Brian Roebke photo: The Village of Wrightstown is considering creating a River District Planned Development District overlay ordinance in the area of the river district on the village’s east side.
By Brian Roebke
Editor
In the committee of the whole portion of the meeting held last week, the Wrightstown Village Board discussed a proposed River District Planned Development District overlay ordinance in the area because the village needs both the flexibility and stringency in zoning when needed in that area.
“Why this is coming up now is there are a lot of different code variations that would need to be in place for Gnarly Cedar Brewery,” Coenen said.
He said there are many unique features to the river district in- cluding the size of the lots, closen- ess to the street, and proximity to each other.
He worked with Robert E. Lee and looked at a few other downtown or river district type areas.
“One thing I found in our zoning is we may or may not have done it right in the past,” he said. “Royal St. Pat’s had a pretty defined PDD,” he said. The other ones may not have been as detailed.
“There are things that are out of code but cannot be changed because the buildings are already there and we’re using existing buildings,” Coenen added.
The item is on the next planning commission agenda and there will be a public hearing April 5.
Superintendent of Public Works and Utilities Andy Vickman reported there was a water leak in the old parsonage for the Lutheran Church on Turner Street and a restoration company is now working there. The home was vacated in January and unoccupied at the time of the leak that was reported to the police department. Vickman said 265,000 gallons of water went through the meter and down the siding.
“From what I could tell a lot of the water went downstairs,” Vickman said. “Some of it did go outside.”
Vickman added the Department of Public Works has fully moved from the old facility on Washington Street into the Mallard Road facility and everything is going well there.
He is also looking for ideas to store salt at the new facility. The village is required to take 130 tons (six truck loads) yet in this year to satisfy the contract.
It could be as simple as making a pile and cover it like is done with feed bunkers at farms or trying to make a bin. Some municipalities even build dedicated salt storage sheds. There is about $35,000 left in the budget for the new facility.
Trustee Terry Schaeuble said a neighbor asked him about the salt that was not used this past winter and Vickman told him that’s money they don’t have to spend next year because they already have salt left over.
Vickman added the Poplar Street reconstruction project should start in mid-April and the new Kubota 2380 lawn tractor was delivered.
His crew completed some ditch work on Golf Course Drive and the Frontage Road to divert water from going through the residential development to around the ditch line on Golf Course Drive.
The board approved the 2024 development incentive payment for $11,190.47 to Epsilon Properties, LLC (Zeta) for improvements as well as establishing a new bank account with Greenleaf Bank for crime prevention fundraising, intended for donations from individuals and businesses.
Coenen reported he’s working on getting the railroad crossing on Broadway Street started. He added there are six or eight manufacturers looking for 20 acres of land in the industrial park.
Coenen is also working on an application for a tourism grant through Brown County that could go for things like athletic fields.
“Basically they have $3 million in ARPA funds that they need to find a spot for,” Coenen said. “Many of the sports clubs have been saying we need more facilities.”
The board also approved a new operator license application for Elizabeth Thompson for Royal St. Patrick’s Golf Links.