Oregon Observer The
Join us for Oregon’s Holiday Event! Santa will arrive on a re trc to light the tree!
Friday, December 7th Tree Lighting & Chili Dinner
Waterman-Triangle Park Starng at 5:30 pm Come down for the holiday tree lighng and sing some Christmas Carols with others in the community. Aerwards join us at the Fire Staon for a free chili dinner and visit with Santa. All donaons received will go towards the Jaycee Park West Renovaon Project.
Thursday, November 29, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 22 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
O REGON AREA CHAMBER
of COMMERCE
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Oregon School District
Land buys set for $3 million Middle school site would be near McDonald’s SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Chase Wunderlich, 11, and Cody Smith, 14, both members of Boy Scout Troop 168, work together to saw a Christmas tree stump for some customers of the tree lot.
Sawing for the season The Boy Scout Troop 168 Christmas Tree Lot opened for the holiday season Nov. 21 at Dorn’s True Value Hardware. The lot offers a variety of trees, wreaths and garland. Regular hours are Monday through Friday from 4:307:45 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. – Emilie Heidemann
Oregon Public Library
$4 million goal set for fundraising campaign Consultant provides range of $3M to $5M for fundraising ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
Three months ago, the Village of Oregon hired a fundraising consultant to determine how much money feasibly could be raised to go along with the $6 million the village has committed to borrowing to build a new library. Baker Street Consulting Group presented its findings Nov. 19, with president Jim Radford telling the Village Board his firm determined a range of $3 million to $5 million was workable and recommended a $4 million goal for the fundraising effort. That would bring the total project cost to $10 million, which is in the range of a 2015 space needs study that estimated the library would need to triple in size to serve the community for the next 10-20 years at a cost
of $10 million to $12 million. It’s not clear whether the same size library could still be built for that price four years later. Village and library board members had been planning for the building to be constructed in 2019 and open in 2020 or 2021, though library director Jennifer Endres Way has said that timetable is “not set in stone.” Radford said “this was one of the more positive” studies his firm had run and “the reputation of the library is very, very solid.” BSCG met with 67 people in the course of compiling the report, with 49 participating in personal or telephone interviews, 17 in one of three small-group meetings, and one by email, according to the report. The library met or exceeded BSCG averages in 12 of the 13 key questions the consultants asked about, such as “willingness to work on the campaign,” and “perception of current staff leadership.” The lone outlier was the “fundraising environment.”
Radford said many respondents noted the other fundraising projects in Oregon and the surrounding area as a mitigating factor. In recent years, the village has refurbished its water tower, pump house and food pantry and is in the process of updating its youth center, all with community-raised funds. It’s also working on a major fundraising effort to rebuild Jaycee Park West. The library’s fundraising campaign would take place in three phases over the course of about 18 months, with donations from individuals expected to make up 60 percent of the total, foundations contributing 20 percent, businesses 15 percent and organizations like the Rotary Club or Masons the remaining 5 percent. In early 2016, Cliff Goodhart of Eppstein Uhen Architects determined the library should be increased by 250 percent – from its present 10,360 square feet to 35,226 square feet – to
Turn to Library/Page 10
The Oregon School District has reached agreements to purchase land for its next two school sites, one of which could open as soon as the 2020-21 school year. Electors will need to approve both purchases at a Dec. 10 public meeting by a majority vote of district residents in attendance. The $3 million agreements were part of the $44.9 million voters approved in the referendum earlier this month. The district has agreed to purchase 12.1 acres for an
elementary school in Fitchburg’s Terravessa development off Hwy. 14 and Lacy Road for $926,080, and it also agreed to pay $2.1 million for a 107-acre parcel across from McDonald’s in the Village of Oregon for a potential future middle school and other “future needs,” according to a Nov. 27 news release. The middle school would require a separate referendum for voters to approve funds for construction, which the release said is likely in 2022 or 2024 based on enrollment projections. The release points out the Terravessa neighborhood is expected to have nearly 2,000 housing units when fully built out and that having a school near
Turn to Land/Page 4
Mark’s, Bill’s celebrate 40 years Grocery store, barbershop two original tenants in shopping center EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Two Oregon businesses turned 40 this year. And both are the two original tenants of the North Main Street shopping center. Both co-owners of Mark’s Barber and Styling, Mark and Cindy Peterson, and Bill’s Food Center general manager Bill Faust, told the Observer how much has changed. They saw the community grow around them. Small businesses came and went. Some consolidated and others remained independent. And while both businesses have overcome many obstacles in the last four
Inside How the businesses have grown over 40 years Page 12 decades, the Petersons and Faust said they developed quite a stake in Oregon. “Our employees (at Bill’s Food Center) and our owners — the money we make goes back into the community through taxes and purchasing power,” Faust told the Observer. Mark Peterson said he and his wife “care about the community” because “we live here.” “Our kids have gone to school here,” he said. “We have roots.”
PLACE YOUR HOLIDAY ORDERS NOW! Try one of our fine wines...
The perfect complement to our handcrafted chocolates! Tu-Fr 10a-6p, Sat 10a-3p / 105 S. Main Street, Oregon (608) 835-9294 / chocolatecaper.com
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