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Boscobel Common Council discusses ATV routes and public nuisance properties
Boscobel City Hall

BOSCOBEL - At the request of area ATV clubs, the Boscobel Common Council directed City Attorney Ben Wood to explore the possibility of expanding an ATV route across the Wisconsin River bridge, into Crawford County, and north on County E.

What he discovered was that the city would have to jump through a lot of hoops to get the needed cooperation from Grant and Crawford counties, Marietta Township and, and most importantly, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

“The speed limit would have to be lowered to 35 mph all the way to the bridge and beyond,” Wood told the Council at Monday’s meeting, which was held both in-person and online. “It must be 35 or below or we can’t do it. I’m not very optimistic about it because they would have to make some major accommodations.”

Wood said Marietta Township and both counties seem amenable to the proposal, but he has yet to hear back from the DOT.

“The ball’s in their court,” he said.

Public nuisances

The Council spent a good part of the meeting discussing an ongoing public nuisance situation at 701 Morrison Drive. Owner Gene Freymiller said he had hoped to put a roof on the building last year but the deal fell through. He asked for an extension to put up a screening fence until he could remove vehicles, lumber, rocks and other materials that have littered the property for years.

“I’ve sent you seven letters in the past two years and heard nothing from you,” Attorney Wood told Freymiller, who was present at the meeting. “You’ve had plenty of time to clean that up, 2-3 years of notice, and now you want an extension? To me that’s not an olive branch, that’s a deal breaker. A fence around junk is still junk. I’d think you’d be happy to have someone haul it away for you.”

The city had scheduled a Town & Country Sanitation crew to begin hauling stuff away beginning 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Police Chief Jaden McCullick was adamant that Freymiller not receive another extension as he has in the past.

“No more extensions,” he said. “You’ve had three months since the injunction and made zero progress.

“You’ve got a week to move those vehicles, but they’re coming tomorrow to get the rest of it,” added Wood. “We’ve been trying to get you to do something for three years and you’ve done nothing.”

Wood and McCullick have also been working with the owners of the property at 909 Wisconsin Avenue—Vicky and Jeremy Faust—to clean up the first floor, which has a hole in the wall and has been littered with the bodies of dead pigeons.

“They’ve put a tarp over the window so people can’t see inside, but other than that have done nothing,” McCullick said. He was directed to proceed with obtaining an inspection warrant and if deemed necessary to proceed with injunction proceedings.

Orlandi retiring

The Council accepted the retirement resignation of Librarian Robin Orlandi, who will be staying on until her replacement is hired.

“I love my job; I love the city, but it’s time for me to pull the plug and see how the fishing is down in Florida in the winter,” Orlandi said via Zoom. “However, I’ll be around to make sure we have a smooth and easy transition, and I’m not leaving Boscobel, so we can squelch that rumor right now.”