Thursday, October 31, 2019 • Vol. 55, No. 24 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
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Verona Press The
City of Verona
Taxes would drop with staff cuts Modest growth, focus on reducing debt limit budget options JIM FEROLIE
Inside Budget publication
Verona Press editor
Photos by Neal Patten
Emmily Scherb hands screen printing screen to Brian Spranger as Janet Sarnow and instructor Mark Cullen observe the finished product.
Paranormal prints
Unified Newspaper Group
The Verona Public Library held a Halloween-themedhands-on screen printing workshop for adults on Monday, Oct. 28. Attendees learned how to print a picture of an Ouija board onto a T-shirt they were able to take home.
On the Web
ConnectVerona.com Reporter Neal Pa t t e n c a n b e contacted at neal.patten@ wcinet.com.
Historical society to discuss potential center Nov. 9
What it doesn’t have is a place to show it all off. Verona Area Historical Society members are hoping to change that, and make some new history for the area. SCOTT DE LARUELLE At 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. Unified Newspaper Group 9, at the senior center, VAHS will host a public informaThe Verona area has a rich tional meeting and discussion history, from the days of the about a site that could serve as first indigenous people, to a “history center” for the area. European settlers, to modern times. Turn to History/Page 5
City of Verona
Goodwill planned for empty downtown spot JIM FEROLIE
Inside
Verona Press editor
A plan for a Goodwill store and dropoff facility will get a review by the city’s Plan Commission on Monday, Nov. 4. The Goodwill store, located in the long-vacant former World of Variety building at 118 S. Main Street, would come with several exterior building improvements and modifications, including new colors, a new roof, a new glass donor entry door and a roll-up door off Park Lane for loading and unloading. The commission will be expected to make a recommendation to the Common Council for approval of the precise
Whispering Coves back for seventh attempt Page 3 implementation plan amendment. A PIP is the final stage of a planning process called a planned unit development, and it deals with visual and aesthetic issues and details such as stormwater, utilities and lighting. Among the considerations for the commission and council will be The
Verona Press
Turn to Budget/Page 12
A home for Verona’s history
Instructor Mark Cullen prepares a shirt for printing with help from Kathy Helland, while Rita Mortenson and Emmily Scherb look on.
To see more photos of the Ouija board screenprinting session at the library, visit:
hearing Nov. 18 would cut taxes for most Verona property owners by 2.2 percent. That cut offsets last year’s erroneous tax increase, which came when the city assessor mistakenly doubled up more than $5 million in a tax-increment financing district and then compounded the mistake by shifting the decimal place one to the right. The city is still pursuing legislative remedies to refund that money. In the meantime, on a
deliveries on the narrow, alleylike Park Lane. A previous request to put a Dollar Tree in that location did not advance last year because the council expressed discomfort with the idea of blocking off the street each week. A letter with the submission says donations to the nonprofit will only be accepted when the store is open, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. “These generous hours make it highly unlikely that donors couldn’t find a time within the hours of operation to drop off goods,” the letter states. Email Verona Press editor Jim Ferolie at veronapress@wcinet.com.
Photo courtesy Verona Area Historical Society
This house at 103 E. Park Lane is the former residence of “Doc” Joel E. and Viola Lillesand, best known for running a longtime veterinary service out of this house from 1920 to around 1968. The Verona Area Historical Society is considering purchasing the house to turn ito a history center.
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Verona Area High School PAC
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NEAL PATTEN
One of the most restricted City of Verona budget situations in years contains some good news for taxpayers, at least – a tax cut. Hamstrung by a requirement to add nearly full-time positions’ worth of staff in the library and previous decisions to add positions midyear, the 2020 budget proposal contains two staff cuts, the city’s first reductions going back perhaps as far the 1980s. That proposal, approved for publication by the Finance committee, goes to a public
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300 Richard St.
Verona Area Performing Arts Series
Tickets available at: www.vapas.org, State Bank of Cross Plains-Verona, Capitol Bank-Verona or 848-2787