9/6/18 Stoughton Courier Hub

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Stoughton

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Thursday, September 6, 2018 • Vol. 137, No. 7 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25

Stoughton Area School District

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City-SASD joint committee

Its own study UW report presenter encourages committee to research young adults’ needs SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group

Photo by Amber Levenhagen

Joshua Barenca, fourth grade, and Erika Quesada walk to Fox Prairie Elementary School for the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Back to school Inside

City of Stoughton

More photos from the first day of school Page 12

Lake Kegonsa waters still rising Forecast says rainy weekend As of Tuesday, Lake Kegonsa was just barely below the “100-year flood” level, having risen several inches in the past week, with more rain forecast for the coming days. According to the Dane County Emergency Management Department, the lake was 845.10 feet above sea level, just 0.2 below the 100-year flood level already broken once this summer. It’s risen several inches since last week, when it was 844.82 feet above sea level on Aug. 28, and according to the department, “all Yahara lakes are expected to rise depending on how much rainfall is received.” According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the lake’s previous record level was 845.76 feet above sea level, set June 21-22, topping the previous

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the rain in the past week, compared to the record-breaking deluge of the previous week, more than a half-inch of rain was predicted for the area Wednesday If you live in a flooded area of Dane and possible thunderstorms this weekCounty and own a private well, your end. water might be in danger of conSince Aug. 23, Dane County has been tamination from pollutants carried in under a slow, no wake restriction for the floodwaters. entire surface of Lake Kegonsa in addiPublic Health Madison and Dane tion to the restrictions already on MenCounty, in partnership with the dota, Monona, and Waubesa. According Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, is to the county website, the dams at Baboffering free and expanded private cock County Park and LaFollette Counwell water testing services for ty Park are completely open in full flow affected Dane County residents. condition and their associated locks are open for navigation. For information, call Public Health at Aquatic plant harvesters in the Yahara 243-0357. River from Lake Waubesa to Lake Kegonsa and downstream of Lake Kegonsa are working to remove aquatic plants record, set June 16, 2008, of 845.73 impeding flow. feet. While there has been a bit of a lull in – Scott De Laruelle

Well water warning

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Council awards contract for second assessment of bank property City hopes to execute donation agreement by mid-October BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group

An in-depth environmental assessment of the McFarland State Bank is expected to be ready before the city’s deadline to back out of a deal to accept a downtown property it could use for city offices. The Common Council voted unanimously Aug.

28 to award a contract to a Middleton-based company to conduct the second phase of environmental testing at McFarland State Bank. Alders chose to accept a $4,770 contract with Resource Engineering Associates. The company’s bid was less than half of True North Consultants’ bid and slightly more than a bid from Seymour Environmental Services. REA is conducting a Phase 1 environmental assessment of the soil

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Students around the Stoughton Area School District returned to the classroom on Tuesday. Parents and students gathered around Fox Prairie Elementary School for first day photos, hugs and goodbye tears.

Many school and city officials agree that attracting and retaining young families should be a priority for Stoughton, but first, they might want to find out if that’s what the rest of the community wants. At the Aug. 27 meeting of the ad hoc committee of the Stoughton City Council, Stoughton Area School District and Stoughton Chamber of Commerce, presenter Randy Stoecker,

of UW-Madison suggested the group study Stoughton and its young adults rather than attempting to implement any of the specific successes noticed by the months-old study he presented. That study, “Gaining and Maintaining Young People in Wisconsin Communities,” was released in December 2017 and has been a starting point for the committee’s recent discussions on the need to attract young families to the area. Committee co-chair Jon Coughlin told the Hub in an email Tuesday that the study found each community studied had “unique characteristics that attracted and retained


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