Verona Press The
Thursday, August 2, 2018 • Vol. 54, No. 11 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
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Epic
Verona Area School District
Finally caught up Boundary
Epic pauses new construction for first time since 2003 KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
There’s world where the underground train system of London meets a wizard perched in the center of a traditional English courtyard, only steps from the Emerald City and the topsy-turvy land of Alice in Wonderland. And it’s only a few minutes outside of Verona’s downtown at Epic Systems. For the first time since starting construction on Verona’s western side in 2003, the healthcare software company is done building campuses – for now – and is focusing on fine-tuning design elements on the Storybook campus, its fifth. The company, which now has 9,400 employees, moved away from its Tokay Boulevard location when it needed more space, and has been in a nearly constant state of construction since. It doesn’t mean they aren’t still sitting in design meetings considering new ideas for additional campuses required for future expansion, chief administrative officer Steve Dickmann said. “For the first time since 2000, we’ve finally caught up,” he said. “In the ideal world, if we would build one building a year, or one building every other year, that’s more sane. When you’re trying to build two campuses simultaneously, it taxes everybody’s resources.” Epic got a little bit behind on accommodating its space needs around six years ago, Dickmann said, when a large stimulus package from the government allowed for significant staff growth. The goal from here on out, Dickmann said, is to have buildings designed and ready to go,
Demographic balance key issue SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Demographic balance in its schools is going to be a challenging topic for the Verona Area school board as it works toward drawing new attendance boundaries. T h a t wa s a m o n g t h e key issues board members discussed Monday night, when they began establishing guiding principles and
JIM FEROLIE Verona Press editor
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
National Night Out set for Aug. 7 Verona Police Department community resource officer Ryan Adkins said the fewer barriers to a relationship with law enforcement for citizens, the better. That’s one of the ideas behind the annual National Night Out event, set for
Turn to Boundaries/Page 7
West end, credit unions up for hearings Monday campus features the design of an upside-down home.
Unified Newspaper Group
criteria to give direction to a committee that will be established this fall to make recommendations to the school board. The board is expected to approve new boundaries next spring, leaving a year-and-a-half before they go into effect in fall 2020, when the new high school opens. With that opening, Badger Ridge Middle School students will move to the current high school building, and Sugar Creek
City of Verona
Turn to Epic/Page 16 The stairwell of the Alice in Wonderland building on Epic System’s Storybook
KIMBERLY WETHAL
process begins
5:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Hometown Festival Park, 111 Lincoln St. “If we build that relationship with our citizens and they feel comfortable approaching us and giving us information, then they’re kind of our eyes and ears out there,” he said. “It just helps us do our job better, because I think growing up, we’re all a little bit
intimidated by police officers and maybe don’t feel comfortable approaching them with whatever minor concern they may have.” The event, which is held on the same day throughout the U.S., was originally a method to reduce crime through allowing residents to meet with their
Turn to NNO/Page 5
If You Go
Two credit unions and a west-side shopping center are all up for public hearings Monday at the city’s Plan Commission meeting. The commission and Common Council reviewed each of them in recent months, with no significant negative comments. West End’s Market 5
What: National Night Out When: 5:30-8 p.m. Aug. 7 Where: Hometown Festival Park, 111 Lincoln St. Info: ci.verona.wi.us/534/ National-Night-OutAgainst-Crime
Takea Close Look
Turn to Plan/Page 3
Inside
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proposal is an adjustment from a previously approved plan to build retail buildings and apartments next to the developer’s existing apartment complexes off West Verona Avenue, north of the future new high school site. The new plan includes no apartments. The Summit Credit Union plan would take over the
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