If someone comes to your door over the next month and asks for a urine and blood sample, it might be for a good reason.

The Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) is focusing its study on Dane County, among others, the rest of this year, and some of its randomly selected participants include Village of Oregon and Town of Dunn residents. 

The study, which began as a statewide survey to measure health in 2008, changed this year to focus on selected areas, co-director Kristen Malecki told the Observer.

“We know what’s happening in Dane County is probably very different than what’s happening in Racine County,” Malecki said of the change. 

Previously, the survey would get between 10 and 30 residents in each county surveyed, but this year they expect 250-300 responses in Dane County. 

Participants are randomly selected and will receive a postcard in the mail alerting them to the survey. Within two weeks, someone from SHOW will follow up in person at the household to determine residents’ eligibility and interest. 

The project, which is supported by Public Health Madison and Dane County, aims to measure health trends, and will also look at what health practices are successful as it expands to include children and the elderly. 

“There’s probably some lessons learned from (older adults) on how to stay healthy,” Malecki said. 

The survey includes measurements of height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol and asks respondents to also provide blood, urine and DNA samples.

Adults 21 and older will receive $100 for participating, while children will receive $15-20, Malecki said. Recruitment in the village and town will begin Oct. 27.

Malecki said she hopes people selected are willing to participate so the study can be fully representative.

For information, visit show.wisc.edu.

Oregon police chief Dale Burke said there’s a simple solution to stopping the recent string of car burglaries around the village.

“What it requires is that people lock their cars all the time,” Burke told the Observer. 

The police department has been dealing with overnight break-ins to cars multiple times each week for “some time now,” he said, and each time, the victims’ cars were unlocked.

“I get the fact that people perceive Oregon as a very safe place, and by and large it is, but they need to realize that there are a certain percentage of people in this town that are willing to take your property if you’re willing to leave it unsecured,” Burke said. “This is a very preventable crime.”

Burke sent out a message this week to citizens letting them know about the incidents and encouraging people to not leave their valuables in plain sight and secure their cars, garages and homes.

He said there hasn’t been a single area targeted by the individuals involved, but instead it’s a “crime of opportunity” and they are looking wherever they can find easy targets.

“They’re just looking for vehicles that are unlocked, then they go through them,” he said. “It can be cash, it can be jewelry, it can be CDs. Anything that has value and that’s easily concealed and transported they will take.”

He said there are “not a lot” of leads, as it’s a hard crime to spot and individuals involved in crimes like this are usually found through investigations of another incident that may lead to evidence.

“Unless somebody catches them in the act, it’s very hard for us to get leads on these people,” he said.

Voting in the fall election is already underway for many municipalities across the state. 

Both in-person and mail-in absentee voting has resulted in nearly 150,000 early ballots cast statewide, according to a news release from the state Government Accountability Board. 

Only a few days remain for early voting: 

“Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, or at the close of business, whichever is later, but no later than 7 p.m.,” the GAB said. “Check your municipal clerk’s office hours before going to your city, village or town hall to vote because hours for early voting will vary.”

In addition, 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 is the deadline for most voters to request an absentee ballot by mail. There are later deadlines for military voters, hospitalized voters and sequestered jurors.

To vote on election day, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.

No I.D. required

Voters will not be required to show identification to vote after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order to block the requirement on Oct. 9. State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had vowed to implement some sort of ID requirement following the high court’s decision, but as of press time Tuesday, Oct. 28, no requirement had been made. 

What’s on the ballot

In addition to the the OSD referendum, the Nov. 4 election will feature a prominent race for governor, as well as some local representative races for some voters. 

A local referendum in the Village of Oregon will ask voters if they would like the change the U.S. Constitution to limit monetary influence in politics. 

State/national government

Incumbent Scott Walker faces a challenge from Mary Burke for the state’s top office. Other statewide races include:

• Attorney General: Susan V. Happ (D) versus Brad Schimel (R)

• Secretary of State: incumbent Doug La Follette (D) will face Julian Bradley (R)

• State treasurer: David L. Sartori (D) versus Matt Adamczyk (R)

For voters in state Assembly Dist. 47, Representative Robb Kahl (D) will face a challenge from Libertarian Phillip N. Anderson. 

Voters in state Assembly Dist. 43 can cast a ballot for incumbent Andy Jorgensen (D) or challenger Leon L. Hebert (R). 

Sondy Pope is running unopposed for the Dist. 80 state Assembly seat.

Voters in Senate Dist. 15 have a race between Janis Ringhand (D) and Brian Fitzgerald (R). Jon Erpenbach is running unopposed for the Dist. 27 Wisconsin Senate seat.

Democrat Mark Pocan faces challenger Peter Theron, a Republican, for the Congressional District 2 seat. A statewide referendum will ask voters if the state constitution should be amended to require the creation of a state transportation fund where revenues generated by the transportation system will only be used for transportation purposes. 

Dane County

Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney and Clerk of Court Carlo Esqueda are running unopposed. 

A countywide referendum will ask voters if the state should raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Another Dane County referendum will ask if the governor and state legislature should accept federal funds for BadgerCare health insurance. Both measures are non-binding.

Not all races will appear on your ballot. Find specific ballots for your voting and more election information at myvote.wi.gov.

Read local candidates' answers to the Observer's questionnaire:

Assembly Dist. 43
Andy Jorgensen
(Republican challenger Leon L. Herbert did not respond)

Assembly Dist. 47
Robb Kahl
Phil Anderson

Senate Dist. 15
Janis Ringhand
Brian Fitzgerald

Village of Brooklyn residents will have a chance to weigh in Nov. 10 on a proposed nearly $1 increase per $1,000 of assessed value in the village’s budget proposal.

Under the proposal, the mill rate would increase to $9.21 per $1,000, a $0.99 jump from last year’s rate of $8.23, clerk Carol Strause said in an email. The exact rate will differ for residents in Dane and Green counties, but that would amount to a $198 increase for the owner of a $200,000 home.

Nearly all of that increase is thanks to a large jump in tax-increment financing expenses due to debt on the loan to purchase land and install infrastructure for the Brooklyn Business Complex.

There is no increment – increased value since its creation date – to help pay back the debt because no businesses have built in the complex, so the debt must be paid from the general fund. The proposed budget calls for $89,446 in taxes for that purpose.

That leads to an overall levy increase of $708,968 to $782,619.

Taxes also would increase for the capital services fund, though Strause said that is due to shifting some expenses from the general fund to the capital projects fund and not due to any major projects planned.

The budget hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, at Village Hall.

For a budget summary, visit brooklynwi.gov.

It might be back to the drawing board for the continuing attempt to build a new hall for the town of Rutland.

During the town’s reconvened annual meeting Sept. 9, three building resolutions were defeated, though a resolution for borrowing for any buildings approved was passed by voters.

Town residents had previously rejected borrowing up to $1 million for a new town hall at the April meeting.

The first resolution last month, which would have called for authorization of $982,605 for a new building, was defeated 101-90. The second, for an $856,340 building, was defeated 107-80, and a third asking for $786,981 for a new building was defeated 113-75. A final resolution asking for authorization to borrow money for any approved project was passed 109-80.

Growing issue

For the past several decades, town government has operated out of essentially a metal garage building, and in the past months, board members have sought to replace the office and records storage portion with a more modern facility, leaving the current building as a garage. After the borrowing plan was rejected in April, town officials went back to residents for more info, coming up with the three plans.

According to a letter sent to residents earlier this year by former town chairman Dale Beske, Rutland’s population has nearly tripled since the current hall was built in the mid-1960s, and with it, the town has added services such as EMS, senior center and recycling. 

Beske’s letter said the current building has inadequate space for meetings, tax collection, elections and records storage, causing officers to operate out of their homes. Also, there are no audio-visual facilities for presentations during meetings, and inadequate security of records and employees, Beske wrote. 

Around three years ago, the board purchased three acres north of the existing town hall to build a new one. A space needs study was completed last spring, proposing a building of around 5,200 square feet, at a cost of around $1.08 million.

Late last year, the town hired an architectural firm to develop the new building, and by April, it had trimmed the size of the building to 4,800 square feet, and presented the plan at the meeting, attended by around 150 people. About 110 of those present voted against the building and financing plans. 

Voters then instructed the building committee to revise the scope of the project and come up with a proposal that would be less expensive.

The Village of Oregon will pay almost $20,000 more next year for its share of the Oregon Area Senior Center budget, and its proposed 2015 budget significantly increases spending on streets and spends $400,000 on a new piece of equipment for public works.

Other big items in the document include almost $650,000 on street improvements, about $50,000 for funding a full-time police officer and about $8,300 more for the Oregon Area Fire/EMS District to hire a full-time chief.

Village homeowners would see a slight increase in property taxes for next year.

The preliminary estimated tax increase for the village’s share of an average home valued at $220,000 is $17.39 – $1,206 this year vs. $1,189 last year.

The average home value increased 1.46 percent, from $211,000 in 2013 to $220,000 this year.

The mill rate dropped 2.69 percent, from $5.63 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2014 to $5.48 for 2015.

Total assessed value for the village increased from $848.2 million in 2013 to $891.2 million this year, partly because of increased home values and partly because of new construction.

With $19.9 million of net new construction, the village is allowed per state levy limits to increase its general fund revenue for next year’s budget by $99,000 through the tax levy.  That’s a growth rate of 2.25 percent.

2015 spending

The village’s contribution to the Oregon Area Senior Center will increase from $177,753 this year to $196,452 in 2015. That’s mostly because funding for the center will be based on a usage formula as opposed to population, as had been previous practice. The center’s 2015 budget will increase by almost $14,000, from $261,339 to $276,278.

Another big spending increase is in the area of street improvements – to the tune of almost $650,000. 

The village plans to resurface Hillcrest Drive and Farewell Drive on the north side and part of Cherry Wood Drive near Rome Corners Intermediate School. It’s also spending for engineering on Elm Street, South Main Street and North Burr Oak for work that will be done in 2016. 

The village is also hiring an engineer to do preliminary work for the extension of North Perry Parkway in 2017.

The village is planning to use $118,000 from TIF 2 funds to resurface Netherwood Road.

Chief Dale Burke estimated the cost of a new police officer at about $70,000, with a base salary of $45,000. His department budget includes $10,000 for hiring a consultant to help the village in finding a permanent police chief.

The police department’s budget also includes about $7,000 for two new speed indicators, $4,000 for a secretary and funding for a new Ford Explorer.

In addition to the cost of hiring a full-time chief, the village’s population continues to increase, adding to its share of funding for the Fire/EMS District. The village’s contribution will increase from $418,000 this year to about $427,000 in 2015.

Public works director Mark Below’s request for between $350,000 and $400,000 to purchase a sewer jet vacuum has been included in the preliminary budget but is “far from a certainty,” he said.

Village administrator Mike Gracz agreed.

“Even though it’s most likely going to end up being in the 2015 budget, there’s going to have to be a lot of discussion before we purchase it,” he said.

He said a big part of the discussion will be how the village pays for the jet vac. He thinks there’s money in the village’s utility fund and some in the equipment fund, but “we may end up borrowing money next year for 2016” and delay the purchase until then, Gracz said.

There were few surprises in last Tuesday’s relatively local races, as historically Democratic Dane County voters continued similar voting patterns.

Statewide vote totals were the highest ever recorded for a regular gubernatorial election at 54.25 percent, but fell short of turnout for the 2012 recall election where 57.8 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, according to data from the Government Accountability Board. The non-partisan election commission said in a news release that “the previous record voter turnout in a November gubernatorial election in the last 50 years was 52.4 percent in 1962…  In comparison, turnout in the last two presidential elections has averaged around 70 percent.”

Dane County turnout was at around 73 percent, according to unofficial results posted on the county clerk’s office website.

“The actual number of ballots cast in the election will be slightly higher once local clerks report official election statistics to the Government Accountability Board in the coming month,” the board said. 

Locally, an Oregon School District funding referendum drew nearly 10,000 voters to the polls. Village and Town of Oregon voters accounted for nearly 70 percent of those votes.

Village of Oregon voters also supported a “Move to Amend” question that aims to amend the U.S. Constitution to limit political contributions to people, rather than corporations or unions. The non-binding referendum was supported 3,718-997.

In Senate Dist. 15, Democrat Janis Ringhand beat out Brian Fitzgerald to take over outgoing Sen. Tim Cullen’s seat. The seat covers portions of Dane, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties.

Ringhand had the edge in the Village of Oregon (999-532), Town of Rutland (679-397) and Town of Dunkirk (221-135).

In the 43rd State Assembly district, incumbent Democrat Andy Jorgensen retained his seat over challenger Leon Hebert. He also won in all three areas, 1,012-474 in the Village of Oregon; 231-117 in Dunkirk and 684-373 in the Town of Rutland.

Statewide races

Local election totals differed from statewide results for the gubernatorial race, where incumbent Republican Scott Walker was re-elected over challenger Mary Burke. 

Statewide, Walker garnered 52.3 percent of the vote, receiving 137,607 more votes than Burke. In Dane County, however, Burke carried 69.7 percent of the vote.

In the race for state Attorney General, Waukesha district attorney Brad Schimel was elected 51.6 to 45.4 over Democrat Susan Happ. In Dane County, however, Happ earned 67.3 percent of the vote compared to Schimel’s 29.9 percent. 

A statewide referendum on whether to amend the state constitution to create a transportation fund was approved by voters with nearly 80 percent of voters statewide supporting the referendum.

Dane County

Dane County voters gave approval to two nonbinding referendum measures. About 72.6 percent of Dane County voters would like the state Legislature to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Nearly 81.7 percent of Dane County voters thought the governor should accept federal funds to expand BadgerCare. 

Dane County sheriff Dave Mahoney was re-elected, along with county Clerk of Court Carlo Esqueda .

The Village of Brooklyn board voted in October to issue a written warning to the village’s police chief after a miscommunication about him leaving town for a week.

Brooklyn police chief Harry Barger left for Columbus, Ohio, for one week beginning Sept. 22, according to an employee discipline form from the village provided by village officials after the Observer requested the warning. He sent an email Sunday night to Village President Nadine Walsten and the village clerk, but that did not satisfy the village’s notice requirements, the village board’s personnel committee decided. 

The village’s policy, adopted Nov. 14, 2011, states a department head leaving the village for two days or longer “should communicate the dates, duration and reason to their staff, other department heads, the Village President and the Chair of the appropriate oversight committee … in a timely manner … at least one day in advance.” 

Emails show Walsten responded to Barger’s initial email Monday afternoon when she arrived at the office to check emails. She said he was in “no show, no call” status because she had been unaware of his pending absence. 

“I didn’t provide her notice in a timely fashion,” Barger told the Observer Tuesday. “That’s what it comes down to. 

“I really didn’t believe a written warning was appropriate here … but it is what it is.”

A memo detailing a meeting between Walsten and Barger Oct. 20 states that Barger felt his email was sufficient for notification, and emails released with the warning show he also pointed to the use of “should” instead of “shall” in the village’s policy to argue he was in compliance. 

“The policies within the village actually conflict each other relative to this,” Barger told the Observer. 

Barger also said in the emails that he intended to bring it up at an earlier safety committee meeting but had forgotten and that it was on the September department schedule. That schedule is unofficial, according to the warning issued, and therefore does not trigger the official notification process.

The village’s personnel committee met Oct. 1 and 7 to discuss the issue and the Village Board voted 5-2 Oct. 13 to issue the official written warning to Barger.

Town of Dunn residents will see a slight bump in the town’s portion of their property tax bill this year if the town’s budget proposal is approved. 

Last year’s rate of $2.64 per $1,000 of assessed value would jump to $2.69 this year under the proposal, accounting for an extra $10 on a $200,000 home.

One of the biggest changes in the budget, according to the town newsletter budget summary by town clerk Cathy Hasslinger, is a return of more money to the road construction budget. Projects in 2015 include overlaying portions of Bible Camp, Willow, Crescent, Camp Leonard, Ridge and High Street and reconstructing about .5 miles of Tower Road. 

There is also $200,000 budgeted for the Dyreson Bridge historic restoration project, and $140,000 for a new tandem plow truck.

Hasslinger was unavailable for comment this week. 

Citizens can weigh in and vote on the budget proposal at a public budget hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Town Hall.

The Dane County Board of Supervisors is slated to take action on the county budget next week. 

A vote on county executive Joe Parisi’s budget, along with any changes proposed by supervisors, is expected at the board’s regular meeting Nov. 20. 

The county’s Personnel and Finance Committee has a budget deliberations meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Further budget deliberation meetings for the county board are scheduled for Nov. 18 and Nov. 19, if needed. 

Agendas for next week’s meetings had not been posted as of press time Tuesday. For information, visit countyofdane.com.

Locally, specific projects include additional money for road projects and recreation improvements.

The proposed budget includes:

• $110,000 for joint repairs with the Village of Oregon on County Hwy. MM

• $25,000 for a well at Anderson Farm County Park

Countywide, the budget includes a $4 million investment in DaneCom, investments in snow plowing operations and phosphorus reduction in lakes. Nearly half the budget goes towards human services programs and operations. 

Taxpayer impact

Parisi’s proposed operating budget includes a $6 million levy increase to bring the total to around $530 million for 2015. Parisi said this increase falls within the state-imposed limits with a 4.07 percent increase. 

The county is working with a $509 million operating budget this year. Parisi said it would cost the county about $3.5 million to maintain the same level of service as this year. 

Parisi said the county’s portion of a homeowner’s property tax bill accounts for about 15 percent of the total. The projected tax rate – $3.118 – will rise by about 1 cent per $100,000 in assessed value compared with last year, but an increase in assessed values means taxpayers will pay slightly more. Actual tax rates vary by municipality due to different assessment calculations and special levies for libraries or public health initiatives. 

The county executive has proposed a smaller capital budget for 2015 – $39 million compared to last year’s $44.7 million.

Drivers in the village will have to put up with one more winter of an almost unbearably rough stretch of Janesville Street on the village’s south side.

The Village Board Monday authorized village administrator Mike Gracz to add $90,000 to the village’s 2015 budget for reconstructing a bad stretch of Janesville Street, along with adding $150,000 to replace outdated water mains in the area.

Dane County has jurisdiction over most of Janesville Street and plans to resurface a small portion of the roadway next year. County officials asked the village to pay for half the cost of the improvements, which the board approved Monday.

The county proposed fixing the street from about halfway between South Perry Parkway and Wolfe Street east to in front of the Kwik Trip on Janesville Street. The work would include the Janesville Street-Wolfe Street intersection.

Through a quirk of history, the village owns a small section of Janesville Street just east of Kwik Trip to Park Street and will have to pay 100 percent of the cost for rebuilding that section.

Public works director Mark Below said the water main in the proposed construction area needs to be replaced at the same time.

“We’ve got a 1940s water main and another from 1978,” he explained. “Both are undersized, and we plan to replace them with a single 12-inch main.”

Below said the county included funding for the project in its 2015 budget, but the village will have to amend its budget before it votes to adopt it on Monday.

The work is expected to take place during next year’s construction season.

The Village Board unanimously adopted the village’s 2015 budget and tax levy Monday.

Despite a mill rate decrease, the owner of an average home in the village will pay $17.39 more in the village’s portion of property taxes – from $1,189 to $1,206. Property values increased 1.46 percent in the past year, and the average home value grew from $211,000 to $220,000.

The property tax bill, with the total rate for all districts, will be mailed to residents in mid-December.

The mill rate decreased 2.69 percent, from $5.63 per $1,000 of assessed value to $5.48.

The village’s total assessed value increased from $848.2 million to $893.5 million, a gain of 2.5 percent. The increase is due in part to increased home values and partly because of new construction.

With $91.9 million of net new construction, the village is allowed by state levy limits to increase its general fund revenue by $99,000 through the tax levy.

The adopted budget will allow the village to increase spending on the Oregon Area Senior Center, make “significant” progress on street improvements and complete the second phase of the Oregon Rotary Bike Trail next year, said village administrator Mike Gracz.

Last week, the board authorized Gracz to add $90,000 to the budget to repair a bad stretch of Janesville Street and $150,000 to replace outdated water mains on the street east of South Perry Parkway.

The village plans to resurface Hillcrest Drive and Farewell Drive on the north side and part of Cherry Wood Drive near Rome Corners Intermediate School.

The village’s contribution to the Oregon Area Senior Center will increase by $18,699 next year. The municipalities that contribute to the senior center’s budget agreed to begin using a payment formula based on usage in 2015 instead of population.

The budget also includes $400,000 for a new sewer jet vacuum that public works director Mark Below has wanted to purchase for several years. 

Also is the budget is $10,000 for a consultant to help the village hire a new police chief in 2015, as well as an extra $8,300 for the cost of a new chief for the Oregon Area Fire/EMS District. The village contributes 61.4 percent of the district’s budget. Village spending on the district will increase from $418,000 this year to $427,000 in 2015. 

Town of Oregon residents will have a chance to weigh in on the town’s proposed budget next week. 

The town will hold its public budget hearing Nov. 25 on the proposed 2015 budget, which would be just under a 1 percent increase from the 2014 budget.

That would mean a mill rate of $2.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value, the same as last year, according to a budget summary from the town. 

The biggest change is a $27,000 jump in the public works expenditures, which town clerk Denise Arnold said was due to purchasing a new snowplow truck. 

“We don’t have any big projects,” Arnold said.

The hearing will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, at Town Hall.

A regional planning body voted against a City of Fitchburg neighborhood proposal that would eventually bring more students to the Oregon School District.

Commissioners on the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC), which advises the state on expansions to sewer service, voted 6-5 against the Northeast Neighborhood. 

Two commissioners voting against the proposal cited concerns over how development could affect the nearby Waubesa Wetlands and the possibility of engineered protections failing, said deputy director Kamran Mesbah. That issue previously came up throughout the city’s own approval process late last year and earlier in 2014. The other four commissioners voting against did not provide their reasoning at the meeting, Mesbah said.

A CARPC staff report, which analyzed the potential effects of development, had recommended approval as long as the city pursued a list of additional stormwater management and erosion control protections.

The proposed plan would include an additional 498 acres of development in addition to the existing development already in the neighborhood, city planner Tom Hovel said. 

The neighborhood, bounded by Nine Springs Creek to the north and the Lacy Road corridor to the south next to Hwy. 14, would cover nearly 986 acres total when including environmental corridors and existing residential development.

The 13 commissioners must get an eight-vote supermajority to recommend approval to the state. Because there were only five votes for approval, the two absent commissioners could not bring it to that number, meaning CARPC will not vote again on the proposal. 

The state’s Department of Natural Resources will now have the final say on whether the city can expand its urban service area, which is where a municipality can provide sewer service necessary for most urban development.

CARPC had essentially been the final word on those determinations until a 2010 decision on a lawsuit from the Village of Mazomanie clarified it is only advisory to the DNR. Since then, CARPC’s denial of the Mazomanie plan and one other were forwarded to the DNR, which approved them.

CARPC’s decisions have sometimes been highly political, unlike those of its predecessor, the Dane County Regional Planning Commission. 

For information on CARPC and to see meeting minutes, visit capitalarearpc.org.

Bills for the Village of Oregon’s investigation into allegedly improper actions of retired police chief Doug Pettit amounted to almost $195,000, according to information provided this week by village administrator Mike Gracz.

He said the village spent $172,971 in legal fees for three law firms involved in the investigation. The village also spent almost $22,000 for an information technology company to work with the village in retrieving computer files. 

Pettit retired Sept. 1 after serving as chief of police for 29 years. He would have completed 39 years at the police department in December.  

The legal fees began mounting in April 2014, shortly before he took a medical leave of absence, and the village had largely completed its investigation by the time Pettit retired. That investigation, which mostly focused on the chief’s dealings with a now-defunct nightclub, commenced after the Wisconsin Department of Justice alerted village officials that it was investigating the police chief.

The DOJ has not disclosed publicly what it is investigating, but the investigation is ongoing. DOJ spokeswoman Dana Brueck told the Observer in an email Tuesday that the DOJ “generally does not comment on open and active investigations.”

The village’s investigation concluded that Pettit and some of his subordinates had improperly accepted cash payments from the Union Sports Club on Braun Road for providing security during events at the club. It said Pettit and several officers provided the security while in uniform and using police department equipment, in violation of village policy.

In a statement that followed the report of the village’s investigation, officials said Pettit also withheld information from the Village Board about the number of calls for police service to the club, information that should have surfaced during the board’s annual renewal of liquor licenses. The report also said Pettit ordered staff to pull service reports from the police log until after the Observer had completed its regular inspection of the log for stories in the newspaper. The reports were later returned to the police log.

The village’s report alleged that Pettit received cash payments and then paid officers for their off-duty work at the club, which held dances and sporting events that sometimes drew hundreds of visitors on weekends.

Pettit once ordered two uniformed officers to leave the village in a squad car to collect a payment from the club owner, according to the village’s report.

Village president Steve Staton told the Observer in August that Pettit had betrayed the Village Board’s trust and that his actions were “reprehensible.”

Pettit said the investigation was one-sided and didn’t tell the whole story. He has refused to comment since then and didn’t return a phone call on Tuesday.

Staton acknowledged that the village had spent a good deal of taxpayer money investigating the former chief.

“It had to be done, and we had to be thorough and fair,” he said Monday. “In order to do that we had to spend a fair amount of money. It adds up pretty fast.

“The board wanted to get information as quickly as possible,” Staton added. “The bottom line is this is very regrettable situation that should not have happened.”

Interim police chief Dale Burke said Sept. 1 – the date of Pettit’s retirement – was “the end of one chapter and the beginning of another” for officers and staff at the police department. 

“They were pleased to have the past put behind them,” he said. “They were happy to have their names cleared and were very much looking forward to moving on.”

Burke’s contract with the village runs until June 30. The Village Board approved $10,000 in the village’s 2015 budget last week to hire a consultant to help in hiring a new police chief.

None of the officers involved was subjected to disciplinary action, Burke said, because they were acting under the supervision of the police chief.

Pettit retired with full retirement benefits intact. He was earning an annual salary of $96,000 at the time of his retirement.

The Village Board Monday offered to split the cost of a waterproofing contractor’s bill for work done to buildings and beneath the sidewalk on South Main Street.

Zander Solutions LLC initially estimated it would cost $950 to waterproof historic buildings at 113 and 119 S. Main St., both owned by Jerry and Bonnie Thiel and formerly Mason’s on Main restaurant.

But when the village removed sidewalk in front of the buildings in June, it revealed a more extensive problem than expected.

The extra work resulted in a $4,595 bill beyond the initial estimate, and the Thiels think the village – or its insurance company, or the contractor that reconstructed the street and sidewalk in front of the businesses – should pay the additional cost.

The Thiels appeared before the Village Board on Monday after the village’s insurance company denied their claim.

An insurance examiner told village officials and the Thiels that water leaked into the basements of the two buildings as a result of faulty “expansion joints” beneath the sidewalk.

The Thiels contend that when the village renovated the downtown in 2008, its construction contractor left a 6-inch, 6-foot deep void beneath the sidewalk in front of the buildings. They said other areas in front of their buildings had not been filled and compacted properly, allowing rainwater to seep into their basements.

The construction engineer in charge of overseeing the work, Kevin Lord of MSA Professional Services Inc., briefly examined the situation last summer and told village officials he couldn’t see a problem.

The Thiels are certain there was a problem – Zander did manage to stop the leakage – and they brought photos with them Monday from when the sidewalk was removed to prove their case.

In addition to the void beneath the sidewalk in front of 113 S. Main St., the Thiels said a metal plate at the front door of 119 S. Main had been bent upward with a skid loader so that it would be flush with the newly poured sidewalk.

They asserted that when the downtown was renovated, the streets had been elevated and so had the sidewalk along South Main Street. A 6-inch step in front of the buildings’ entrances had also been removed.

Jerry Thiel told village officials he believes when the construction contractor realized the sidewalk was at a higher elevation than the metal threshold, he bent the metal plate up so that it would be flush with the sidewalk.

That caused rainwater to run toward the building and under its front door, eventually making its way to the basement.

Thiel said between the poorly compacted soil beneath the sidewalk, the void and the metal threshold, he had water coming into basements of both buildings.

On Tuesday, he estimated he spent $18,000 in replacing a damaged floor and other structural elements in the buildings.

He told the Observer he and his wife have not decided yet whether to accept the Village Board’s offer to pay half of Zander’s bill for the work.

“The Board is willing to contribute $2,772.50 toward payment of the Zander bill, in an effort to finally resolve this matter,” village attorney Matt Dregne wrote Tuesday in an email to the Thiels, which the village shared with the Observer. “In exchange for the Village’s contribution, the Village would need you to release the Village from any further claims relating to the sidewalk project.”

The Dane County Board of Supervisors approved an operating budget of about $530 million for 2015 and a capital budget of just under $41.7 million Monday night.

According to a county news release, board president Sharon Corrigan said the budget addresses the county’s “most pressing needs.” She cited emergency response, homelessness and “smarter” criminal justice as examples.

“This budget is all about progress,” she said. “We’re taking on all these new initiatives while keeping up our infrastructure, caring for our most vulnerable citizens and remaining respectful of our hardworking taxpayers.”

Some budget initiatives also address environmental concerns, including adding money to the conservation fund for land purchases, water quality improvements, renewable energy projects and creation and expansion of bicycle paths.

County Executive Joe Parisi planned to sign the budget Wednesday, according to an email from his office.

Board members expanded several allocations in Parisi’s proposed budget, including for affordable housing from $750,000 to $2 million. According to the county release, the funding in 2015 will be the first of a four-year investment of $2 million per year through 2018 to a new Affordable Housing Fund.

“This budget leaves no doubt of this board’s commitment to addressing the need for housing services in Dane County,” Corrigan said. 

Board members also added funding for Briarpatch Youth Services to open a facility for homeless youth by mid-year and approved $80,000 for Bethel Lutheran Church in downtown Madison to operate a homeless day shelter five days a week. Sup. Jeff Pertl, chairman of the personnel and finance committee, said the budget represents a “commitment to be an engine of opportunity with regard to housing and homelessness.”

“Dane County is a great place to live for most of us,” he said. “The challenge is that’s not a universal prosperity. It is not a problem we can solve on our own, but it is essential that we become a partner in these efforts.”

According to the county release, a $43,000 budget amendment will be used on a data-driven pretrial decision-making process to help determine which defendants should be kept in jail and which could be safely released on bond. Another $20,000 will fund a pilot project to include input from community members to assess the benefits of using body-worn video cameras by sheriff’s deputies. The budget also adds additional 911 operators and more than $3 million for more radio towers for first-responder communication. 

In a statement released Monday by his office, Parisi said the budget “responsibly reflects the shared values of our community.

“We have crafted a fiscally responsible budget that protects the quality services the residents of Dane County rely on, while finding new and innovative ways to work with outside partners to enhance our quality of life,” he said.

Officials found a former Oregon Eagle Scout’s body in the Rocky Mountains after an extended search Thursday.

Peter Jeffris, 25, lived in Oregon but attended and graduated from Edgewood High School. He moved to Colorado in 2007 and graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder in May with a major in mechanical engineering and a computer programming minor.

Jeffris attained an Eagle Scout rank in 2007 and was also honored as the United Way of Dane County’s 2007 Community Youth Service Award winner for his work at the Oregon/Brooklyn Habitat for Humanity.

Officials had been searching for Jeffris since Monday, Nov. 17, when he failed to show up for work, according to a news release from the National Park Service. Jeffris, who resided in the Denver suburb of Broomfield, had left Sunday morning to climb Longs Peak, about 50 miles away, but it was unclear which route he planned to take, according to the release.

Peter’s father Malcolm Jeffris told the Observer his son had reached Longs Peak Sunday evening just after 4:30 but ran into trouble on the way down on a trail another hiker had died on earlier this year.

“It took him eight hours, but he made it to the peak,” Malcolm said over the phone Monday. “Once he set a goal  … he was unstoppable.”

One of those goals earlier in his life was becoming an Eagle Scout, a process that requires hours of hard work and a multitude of skills to acquire the necessary badges.

For many, it’s unlikely they’d love to do it all over again. But that would have been perfect for Peter, his parents said.

“When he got his Eagle badge … that was just his pride and joy,” Malcolm said.

Jeffris’ former Boy Scout troop leader Tim Lebrun, who worked with him from 2003-2007, said taking on a challenging climb fit with Jeffris’ adventurous spirit. 

“It didn’t surprise me that he had gone out hiking and climbing. It didn’t surprise me that he was going to take on a challenge … that most people wouldn’t have taken on,” Lebrun said in a phone interview with the Observer on Monday. “It did surprise me that he didn’t come back.” 

Weather, including extreme winds and below freezing temperatures, posed a challenge for the search team through Wednesday, but calmer winds Thursday allowed for the use of a helicopter, which located Jeffris’ body, according to the release. 

“If it had been about the weather, that he got caught in bad weather, I definitely feel he could’ve survived that,” Lebrun said, recalling building emergency and snow shelters with Jeffris.

The Boulder County Coroner’s office had not determined a cause of death as of Monday.

After the helicopter located the body Thursday, four search-and-rescue team members were flown to a landing spot and climbed approximately 1,800 vertical feet to the body, the release said.

Changing lives

His time in scouts, with both Lebrun and another troop leader, Doug Brethauer, “made a huge difference in his life,” Peter’s mother Jeanne Jeffris said.

During those scouting years, though, he also spent time working with Habitat for Humanity, building duplexes and finding relationships that were important at that time in his life, his mother said.

“It was a really special group and they just took Peter on and really made him feel valuable,” she said. “He had just lost both his grandfathers at that point, so they acted kind of like surrogate grandparents to him.”

It became an even greater experience when he got to meet the family that moved into a duplex he’d helped construct.

“That was one of the highlights of his life.” Jeanne said. “Not only did he have a blast with the entire Oregon Habitat for Humanity and learned a lot from them about how to build, but he was actually … doing something really, really valuable in giving somebody who needed it their own home.”

Lebrun cited Jeffris’ “energy … brilliance … and his adventuring spirit” as the dominating qualities he remembers. 

“He’s someone who always pushed himself well beyond people around him,” Lebrun said.

‘Hands-on guy’

Lebrun said that self-motivation was demonstrated by Jeffris’ work at a robotics company in Colorado, doing “cutting-edge stuff.” The main project he was working on at Altius Robotics, Malcolm said, was a robotic arm to go to the space station and pick up rocks from asteroids.

“Peter was the brightest, sharpest and most hard-working of all those interns,” Malcolm said of what Peter’s bosses at Altius have told him, adding that he would have soon been offered a full-time job with the company. “Peter was not at all into the money side of things. He’s just into knowledge and creating things.”

Malcolm said he also “loved disassembling and reassembling things,” including his Suzuki motorcycle, spread out in pieces in his apartment, and his Jeep Wrangler, which he did all of his own work on.

“He was a very hands-on kind of guy,” Malcolm said, laughing as he said he’d have to get the Jeep checked out before driving it back to be safe.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 250 people had joined a Facebook group in memory of Peter, with photos and tales of his adventures and his love for building filling up the page.

Lebrun said Jeffris’ death was a loss for everyone.

“It’s just unfortunate that great things aren’t going to happen because he isn’t going to do them,” he said with an emotional crack in his voice. “He just was a great kid.”

For details on the services or offering memorials for Peter, see the obituary.

Village officials are planning lots of street improvements in the next few years, including resurfacing of streets in Tax-Increment Finance District 2 near the Alpine Business Park next year.

Streets included in the district are Netherwood Street, East Richards Road, Braun Street and Market Street.

During its budget meetings, the Village Board approved more than $600,000 in funding for engineering and street improvements next year.

Among projects scheduled is the south end of Janesville Street. The village and county will share the cost of improvements on Janesville Street in and around the Wolfe Street intersection. As reported in the Observer two weeks ago, the village will split the cost of two sections of the street and pay for a third section itself. The Village Board approved $90,000 in the 2015 budget for the work.

At about the same time, the City of Fitchburg and Dane County will share the cost of fixing sections of County MM north of the village.

When the State Highway Department constructed the roundabouts on MM last year, it left “about 50 yards to the north and 150 yards to the south of the roundabouts” in “decrepit” condition, said Oregon Trustee Jerry Bollig, who’s also a member of the County Board of Supervisors.

He’d been trying to convince the County Board and the City of Fitchburg to allocate funds to improve those segments of MM since he was elected supervisor in 2012.

He was able to get funding for the repairs in the county budget his first year on the board, which was voted down on the floor, Bollig said.

The funding was approved in both the City of Fitchburg and county budgets for 2015.

“There were a lot of new people who didn’t know what was going on and felt it wasn’t fair that Fitchburg wasn’t paying their share,” Bollig explained. “And so we’ve been kind of softly talking with staff and (Fitchburg mayor)Shawn Pfaff and were able to convince them to fund it.

“They deserve thanks because their residents don’t really use that section of MM very much,” Bollig added. “I understand their reluctance but certainly appreciate the fact that they put in $50,000 to do that road.”

Bollig also lobbied village staff and the Village Board to work out a cost-sharing agreement for the work on Janesville Street next year.

Village officials met with representative from the County Executive Joe Parisi’s office and the highway staff in the past couple of weeks to talk about Janesville Street, along with starting the process of negotiations over the future transfer of jurisdiction to the village of current county roads: Main Street, Janesville Street and Jefferson Street.

Per state law, once the county reaches a population of 500,000 it has the option to transfer ownership of sections of its roads that are within the municipality.

“The county and the village agreed we would wait until after the holidays to start the negotiations on the long-term part of it,” Gracz said.

Much of the 2015 street improvement funding will go toward engineering work, which will set the stage for on-the-ground work in 2016 and ’17.

Engineering will be performed for the reconstruction of North Burr Oak Avenue from Jefferson Street to Badfish Creek, reconstruction of Elm Street and South Main Street and for the extension of North Perry Parkway, possibly in 2017.

Public works director Mark Below said the cost for that project is estimated at more than $1 million and will change the traffic patterns in the village.

There will be mill and overlay next year on Farewell Drive and Hillcrest Drive.

Gracz said “if money allows,” the village will also mill and overlay a section of South Burr Oak from Cherry Wood Drive to Burning Wood Way, and  Cherry Wood from Burning Wood Way to Ash Street.

Looking ahead, the village plans a complete road reconstruction of South Main Street from Elm Street to State Street in 2016.

“We’ve got new water main on Elm and South Main Street in 2016,” Below said, “and State and Washington will be in 2016 or ‘17.”

“We’ll try to pick streets off one at a time,” he added. “The goal is to get the major streets that need major repair done first and then go after the Perry Parkway extension. If that transfer of jurisdiction happens in 2020 or ’21, we want to make sure that all the roads are in good shape before we take them.”