Oregon Observer The
Buy Local in Oregon
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.,
Thursday, July 26, 2018 • Vol. 134, No. 4 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
adno=579049-01
Gerlach Wholesale Flooring
Oregon School District
Fall referendum set for ballot borrow funds for a new grade school in Fitchburg. The Oregon School Board made official what it’s been leaning toward for months at a special meeting Wednesday night, approving a pair of questions for the generSCOTT DE LARUELLE al election ballot. Now it’s up to officials to help district Unified Newspaper Group residents understand the plan; the first in a The Oregon School District will have proposed two-step building project to prea referendum Nov. 6 to seek approval to vent a surge of overcrowding in schools
Board approves asking voters to fund up to $44.9 million for new elementary school
expected to begin as soon as 2020. The board unanimously approved two referendums: one to borrow not more than $44.9 million and the other allowing the district to exceed its state-imposed revenue limit by $2.1 million on a yearly basis once the new school has opened. However, the $44.9 million – which includes the land purchase that is yet to be finalized – is a “worst-case scenario in terms of the cost,” said board president
Steve Zach, and district superintendent Brian Busler agreed that the number could be less. “This is the top-end cost,” Busler said. “We have the maximum borrowing amount at $44.9 million, which matched the maximum budget we have put together so far.” The exact tax impact on district residents and structuring of bonds for the
Turn to Referendum/Page 10
Village of Oregon
Village of Oregon
Board agrees with parking restrictions
Growing into a civic campus
Wayfinding signs, disabled stalls also planned
Village plans next steps for key downtown buildings
BILL LIVICK
ALEXANDER CRAMER
Unified Newspaper Group
Unified Newspaper Group
Following up on a series of downtown parking discussions, the Village Board Monday agreed to initiate time limits in downtown parking lots and directed the village attorney to prepare an ordinance to enact the parking restrictions. Parking in the Jefferson Street lot will be limited to three hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday, except for holidays. Parking in the Hitching Post lot will be limited to two hours during the same timeframe – a limitation that matches existing restrictions in select areas on downtown streets. The village’s Personnel, Public Safety and Protection committee had recommended the changes during a July 19 meeting. Trustee Jeanne Carpenter said the parking restrictions are “a starting point” to prevent Jefferson Crossing residents and downtown employees from parking in the Jefferson Street lot during daytime hours. Village planner Mike Slavney said the measures
In the Community Room of Village Hall in early June, about 20 village residents compared and contrasted two plans for the future of Oregon’s downtown. Business owners pointed out that if the new Village Hall moved to where it was suggested, they’d lose the row of parking spaces closest to their businesses, which might push potential customers to a neighboring town. Some residents asked whether a proposed locat i o n f o r Vi l l a g e H a l l wo u l d c a s t s h a d e o n Waterman Triangle Park, or even take over its territory altogether, something community band concertgoers strongly advocated against.
Turn to Parking/Page 12
Photo by Alexander Cramer
Harrison Kypreos, 1.5, eyes the ice while holding his stick like a pro at the Oregon Hockey Inc. Try Youth Hockey event on July 22 at the Oregon Ice Arena.
Hockey in July
Members of the Oregon hockey community went to the Oregon Ice Arena on Sunday, July 22, for the Oregon Hockey Inc. Try Youth Hockey event. Around 60 kids ages 3-12 hit the ice where they were split up according to age and ability by about a dozen volunteer coaches. Skaters played tag and other games on the first third of the ice, while in the middle third kids were given hockey sticks and could practice puck-handling and shooting on goal. The more
Inside More Try Hockey photos Page 8 experienced ones scrimmaged in the final third of the rink. Kris Sweeney, director of Oregon’s Learn to Play program, said the event is a kickoff for the registration period for youth hockey,
which runs from early November to the middle of March. Kids can do two years of Learn to Play from 3-4 to prepare them for the U6 league for 5- and 6-yearolds. Despite hockey’s reputation as an expensive sport, Sweeney said there are lots of ways to make it affordable, including renting equipment or buying it used. For more information, or to sign up, visit oregon. pucksystems2.com. – Alexander Cramer
Next week, the Planning Commission will look at a civic campus plan that will include information learned from the public at events like the open house. “We’ve known for a while we had to do something with the library, senior center and Village Hall,” Village President Steve Staton told the Observer. “All these public facilities were no longer adequately meeting the needs of the community.” Village planner Mike Slavney suggested thinking of the plan as a “compendium of the possibilities that were explored” in the years-long process rather than a binding document with a concrete timeframe. O r eg o n ’s m u n i c i p a l services offer an integral, if perhaps unnoticed, complement to the restaurants, businesses and bars that make up the vibrant, well-defined downtown that sprouted up more than a century ago at the
Turn to Campus/Page 16
Inside Get to know some neighbors in your community in our ‘People You Should Know’ section Page 7
EXPERIENCE THE UPTOWN LIFESTYLE
608.441.9999 avanteproperties.com
VISTA APARTMENTS
OPENING SUMMER 2018
5120 E Cheryl Parkway, Fitchburg, WI adno=578802-01