Thursday, October 4, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 14 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
Village of Oregon
Accommodating growth in 2019 ‘Growing pains’ as village looks to add staff, prepare for library borrowing ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
The Village of Oregon has been growing, and over the next few weeks, the Village Board will grapple with how to start paying for it. Monday, village administrator Mike Gracz presented an overview of a budget he’s recommending to the board, which includes a new position in the clerk’s office, the full cost of a new police officer and hiring a village planner. With the village readying itself for large projects in the near future, increased debt service is expected to consume the bulk of other spending. “We are going through
Buy Local in Oregon
Gerlach Wholesale Flooring
112 Janesville Street, Oregon, WI 53575 Phone: 835-8276 • Fax: 835-8277 Mon., Fri. & Sat. appointment only Tues. & Thurs. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wed. 12 p.m.-6 p.m.,
adno=21123
Oregon Observer The
Oregon School District
Key issues • Paying down debt in advance of expected borrowing • Adding three new staff positions • Missing state expenditure restraint fund target some growing pains here, adding staff, and it’s hitting the budget in ‘19,” Gracz told the Observer. Fortunately, in addition to new construction numbers that stayed above the county average, the village is closing a tax-increment financing district (TID 2), and the two combine to provide $200,000 in new funding to work with. Wi t h b i g b o r r ow i n g
Turn to Budget/Page 16
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
From left, Jackson Walsh, Nicholas Tolonen, Nathan Shippe and Griffin Kipp decide where the pom-poms should go on their duck-shaped sign during class on Thursday, Sept. 27.
Science is cool
New OMS STEAM course is a popular choice
Business park plan gets boost
SCOTT DE LARUELLE
Board eyes Fitchburg’s model for expansion east of Hwy. 14
When it comes to giving their opinions, middle schoolers aren’t usually too shy. That’s probably even more true when it comes to their likes and dislikes at school, where taking required classes like math and science are often looked at like having to eat your broccoli. So when Oregon Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders got a chance to pick out classes for this school year, it was notable that all
Unified Newspaper Group
T h e O r eg o n Vi l l a g e Board signed on to a vision of the future for the southeast side Monday night. Trustees unanimously agreed with a plan by village administrator Mike Gracz to begin developing a business park just east of U.S. Hwy. 14 that also could be the future home to an affordable-housing development. The planning process will cost money, though it was unclear Monday how much that might be. Funding for aspects of the plan, including adding a village planner, will be discussed
Turn to Plan/Page 7
almost immediately with around 300 students – about half the school. That’s something new STEAM teacher Craig Fischer took as encouraging Get to know the new OMS news. “Hopefully with the development associate principal of the curriculum as we move forPage 8 ward, we’ll just keep getting kids more involved and engaged in these disciplines,” he told the Observer last 12 sections of the new STEAM class week. While students will still experience were “sold out” as if they were escape a “STEAM approach” in other classrooms. The school’s new STEAM (Sci- es, such as science, tech ed, math and ence, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) elective course filled Turn to STEAM/Page 8
Inside
District hopes to get a handle on growth District referendums would fund Fitchburg K-6 school
School District is going to referendum for the third time since 2014. This time, it’s to build a new elementary school in the fast-growing northern SCOTT DE LARUELLE part of the district. On Nov. 6, district voters Unified Newspaper Group will decide whether to fund Looking to stay ahead of and maintain a new K-6 an expected unprecedented Turn to Growth/Page 7 wave of growth, the Oregon
OSD referendum series Over the next five weeks, the Observer will examine the upcoming referendum from a variety of angles: This week: Referendum seeks to build new K-6 school Oct. 11: Why is a new school needed in Fitchburg? Oct. 18: What would it provide; changes to the district Oct. 25: What would happen if it fails? Nov. 1: What is on the ballot
Fall Sale Spectacular! Let us be your one-stop shop for all things fall: • Mums • Flowering Kale • Pumpkins • Gourds • Winter Squash • Tender Succulents • Straw Bales • Decorative Metal Art • & More!
40% OFF 3 for$20 ALL PERENNIALS
ON SELECT MUMS
10/4/18-10/10/18
10/4/18-10/10/18
Hours: Sat. & Sun. 9am-5pm • Mon.-Fri. 9am-6pm • www.kopkesgreenhouse.com
adno=21094
ALEXANDER CRAMER
during the village’s budget meetings, which start Monday, Oct. 8. Gracz told trustees he was seeking their approval to make sure “we were on the same page,” as the plan would affect the 2019 budget – which the board will begin debating next week. “I know we have a few new board members, and I didn’t want to assume we should go charging ahead to hire the planner next year on staff,” Gracz said. The village does not own any land east of Hwy. 14 and while no specifics are in place, the plan would likely eventually include a new tax-increment financing district to attract business to what board president Steve Staton called the southeastern gateway to the village. TIF is a public financing tool that pools increased taxes
Unified Newspaper Group