Newbold town board nixes Rookery Run tower proposal, hears finance update

A proposal to place a 100-foot service tower on Rookery Run found little support at the Feb. 12 Newbold town board meeting, held at the Newbold Community Center.

Town chairman Dan Hess received the proposal from internet provider Bug Tussel and brought it to the board. The company wants to put the tower on a town-owned parcel on Ole Lake Road, which Hess described as a ridge behind the disc golf course’s bathrooms.

He said Bug Tussel proposed a 50-year lease for $400 a month, with a two-percent annual increase. 

“They want to lease, I believe, a 100 by 100 area,” he told the board. “Unless you want guy wires going across our beautiful golf course, we’d be foolish to even entertain it, in my opinion … I just think you would have an uproar with our citizens. They’re out there walking their dogs all the time, now you’re going to see a huge tower sitting there? As a matter of fact, I’ll make a motion to deny the Bug Tussel placement of a tower at parcel NE-90A.”

Town supervisor Mike McKenzie agreed, with the stipulation that Bug Tussel be asked if there are any alternate sites they’re interested in exploring.

“I understand the aesthetics,” he said. “The other side of it is, ‘Am I not going to get internet now because there’s not a tower there’ or whatever? I mean, there’s a flip side to it; to provide a service to the citizens, that’s worth something, too.”

Town supervisor Brad White observed Bug Tussel could bring power to a site that doesn’t currently have it, helping make wells and lighting possible. 

“I’m not saying I’m for or against it,” he noted, “I’m just saying …power would be there for the site if we decided to do anything with it in the future.”

In the end the vote to deny Bug Tussel’s proposal for that location was unanimous, a decision praised in public comment by Lloyd Gauthier.

“As a person who spent many hours digging the pylons and putting in all the bridges in the Rookery Run, and the sweat that I put into that ground, I would be very sad to see any type of tower there,” he told the board. “… It’s a nice idea and if it was still just the dump, oh, put three towers there! But since it’s so beautiful and we should be very proud of that, that that’s in our town, we should not change the scenery and outlook of that beautiful place.”

“I would make a public comment that I agree wholeheartedly with that,” said town clerk Kim Gauthier. “I appreciate the town board not pursuing the tower at that location. There’s no room for it, there’s no need for it, the plan at that location is not conducive for a tower with a big fence around it, and if we need to raise revenue, I have other ideas of things that could be done.”

In the finance portion of the meeting, treasurer Jodie Hess reported collecting $2,705,378.12 in January property taxes. 

“We did get Wisconsin road aid, that’s our first quarterly payment of $82,596.70,” she continued. “We did earn $12,586.75 in interest with all that money in the bank.” 

She said the general fund balance is $750,821.52.

The board approved a line-item budget transfer from designated funds-first responders to the first responders budget for $756.46 to cover purchases of AED pads and medical supplies. 

Among other highlights of the meeting, the board:

• Approved applying for a Local Small Structures Improvement Program grant to address a 20-foot culvert in poor condition in the McNaughton area near River Road. 

“It is a 90-10 split, which is really, really good on a state grant,” noted Dan Hess.

• Discussed possible revisions to town ordinance chapter 1 general government.

• Discussed adding a camera in the area of the Newbold Community Center’s secure drop box, which was recently improved with the addition of a chute.

The next meeting of the Newbold town board will be Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Newbold Community Center.

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].