Story originally printed in the Westby Times or online at www.westbytimes.com
Published - Tuesday, December 30, 2008
School looking to annex former Chaseburg location
During the December monthly board of education meeting, the Westby Area School District presented a petition to annex the former Chaseburg School facility and land into the village of Chaseburg from the township of Hamburg where the building is located.
Ever since the school was permanently closed in 2006 and students rerouted to Coon Valley and Westby, the district has tried unsuccessfully to unload the property outside of the Chaseburg village limits. With an asking price over $400,000 the board had received less than a handful of bids on the property, which were all well below the asking price for the building and parcel of land, forcing the school district to continue to heat and maintain the building on a limited budget.
According to the village of Chaseburg clerk/treasurer Linda DeGarmo village officials met with the school board in 2007 regarding a possible purchase of the building, but talks ceased when the area was stricken with two severe rounds of flooding and their focus had to shift to more immediate concerns.
Those talks have since reopened between the school district and village officials with the FEMA buyout of residential and commercial property in lower Chaseburg, which has created a lower tax base and lack of viable land for expansion of residential and commercial businesses in the village.
Rumors surfaced months ago regarding whether the village of Chaseburg should consider purchasing the property from the school district and relocate the village hall to the facility, along with other area businesses looking to locate in the village of Chaseburg, but that have yet been unable to find suitable accommodations in the community.
DeGarmo was quick to note that all pieces of the puzzle would have to fit to complete this puzzle, including costs associated with the purchasing the land and buildings and the availability of grants and loans from the state to complete the deal.
“Chaseburg is limited on growth potential in all directions with a flood plain, a creek and all the surrounding hills. Heading west toward the school may be our only option, but it’s too early to say what will happen for sure. Annexation of the property is simply the first step toward a new beginning in that direction,” DeGarmo said.
The school district was hoping for a quick sale of the property in 2006, when the building was initially closed, but when all avenues dried up the district was forced to maintain the building and land on a very tight budget. District Administrator Mike Murphy opened dialogue with the village of Chaseburg for a potential solution to the dilemma, which could return the land and building to the village at a reasonable cost and allow the school district to escape the burden of maintaining the property in the future.
The Chaseburg School currently operates off a private well and septic system, so annexation of the area would allow the property and surrounding landowners to be connected to village public utilities if they so choose. School district officials believe the annexation would make the property more viable to potential buyers, which could promote growth in the village of 306, while lightening the budget woes for taxpayers in the Westby school district, who are currently paying taxes on the idle building.
District Administrator Mike Murphy clarified to the board that although the school district was petitioning for annexation, the school district was not planning to connect to the village public utilities themselves, but that the annexation process would simply open up the door for potential buyers to attach themselves to public utilities if they so choose.
“Being able to connect to public utilities might make the property more attractive to buyers, but if any of the other landowners who are also affected by the annexation refuse, then it ends here. It’s just the first step,” Murphy said.
DeGarmo, always an optimist, is hopeful that if terms could be worked out between the school district and village of Chaseburg that such action might also erase some of the hard feelings that were created and still linger ever since the school was closed in June of 2006.
“We’re hoping for a win-win situation in the end, but it’s too early to tell at this time. The village of Chaseburg has been through so much change in the past few years and will continue to go through more in the years to come. What we want and need in Chaseburg is growth, so time will tell if this is where the growing pains start or end,” DeGarmo said.
Severe flooding in 2007 and 2008 ended with the buyout and demolition of many of the community’s residential and commercial properties in Lower Chaseburg. This fall the village was awarded a total of $749,569 from FEMA and Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) to acquire eight residential properties located in the floodway of the Coon Creek, which were severely damaged during the August 2007 flooding catastrophe.
Dale Klemme, Executive Director of Community Development Alternatives, developed and submitted the application to FEMA after working with the village since the August 18, 2007 flood. Appraisal of the affected properties is nearly complete and the village of Chaseburg hopes to be in position to complete home purchases and residential demolition by January 2009.
In addition to the FEMA money already awarded, Community Development Alternatives also secured money for the acquisition of commercial properties from the Department of Natural Resources. All funds are currently under review and the village is banking on the completed purchase and removal of the damaged commercial buildings by spring 2009.
All stories copyright 2006 Westby Times and other attributed sources.