BOSCOBEL - Circulation at Boscobel’s library has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. Total circulation of both printed and electronic matter was at 31,278 in 2019, according to Janelle Miller, Director of the Hildebrand Memorial Library. In 2020, when the library was mostly closed during lockdown, it was down by about half. At the close of 2022, it stood at 28,667.
Miller reported the rebound to Boscobel’s Common Council at its February 6 meeting. She stressed that reading materials were only a small part of the library’s mission. Indeed, both the number of events and of people attending, increased markedly this year over last.
“We have people who run their businesses from the library,” Miller said. “They print, scan it, we can email from the scanner. If you have technology problems, we can help you fix them.”
In the basement, she added, is the Outreach Center hosted by Marlene Klein from Southwest Tech. Services, many free, include GED prep, technology classes, resume crafting.
“We provide such a wide range of services I can’t list them all on our website,” Miller said. “The library offers a great wealth of resources and information and people who can help you do what you want to do, whether it is read the next Colleen Hoover novel or run your small business.”
New squad
Boscobel’s police department will get a new squad car. The council approved a bid from Fillback Automotive for a new Dodge Durango at a cost of $40,357.50. That beat a competing bid from Les Mack by a few hundred dollars.
The cars are replaced on a regular rotation.
Downtown trees replaced
Six dead trees in the downtown area will be uprooted this summer, and replacements planted, according to Mike Reynolds, Boscobel’s City Engineer/Director of Public Works.
He told the council the new trees will be a hybrid lilac that is resistant to salt. Reynold’s budget for replacement was $15,000 max, and the six trees come under that limit.
Plowing woes
Third Ward Alders Krissy Schneider and Milt Cashman reported that a handful of their constituents called to complain about streets not being plowed well enough in recent storms.
Reynolds, along with Luke Brown, Supervisor of the Streets Department, encouraged Boscobel residents to reach out directly to one of them with any plowing issues. Each can be reached on the City Hall phone at (608) 375-5001.
“If a citizen reaches out to us and they don’t get the answer that they think they should get, in my opinion, that’s when it should become an agenda item,” Reynolds told the council. “We can’t fix it if we don’t know anything about it.”
Trail project snag
Funding, ever an issue, is causing some hiccups in the plan to connect Boscobel to Cozy Acres via a multiuse trail.
The trail was originally funded by a grant for $1.33 million from the state-administered Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). That left $350,000 on the table—money that the Wisconsin River Trail Organization, a non-profit, would pay.
As reported in the Dial, that plan hit a snag after the state expanded a rail spur at Milk Specialties and United Co-op. Instead, the trail will pass under a new railroad bridge, funded in part by a different state grant and loan program, where the train tracks cross Crooked Creek.
That route increased the trail budget significantly, and Reynolds said the city had attempted to get an additional TAP grant to cover the difference.
Not so fast, according to Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation (DOT). “We got an email from DOT: TAP projects receive a capped amount of federal funding. Local project sponsors are responsible for cost overruns, regardless of the cause for excess project costs,” Reynolds told the council.
The DOT encouraged the city to apply for a brand new TAP grant for the entire project. That amount would be $2.7 million, increasing the price tag for Wisconsin River Trail by nearly $200,000, according to Reynolds.
Land sold
At its meeting the council also gave the thumbs up to a sale of city land, unoccupied, to Rex Smith, for a cost of one dollar per square foot.
Smith elaborated on his plans to make the vacant lot “a Saturday afternoon destination.”
The building that Smith owns was once a stable, and he’s going to re-create the look on the side of his building that was damaged when the Fin ‘n Feather came down.
“We’re going to make it look like an old stable,” he told the council. “So that north side of that building, we’re going to have three or four stable doors. The fencing will be to make it look like an old-time corral.” He’ll also feature pop-up vendors and have an outdoor chicken-q grill.
The city will retain an easement on the property for access to a water main.
City wages
City Administrator Patricia Smith presented the wage increases for city employees for 2023. The council had previously voted to tie wage increases to the contract negotiated with the police union that represents Boscobel’s force.
Under that contract, increases are tied to the Consumer Price Index, but capped at 4 percent. Thus, all city employees will receive a 4 percent raise this year.
In terms of hourly wages, they range from $17.04 for the Tuffley Center Director, to $52.81 for the Director of Public Works/City Engineer.
