Local News Briefs Thursday 4/9/15

The Fond du Lac City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to create an Arts Board. Community Development Director Dyann Benson told the Council with the passing of the ordinance appointments to the board will come back before them. Also last night the Council unanimously approved the creation and project plan for a tax incremental district that will help with the redevelopment of the building on South Main that used to house businesses like Cool Beans & Bagels. An agreement with the developer for that project was also approved. The Council also approved lifting some longtime parking restrictions in the area of West 9th and Linden Street just south of Fruth Field. City Engineer Paul DeVries says some of those restrictions were originally created for the Goodrich High School. The Council also approved a liquor license for the Pizza Ville Restaurant. 

Write In And Incumbent Win Seats On NFDL School Board

Incumbent Steve Hock and write-in candidate Mike Streetar won seats on the North Fond du Lac School Board during Tuesday’s election. District Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says Hock received 695 votes to win a 6th complete term on the board. Streetar got 86 write-in votes the most for write-in candidate for a seat on the board. Rob Seidl received 57 write in votes.  Benny Skaar tallied 11 write-ins and Lisa Freiberg got four votes. 

Plymouth Man Sentenced To Prison For Child Porn

A Sheboygan County Judge has sentenced a former youth pastor from Plymouth to three years in prison and three years of extended supervision for possession of child pornography. Fifty-four-year-old Calvin Gideon pled guilty to ten counts of child porn possession this week. Through a plea deal half of them were dismissed. His arrest was the result of an undercover investigation last year. Gideon eventually admitted to downloading up to a thousand images to laptops, hard drives and storage devices.

Date Selected For Testing New Election Equipment In FDL County

Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg says they will be testing out new election equipment at the end of the month. The state’s Government Accountability Board has tentatively chosen Tuesday, April 28th to test out the equipment for certification. She says it will be tested in the towns of Oakfield, Rosendale and a few sites in Fond du Lac. She says the equipment is over 20 years old and replacement parts are harder to come by if it breaks down. She says they had some break downs during the November election and she doesn’t want to go through a presidential election next year with the equipment they currently have. In fact she says they experienced some problems during Tuesday’s election. She says with the new equipment they will also be able to stream results from the City-County Government Center on election nights on the County’s website.

NFDL Village Board Approves Bid For Replacement Of Library Roof

North Fond du Lac Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says the Village Board this week approved a bid for replacement of the library roof. He says it seems a bit high at $128,000, but it is something that needs to be done. He says the project will be done fairly quickly because the contractor also does work for the school district and hopes to have it done by June. He says the roof replacement work won’t interrupt any services at the library while it is being done.

Ignite Business Success

The president of the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation says the number of resource agencies collaborating to support the Ignite Business Success program continues to grow. Steve Jenkins they now have 16 support organizations. He says the program fosters entrepreneurs and their ideas and they have a supporting website. Recently they rolled out the website designed to support the effort. The internet address for that is ignitefondducounty.com. He says you can get started at the site if you want help developing an idea. He says they will bring you in for an interview and an assessment. He says one of the most important components of Ignite Fond du Lac County is the constant support.

FDL Memorial Day Parade Announced

The 2015 Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony will be held in Fond du Lac on Monday, May 25th.   The parade will start at 10:00 am on the corner of Guindon Blvd and Main Street and will proceed north to Veterans Park.  A Memorial Ceremony will be held immediately afterward.  The Marine Corps League in Fond du Lac is this year’s sponsoring unit. ALL parade entries must only have a theme in keeping with the purpose of Memorial Day; to honor and remember our deceased veterans and missing in action.  Therefore, there will be NO COMMERCIAL ENTRIES allowed and there will be NO ADVERTISING OF ANY EVENTS OR PRODUCTS from any parade unit.  Additionally, no candy or other favors are to be dispensed from any parade unit during the parade. Floats and other parade entry requests may be submitted by calling 920-929-3117 on weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.   In case of cancellation due to severe weather, an announcement will be made at 8:00 am on NEWS-TALK 1450 KFIZ.  You can also check by logging on to www.kfiz.com.

FDL Arbor Day Celebration Set

The City of Fond du Lac will observe its annual Arbor Day celebration on Friday, April 24th at the Lakeside Park Pavilion starting at 1:00 p.m. Festival Foods will be donating the Arbor Day tree and the tree seedlings. The Arbor Day tree will be planted by a third grade class from Waters Elementary School in Lakeside Park. The public is welcome to attend to help celebrate Arbor Day with the school children. The City will be receiving its 27th Tree City USA Award and its 13th Tree USA Growth Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will present the award to the City. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.

Town Of Eldorado Bulky Waste Drop Off Scheduled

The Town of Eldorado will hold its bulky waste drop-off on Saturday, April 18th at the Town Garage and Fire Station from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. A couple of large dumpsters will on hand to allow Town residents to drop off large garbage items. Furniture, carpet and other miscellaneous garbage that does not fit in your weekly dumpster can be dropped off. Items that will not be accepted include; batteries, appliances, TVs, electronics, yard waste, tires, drugs, fluorescent bulbs, gas tanks, engines, paint and chemicals. Only Eldorado Town residents will be allowed to participate and the drop-off will be closely monitored.