees.

“A lot of people are getting mad,” he said. “There’s confusion about what they can bring out (to the road) and what they can’t. Some people insist that since they have more acres, they should be able to pile up more stuff,” Ballweg said.

MADISON–A Cross Plains man who viewed child pornography on the Internet for several years, was sentenced last week in federal court to seven years in prison to be followed by 12 years of supervised release for sharing it.

Jake Blankenheim, 48, had pled guilty to distributing child pornography in April.

According to court documents:

Blankenheim used the Gigatribe computer software, more commonly used in Eastern Europe, to share photos and videos, including child pornography, with others.

He began communicating with a Swiss undercover agent who “rebuked” Blankenheim in August 2019 for looking for child pornography but not sharing any.

Soon, Blankenheim sent six images that the Swiss undercover agent transmitted to the FBI alleging that were child pornography.

CROSS PLAINS–The Cross Plains Village Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the option to purchase property at 1601 Bourbon Rd. with the purpose of placing the police department next the Cross Plains-Berry Fire Department. 

The purchase price of the property is $390,000 and a recent appraisal came back at $395,000. The real estate was also subject to two studies, an environmental phase I study and a wetland delineation study. Both came back favorable contributing to the board’s decision to approve the purchase option. 

When asked his opinion on the property, Cross Plains Police chief Tony Ruesga said, “Do I think it’s a good spot? Yes.” He added that many towns have their emergency services located next to one another. 

Trustees shared that they had received positive feedback about the move when they are in public. Letters of support have also been received. 

TOWN OF MIDDLETON–Why did the golfer cross the street with his motorized cart?

For some, it will be to get to their next drink while golfing at the new Pioneer Pointe Golf Course.

The 13-hole course that replaced Tumble Down Trails has been open about six weeks according to Jeff Haen, who developed the Pioneer Pointe residential subdivision which surrounds the new course.

The course has six public street crossings, and when Matthew Stebbins applied for a liquor license for the entire golf course property, he ran smack into the state law that prohibits an open alcohol container in a motorized vehicle on public streets.

“That’s the sticking point. There’s no way around it,” Town Attorney Eileen Brownlee said the Town Board on July 5.

Stebbins, of Four Putt, LLC, the liquor license applicant, knew he had a tough road ahead but needed to be able to serve alcohol to golfers just like his competitors at other courses.

Stebbins offered to: