Somerset board approves restroom, concession facility

Talk about it

The Somerset Village Board agreed to fund a new concession and restroom facility at Village Park and donated to the St. Croix River Bridge Coalition at their meeting on Tuesday, June 19.

The total cost for the Village Park concession and restroom project will be about $88,866 and will include in-floor heating, making it available for use during the winter.

“We have bids in for construction of a Huffcutt concrete building, similar to that at Larry Forrest Park, and all the additional subs, electrical, plumbing, water, sewer, concrete slab and miscellaneous other expenses we expect for the project,” board member Ryan Sicard said.

The board has approximately $77,000 in accumulated impact fees, which will go towards funding the project.

“The funds would come from impact fees and then capital projects to cover the remainder,” Sicard said.

At the meeting, Larry Dowell, president of Dowell Stute and Associates and executive director of the St. Croix River Bridge Coalition, gave a presentation regarding the coalition and the new Stillwater bridge.

“Our objective is to raise $37,500 from the public sector through Wisconsin, through townships, counties, cities, villages, etc.,” Dowell told the board. “We have been pleasantly and positively impacted by decisions from St. Croix County.”

Dowell said that a poll conducted in January showed 86 percent support for a new bridge from residents on both sides of the river.

Dowell asked the board for a $5,000 donation towards the coalition. The board chose to donate $2,500.

“We could have been more prepared for this amount,” President Jeffrey Johnson said. “We’ve already set our budget and we are tight as it is.”

The start date for bridge construction is estimated to be the summer of 2013, and Johnson said they hope to donate more before then.

“This is also a request for 2013 and we will be budgeting accordingly for that,” Johnson said.

For the complete story, see this week's New Richmond News.

Tags: local government, news, somerset