WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 119 NO. 47 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Athletes named all conference. PAGE 13
Osceola village hall demolished Discovery Center groundbreaking set BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Demolition of Osceola’s municipal building began June 7 and was complete the next day, marking the most visibly dramatic step taken thus far toward manifestation of the Mill Pond Discovery Center. The new building will house the village’s police department, administrative offices, public library and other commons areas. Organizers plan to break ground on the project June 27 (see sidebar for details). The village board reviewed bids for road
construction on Fourth Avenue and Kent Street in May. The low bid was $232,000, some $22,000 below the village engineer’s estimate and nearly $70,000 below original financing plans for the Discovery Center project. “We expect we’re going to have more news like that,” said Village President Gary Beckmann. “As we get further into design and more things are known, we have better information,” said Village Administrator Joel West. “I think it speaks to the team — Market & Johnson (construction), Angela (Popenhagen, village engineer) and the architects at SEH — they had SEE GROUNDBREAKING, PAGE 9
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Osceola’s municipal building, which had housed the police department and administrative offices, was demolished in early June to make way for the Mill Pond Discovery Center.
Inside empty hangars, questions of Osceola’s identity
Osceola announced as Wisconsin’s 100th Bird City BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
This summer, Osceola will spread its wings as the 100th Bird City in Wisconsin. The Bird City Wisconsin program was introduced by the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI) in 2010, based on the Tree City USA campaign by the Arbor Foundation. The criteria to become a Bird City include creation and protection of habitat, participation in forest management programs, removing bird hazards, educating the public and hosting an International Migratory Bird Day event each year. Germaine Ross of the Osceola Chamber of Commerce helped initiate the application to make Osceola an official Bird City. She started the process last summer, with the help of Kaylee Tracy, an intern. Ross had been involved with installing native plantings in the city, and it occurred to her that with its dedication to preserving natural spaces, Osceola was almost a bird city already.
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
The question seems simple enough. What is a hangar for? The short answer: Storing an airplane. But throw in the Great Recession and what appears to be a general decline in aviation interest, and the answer becomes less clear. If no pilots are interested in storing planes, what becomes of the empty buildings? That’s the essence of a question Wolfgang Greiner asked the Osceola Airport Commission to consider as hangars he’d built at the L.O. Simenstad Municipal Airport sat empty. Greiner is refusing to evict a tenant renting two of his hangars for non-aviation storage. In turn, he is facing eviction. Although Greiner owns the hangars, JACKIE BUSSJAEGER| PRESS PUBLICATIONS
SEE BIRD CITY, PAGE 16
A trumpeter swan swims on the St. Croix River.
SEE AIRPORT, PAGE 15
No dream is too big.... or too small. NEW RICHMOND 715-246-6901
NEWS 715-294-2314 editor@osceolasun.com
ADVERTISING 715-294-2314 sales@osceolasun.com
SOMERSET
715-247-4501
HUDSON
Strong & Secure Since 1919
www.fn-cb.com
715-386-9301
PUBLIC NOTICES 715-294-2314 sales@osceolasun.com
DRESSER
715-755-2174
SUBSCRIPTIONS 715-294-2314 office@osceolasun.com
NMLS #412555
BREAKING NEWS, UPDATES Whenever, wherever you are! Scan me with your smartphone