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F AMILY O WNED & O PERATED S INCE 1869 Stoughton • Madison • McFarland Deerfield • Sun Prairie • Waunakee
Thursday, July 19, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 3 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon School District
Back to the ballot On the web
Referendum vote likely at July 18 special meeting
Read the result of the board’s vote on the referendum:
ConnectOregonWI.com
SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Alexander Cramer
From left, Clare Yoerger, Liana Case, Miller Stang and Catherine Roberts weed the Oregon Middle School garden during a summer school class on June 27.
Sowing seeds of learning Students tend OMS garden over summer ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
“Is this a weed, Miss Parisi? Is this?” Terry Parisi came over and showed the students who were asking which plants were the imposters and which had a right to their space in the plot. The group was gathered at the Oregon Middle School garden patch,
tucked next to the hoop house and behind the young orchard on the school’s grounds. They were setting up a drip-tape irrigation system and pulling out would-be invaders, but also pushing each other around in a wheelbarrow and spraying one another with a hose. These are still kids, and it was still
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If You Go What: OMS vegetable stand Where: Oregon Middle School, 601 Pleasant Oak Dr. When: 1-3:30 p.m. Mondays -Wednesdays, July 23-Aug. 8 Info: 835-4800
For the fourth time in the last seven years, the Oregon School District is expected to ask district voters for funding through ballot referendums. This time, it would be for a new school. T h e O r eg o n S c h o o l Board held a special meeting Wednesday, May 18, to vote on language for two referendums to finance the construction of a new K-6 elementary school building in a fast-developing area of Fitchburg. District superintendent Brian Busler said in an email Tuesday he didn’t yet have a fixed amount on referendum costs, but that details would be available after the meeting, “provided the board takes action on the draft resolutions.” The agenda for the meeting, which is after the Observer is on
newsstands, includes a resolution for issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $44.9 million, and a resolution authorizing the district budget to exceed revenue limit by more than $2.1 million for recurring purposes. The proposed new school would be the first phase of a two-tiered plan to ultimately build two new schools and upgrade several others. The second phase would build a “centrally located” middle school (grades 6-8) by 2024, and then convert the three existing K-4 schools to K-5, convert Rome Corners Intermediate to a K-5 elementary and convert Oregon Middle School from a 7-8 to a 6-8 building. The second phase would be left to a future referendum, likely in the early 2020s, Busler said.
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Village of Oregon
Liquor license Village of Oregon continues Committee recommends three-hour parking downtown debate Village, businesses AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
Downtown parking has been on the minds of business owners, residents and village officials lately. A Monday night discussion among members of those groups tried to get to the root of the concerns
its next meeting, starting at 5 p.m. Monday. The July 16 committee meeting drew some downt ow n bu s i n e s s ow n e r s , including Chocolate Caper co-owners Dan and Elizabeth Donoghue and Charlie’s on Main owner David Heide, who was also on hand for a discussion about liquor licenses. The initial idea – a response to an April disc u s s i o n a t t h e Vi l l a g e Board – was to place twohour parking restrictions
in downtown parking lots, but Heide expressed concern that two hours won’t fully cover the events he hosts throughout the day. The plan would install signs stating the limitation in the Jefferson Street, Village Hall and Hitching Post parking lots. The committee – trustees Jeanne Carpenter, Jeff Boudreau and Jenna Jacobson – agreed some action needs to be taken to make easier
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discuss proposed demerit system AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
A point-based demerit system could help curb alcohol violation issues in the Village of Oregon, officials have said. But some local business owners say it would be unnecessary and overly punitive.
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The village’s Personnel, Public Safety and Protection committee debated the system, proposed by police chief Brian Uhl, on Monday night, with business owners invited to be part of the discussion. After nearly two hours of discussion, the committee decided to continue discussion and give businesses another chance to provide feedback, rather than forward it to the Village Board. Owners from
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Business owners give feedback on concerns
– which have been heightened with the recent Jefferson Crossing apartment development – and determine whether a problem even exists. As a first step, the village’s Personnel, Public Safety and Protection committee recommended establishing three-hour limitations in the Jefferson Street parking lot, to be enforced from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Village Board is expected to review the suggestion at