Family decision puts road grant in jeopardy

Published: March 10, 2010
Tags: Broderick, Dave Hansen, Heroux, Rosner, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, WisDOT

A Pound family’s change of heart could force the northern Wisconsin town to return a $500,000 state grant for a road extension project.

And a state bill that would let Pound spend the money on any other road construction project might not mean much because town leaders cannot find a worthy replacement.

“I say let’s move on,” said Town Supervisor Glenn Broderick. “Let’s just let this thing pass and get on to other business.”

The 2007-09 state budget freed up a $500,000 grant for the extension of North 19th Road to West 16th Road. Local residents requested the project because it would connect different areas of the town and improve response time for emergency and medical vehicles.

The Rosner family, which owns the land through which the extension would be built, agreed to the extension, and the town spent $9,000 on preliminary engineering work.

But subsequent family disagreements over selling the land, combined with the lack of construction to date, led the family last year to change its mind about selling.

Arlene Rosner said her son now lives on the farm, which the family also rents to other farmers, and the Rosners do not want the land split by a road extension.

But that leaves the town in a tough spot, said Town Chairman Jerry Heroux. Besides having spent $9,000 on engineering work, the town is limited by the 2007-09 state budget to only use the grant money for the extension.

“I don’t think we want to go through eminent domain,” he said. “The residents originally asked us to get this grant money, and now they’re saying they don’t want it. It seems wrong to just take the land from them.”

So state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, introduced the bill to give the town more options. Hansen said the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which administers the transportation economic assistance grant program, does not oppose reallocating the money.

“The town had high hopes for what that project could mean for the area,” said Hansen, who added he wants the money to stay in the community. “Besides that, it’s the kind of project that could be putting people to work.”

But Heroux said no other projects are as appealing as connecting 19th and 16th.

“We’ve been thinking about other projects for a few months now,” he said. “None of them tie things as well together.”

If the town does not find another project in the next four months, Heroux said, the town likely will pass on the grant, rendering Hansen’s bill unnecessary.

“I’m not angry about (the Rosners’) decision,” he said. “I guess disappointed would be a better word. It’s been several years that we worked on this.”

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