KFIZ News Wednesday 9/28/16

Women Rescued From Burning Home In West Bend

An 18-year-old Town of West Bend woman was rescued from the basement of a home that was on fire Monday morning in the 4900 block of Eagle Lane. Washington County Sheriff’s officials say her 24-year-old brother was awakened by an explosion and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the basement where his sister was. He called 911 from a neighbor’s home. Within minutes two West Bend firefighters were able to get the woman out of the basement. She was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend and was eventually taken to St. Mary’s Burn Center. The 24-year-old brother was taken to St. Joseph’s to be treated for minor cuts to his hands and arms. The other three family members safely escaped the home. No firefighters were injured. A dozen fire departments battled the blaze, which caused $300,000 in damage to the home and its contents. The Red Cross is assisting the family.

Damage To County Highway T Overpass Costly

An inspector with the Wisconsin State Patrol says damage to the new Fond du Lac County Highway T overpass at Highway 151 was a costly mistake. A truck hauling a crane struck a girder on the bridge and also hit bridges at Highway 45 and County Highway Y on June 4th. The other bridges did not need repair. Inspector Scott Hlinak says there were fines associated with the damage at County Highway T. He says an insurance company will also have to foot the bill for the repair. He says those costs could be north of $400,000 to $500,000. He says it will go towards the costs for closing the highway during the repairs and the construction. The project had been ahead of schedule. The County Highway T overpass isn’t expected to be completed until mid-November.

FDL City Council Preview

The Fond du Lac City Council tonight will be asked to amend this year’s budget to pay $990,000 in post-retirement health insurance benefits to some City employees. The payment would take care of a liability that is accrued, but not yet owed. The City would dip into its fund balance to take care of the issue. The Council was made aware of the concern during a recent annual audit report. The Council will also hear presentations tonight from the new Retlaw Hotel owners, on the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership Budget, and the Lakeside Park Master Plan. The Council meets at 6 p.m. at the City-County Government Center.

NFDL School Board Approves Preliminary Budget

North Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says their tax levy for the current school year will remain the same as the past year. He says they will also be levying to pay off the debt on the high school sooner. The School Board this week passed the preliminary budget for the 2016-2017 School Year. He says they will be working with a deficit, which they expect will level off by the end of the school year. The deficit will be about $140,000. Sadoff says they will hold their annual meeting on Monday, October 17th and the school board will give final approval to the budget and levy at their October 24th meeting.

Waupun School Board Adopts Preliminary Budget

The Waupun Area School Board approved a preliminary budget and tax levy at the annual meeting this week. The tax levy will be down about $1 million from last year, which will result in a mill rate estimated at $9.90 per thousand dollars of assessed value. That also is down just over a dollar from last year. Superintendent Tonya Gubin says the lower tax impact is the result of increased state aid(about $640,000, but the district also did some refinancing that saves taxpayers money. Gubin says due to some new staffing they will have about a half a million dollar deficit. She says they will carry a debt over the next three years but she says they will be eliminating about $1 million in post retirement debt starting in 2019. She says they will balance the budget by using money from the fund balance each year. The School Board will adopt the final budget at their October 24th meeting.

No Pay Increase For Waupun School Board Members

The Waupun School Board has decided not to increase the stipend its members get for each committee and board meeting. That per-meeting salary is at $60, but a member wanted to increase it to $70. The board voted four to two against the increase. Board member Gene Wilson said board members have not gotten an increase in eight years. School board member Ronald Paul on the other hand said the proposed increase was poor timing with the district poised to ask taxpayers to pass a $36 million referendum.

DNR Actively Recruiting More Deer Hunters

Officials with the Department of Natural Resources are looking for new tactics to try and shore up the decline in the number of active deer hunters in Wisconsin.  The department is looking to actively recruit new hunters, and hunting and shooting sports coordinator Keith Warnke says the department simply can’t rely on families continuing the hunting tradition in Wisconsin. He says,” Current hunters, just as a demographic group, are just having essentially fewer children and grandchildren to get involved. It’s tough to continue down that path and think we’re going to stay above water.” Department officials are also looking at ways to retain hunters year after year and also bring back hunters who have fallen out of getting a deer tag every year.