DARLINGTON – The Tuesday, August 1, 2017 regular meeting of the common council of the City of Darlington was called to order by Mayor David Breunig at 7:00 p.m.
    Brent Erickson, representing the Darlington Lions, was present requesting to place Lions Club signs along the four main entrances to the city. Hwy. 23 north and south and Hwy. 81 east and west. Erickson said the Darlington Lions were chartered in 1983 and have been the most active civic organizations in the city since that time. Erickson said, “We’re asking the city if we can put up these signs, then people driving through can see we are an active organization and community.”
    Alder Dave Gough said, “I went through this a couple of years ago with the American Legion. We put signs up in the same locations that were just described. We got a letter from the Wisconsin DOT saying we had to take them down. I was told by the state that we could leave them up if we paid a fee, we took them down.”
    Gough continued, “There’s more to it then getting permission from us, in fact you’re talking about two or three spots that are not in the city limits. It’s going to be the state, being on state highways, that you will need the blessing of.” More discussion ensued.
    The motion was made to approve the request from the Darlington Lions to place signs at the four main entrances to the city, pending state highway approval. Approved.
    Jeremy Williams, Director of Public Works requested to appeal the Wisconsin DOT decision to remove the southern Huntington Court access where it intersects with Hwy. 23. Williams states his issue with the removal is that emergency only have one access to the house in Huntington; makes it more difficult to move snow; the southern access is not as inclined as the northern access and it is easier to drive on in the winter. A motion was and approved to grant Williams permission to appeal the WDOT decision.
Flood discussion
    Many items were discussed regarding the recent flood and they include: flood shields from a business has not been put back on the wagon; cave-in at the fairgrounds entrance is the city’s problem; back flow preventers are needed for the storm sewers (they are in the plans for the 2021 Hwy. 23 construction project); height was 15.35”; Police Chief Jason King has a file of notes on years of floods data and numbers and makes decisions off of that and United States Geological Service (USGS) information; sewer plant took in 3 million gallons, it was chlorinated and went through aeration and sent into the over flow; King said going forward, when the flood level gets to 15’ the bridge will be closed.
Non-Agenda discussion
    •Williams asked what was the process of installing a stop sign on Madison Street? It has gone through committee but hasn’t been approved by the council. Bill McDaniels stated it needs a resolution to change the traffic ordinance.
    •Horse diapers was brought up. Items that were discussed include: Horse riders would be needed to be treated the same as Amish buggy horses; Meet with key members of the Amish community and discuss the problem; Other communities have adopted ordinance, but they were met with resistance; Suggest the Amish not use Main Street; A nightmare for enforcement, it would almost have to be voluntary compliance; Other concerns of impeding traffic, don’t obey stop signs; This is a lot about nothing.
Unfinished business
    Alder Don Osterday brought up turning the upstairs of the municipal building into apartments. This had been discussed before. Osterday would like to see some numbers for transforming the offices into apartments. Osterday said, “We need to be looking ahead.” Breunig suggested that the item go to a Property and Building Committee meeting. The meeting was scheduled for Aug. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
    In Other Business:
    •The raise order on the rock house on Spring Street, which now belongs to Ted Thuli has been signed by Breunig.
    •Approved paying vouchers in the amount of $214,258.