By Gail Peckler-Dziki~ Correspondent
The Paddock Lake planning Commission/Design Review Board denied a request from Central High School to extend the conditional use permit for the multi-use path.
It is scheduled to expire on Oct. 1, 2013. Central requested an extension to Oct. 1, 2015. The conditional use permit was granted on June 16, 2010.
The planning and zoning commission voted to table the request and to revisit it in six months. The only no vote to table was commission member Cheryl Baysinger, who is also a member of the Central High School Board.
She said she wanted to see the measure pass so the school would not have to come back to the village board. Commission member John Sauter said the extension was to make sure that everything is covered and done correctly. “You must take inspections into account.”
Plan commission member Gil Lauritsen, however, wanted to wait on any extension to see when things get done. Commission member Robert Leick was concerned that just adding an extension to the permit would undermine the need for urgency in getting the project done.
The Village of Paddock Lake applied for a grant for this path because the school district could not. The $392,000 grant that was awarded for the path is federal traffic enhancement grant, under the subhead of safe routes to school. Wisconsin department of Transportation is the agency through which the money will be administered according to federal guidelines. If the funds are not used by the end of 2014, the district would lose the money.
The original estimated time of the state improvements to the intersection of Highways 83 and 50 was set for 2016. That has now been pushed back to 2025 or later.
The project requires that the state acquire part of a property located on the southeast corner of the intersection. The state has begun very preliminary negotiations with the landowner.
What happens on that corner affects the trail route and the school had been waiting to see what would happen there. Village Administrator Tim Popanda explained that the state, which administers the grant is working with all concerned parties to schedule the projects for the best outcome for all.
Popanda said that the current process in choosing an engineering firm to complete the plans and supervise the project was rather intricate. “The school and village had a selection committee that viewed five responses to the RFP that was sent out.”
The village representatives on that committee were village president Marlene Goodson and trustee Jake Hansen. Central representatives were district administrator Dr. Scott Pierce and board member Henry Billingsley.
The 10-foot wide multi-use trail was required by the village as part of the conditional use permit. This trail would lead up to the north part of the parcel, then cross over Highway 83, giving easier access to Highway 50 from the athletic fields. In 2010, the estimated cost of that trail was $390,000.
The addition to the conditional use permit that the village required is an improvement of a six foot wide existing gravel path that starts at the tennis courts, runs on the west side of the parcel to the ball fields and continues up to the intersection of Highways 83 and 50.
Originally, the village asked that the path be concrete, but downgraded that to blacktop over the existing gravel path. Students have been using the shoulder of the road. This path is off the shoulder and would be a safer route north.