The La Crosse County Highway Department recently restated its unwillingness to commit to regularly clearing the sidewalks along Hwy. 16 in the village of West Salem.

Despite that recent development, the village board decided it won’t spend more than $5,000 on a skid steer attachment so public works employees could more easily do the job themselves.

At its regular meeting last week, the board passed on purchasing a skid steer-mounted snow blower attachment, and instead voting to spend up to $1,200 for a truck-mounted salt-sand spreader that will make traversing the sometimes icy Hwy. 16 sidewalks a little easier for pedestrians.

Officials said although they had found some room in the budget for the snowblower attachment, with the worst of winter was mostly behind us, it was more prudent to put it off until next year’s budget.

“We’re at that point in the cycle of winter,” said Trustee Diana Engel. “We’ve got February and March to get through. We could budget it, and bid it out in September or October.”

Village President Dennis Manthei thought that given the unknowns associated with state shared revenue for the next budget, and knowing that the purchase could be made to work within the current budget, it might make more sense to purchase the snow blower attachment now.

Others, and even Public Works director Scott Halbrucker who first pitched the snow blower idea, seemed to favor the wait-and-see approach.

“Not knowing how many snowfalls we’re going to get this year …. (we should) put it in the budget next year,” said Trustee Jim Leicht.

Halbrucker agreed, pointing to the two large snowfalls the area has already had this year, suggesting it was unlikely the area would see three large snowfalls this winter.

“It’s a fairly large purchase for us that wasn’t budgeted,” Leicht said.

Halbrucker had collected three bids for the attachment, all between $5,000 and $6,000. None of the companies could guarantee delivery within two weeks, meaning the village wouldn’t be able to use the snow blower, which it may not immediately need, until the first week of February at the earliest.

The motion to approve purchasing the salt-sand spreader for the pickup truck that the village uses to plow the sidewalk, passed unanimously. Trustee J. Terry Hanson was absent.

Last month, village officials again spoke with La Crosse County officials looking for a guarantee that the highway department could clear the sidewalks when the snow was too deep for the village to do it efficiently with its own equipment.

“They’re not going to come to an agreement to commit themselves to clear our sidewalks,” village Administrator Teresa Schnitzler said.

When board members asked Schnitzler to ask again earlier this month, the reply was similar. In an e-mail to board members and other officials, Schnitzler said that the “county cannot routinely remove snow from sidewalks.”

However, when snow piles reach a height where the village has no where to put it, the county can provide labor and equipment within a day or two.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other action, the board:

Heard a year-end report from Police Chief Charles Ashbeck. In 2009 the West Salem Police Department: responded to 3,648 official calls for service; made 165 arrests; gave out 694 citations (364 traffic tickets, 99 ordinance violations, 231 traffic enforcements), responded to 74 crashes; and recorded 14 OWIs, 49 vandalisms and 22 emergency detentions. The number of calls for service was up about 10 percent over 2008. Ashbeck also said the number of motorists renewing their license plates at the department was up, likely due to the number of DMV furlough days.

Approved the Planning Committee’s recommendation to schedule a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 for a conditional-use permit for David Birdd to construct a residential and professional office/retail development on 920 West City Highway 16. The property is currently zoned for business, and a conditional-use permit would be required to incorporate residential units in the development. Numbers given at the Planning Commission meeting call for 38 one-bedroom apartments, 12 two-bedroom apartments, four three-bedroom apartments, 60 underground parking spaces, 38 surface parking spaces, and a 16,663 professional office and retail space with another 46 surface parking spaces. The estimated cost of the development is $7 million to $8 million. “Who else is going to invest $7 or $8 million in West Salem in the next 10 years,” said Trustee Jim Koelbl. “I’m all for it.”

Approved minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Ad Hoc Committee meeting of Jan. 11. The committee discussed and finalized the Safe Routes to School Program application and reported that the Hwy. 16 widening project has been put off until 2016. Trail maintenance along the Hwy. 16 and how to cross the La Crosse River also was discussed. The committee also has requested priority grant status from WisDOT to hopefully expedite the installation of crosswalk countdown timers on Hwy. 16 at Brickl Road and Garland Street.

Heard a report on the Law Enforcement committee’s negotiations with the union representing West Salem police officers. “It got a little contentious here and there I’ll have to say,” said committee Chairman Marv Iverson of the negotiations. “It’s not resolved yet, and it may not be for a while yet.” Final issues that await resolution are two-year contract wage increases, meeting and court appearance compensation and work schedule changes.

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