Thursday, January 23, 2020 • Vol. 135, No. 30 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
What Goes Better with a Big Game than Wings? Try Our New Naked Wings for the Big Game!
5 Piece 10 Piece 20 Piece 40 Piece
adno=136618
Oregon Observer The
Check out our website or Order online oregonpizzapit.com 130 N. Main St., Oregon • 835-7744
Village of Oregon
Ready to move forward
Construction schedule among topics at Janesville, Park public meeting EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Brooke Marshall, along with her sister and mother, learn self defense skills like how get away from an attacker. The Kick Cancer Where it Hurts, Women’s Self Defense seminar at the Brooklyn Community Building on Saturday, Jan. 18, was a fundraiser for the Oregon Brooklyn Optimist Club.
Kicking for a cause Women’s self defense seminar raises funds for Optimist Club
The fundraising event organized by the Brooklyn Recreation department, raised money for the Oregon Brooklyn Optimist Club. On Saturday, Jan. 18 roughly $100 was donated to Children’s Cancer fund. MACKENZIE KRUMME Instructors from the Freestyle Unified Newspaper Group Karate Collective, which has weekly classes at the Brooklyn Community A group of ten women got together Building, provided free self defense to learn how to Kick Cancer Where lessons. Participants learned a groin kick, how to release from a hold and it Hurts.
On the Web For more photos visit
ConnectOregonWI.com what to do when pinned against a wall. Brooklyn Recreation is planning a similar fundraising event for April. Contact Mackenzie Krumme at mackenzie.krumme@wcinet.com.
knows the details from a contractor. Public works expects to seek bids from contractors in early February, he said. Rau and Town and County Engineering, Inc. president Brian R. Berquist gave a 15-20 minute overview of the design before attendees – including Oregon residents, business owners and village officials – asked questions and offered comments. One of the main topics attendees asked about was when construction would start. Another attendee asked whether the intersection was indeed being signalized, which Berquist confirmed. The village had considered putting a roundabout at the intersection last year. The state requires municipalities to consider putting in a roundabout when reconstructing an intersection, but the village instead chose traffic signals after that plan received overwhelming support from 40 public meeting attendees in summer 2019.
About 35-40 people attended a public session on the Janesville and Park Street intersection rebuild design plans Thursday, Jan. 16. Despite minimal feedback they offered on the plans, Village of Oregon staff expects the project to proceed as depicted, village public works director Jeff Rau told the Observer. People can still offer input until Thursday, Jan. 23, when Rau said public works staff is to finalize the design. Rau said the village is still communicating with businesses and individuals who will be most affected by construction. Anyone located in or near the construction area will receive a letter detailing how the project will pan out for them once the village Turn to Construction /Page 12
Village of Oregon
Apartment project requests $464,000 in TIF Village votes to form agreement with developer EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
The Village Board voted to form a Tax Increment District agreement with Oregon Apartments, LLC, to move the $7 million Rosewood Avenue
apartment project forward Monday, Jan. 20. Adam Coyle, on behalf of Oregon Apartments, LLC, met with the board to discuss the business’s request for $464,000 in Tax Increment Financing to cover 5.4% of the total cost of the development. The board examined a review of the TIF request from financial consultant Ehlers, which stated roughly 20% of the
project would be covered by equity and around 80% from the combination of the assumed TIF funding and a mortgage. Overall, it satisfies the “but for” test required for every TIF project – it wouldn’t happen “but for” the funding. The review explored two scenarios: A developer base case and an Ehlers adjusted case. In the first, t h e T I F m o n ey wo u l d be paid back by Oregon
Apartments, LLC in seven years, while the next scenario added a year. Both are on pay-as-you-go basis. The calculations derived for the project reflect the current market, the review stated. In either scenario, the project returns are well within or lower than expected market ranges and subject to economic assistance – they both
Inside Panthers play for first at Badger Challenge Page 7
Turn to Rosewood/Page 12
COME GET TO KNOW “T H E L I T T L E S C HOOL WI T H A BIG H E A RT” NEAR MERITER & ST. MARY’S HOSPITALS.
Join us for a
ST. JAMES SCHOOL
open house
sunday, feb 2nd 10:30-12:30pm BUS SERVICE AVAILABLE TO SOME PARTS OF FITCHBURG! DROP-IN TOURS AVAILABLE! Contact Mary Corcoran at mcorcoran@stjamesschool.org or call 608-268-9935 adno=135718