Voters will find some changes on Nov. 7

Town officials

Alvin Bartz, chairman

Harold Polzin, supervisor

Robert Tomashek, supervisor

Harriet McCauley, clerk

Kenneth Rosenow, treasurer

Dennis Hoffman, constable

Newsletter editors:

Jan and Dennis Thornton

thorngb@frontiernet.net

823-9151

Town office

Belle Plaine Community Center

N3002 St. Hwy. 22

Clintonville, WI 54929

(715) 524-2690

Inside this issue:

Town Budget Plans 2

“Bear” Rules 3

Maple Lane Health Care Center 4

Belle Plaine 4-H Success 5

Lakes’ News 6

Gibson Island Stewardship 7

Chairman’s Corner 8

Town launches newsletter for residents

AUTUMN 2006

BELLE PLAINE TOWN NEWS AND EVENTS

This is the inaugural edition of a Belle Plaine newsletter for the towns’ people. The Town Board voted in July to publish fall and spring editions this year on a trial basis.

“This will allow us to answer your questions and give you information on timely subjects,” says Alvin Bartz, town chairman. “We’ve noticed the positive im-pact that the Cloverleaf Lakes newsletter has

had on that community and we’d like to expand that to include the whole town.”

Newsletter editors are town residents and volunteers Jan and Dennis Thornton. Both hold journalism degrees. Dennis, who edited daily newspapers for 28 years, retired as a book editor from Krause Publications, Iola. Jan is the associate provost for Out-reach and Adult Access at UW-Green Bay.

A new voting machine, changed paper ballots, new hours and new voting registra-tion requirements will greet Belle Plaine voters on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Voting on a variety of state and county races, as well as the 8th Congressional Dis-trict, will take place at the Belle Plaine Com-munity Center on Highway 22 from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. That’s a change from an 8 a.m. start in previous years and it necessitated a second shift of election workers, according to Town Clerk Harriet McCauley.

A new machine, called the “Edge,” is a high-tech touch-screen computer that will allow voters with disabilities to participate. It features larger print and other features to making voting easier. Other voters can also use the machine, but McCauley said only 200 people can use it in a day.

The traditional paper ballot has changed slightly, due to a new tabulating machine. Voters should connect arrows next to the candidates of their choice, rather than penciling in boxes.

Also new is a requirement that all vot-ers in towns must register to vote. Previ-ously, they could just walk in, identify them-selves and vote. Anyone wishing to register can contact McCauley during regular office hours at the Community Center. People who voted in the spring elections or the September primary already will be registered, as will those who filled out a form during last fall’s elections.

New voters can still register at the polls on election day. They should bring identification that proves that they reside in the town, such as a utility bill that contains their address. Anyone who has moved since the last election should re-register.

Marcalene Rosenow is the chief in-spector, heading the roster of election work-ers. She is assisted by Pat Mahnke. Other poll workers, who took an oath of office and underwent training, are: JudyAnn Pahlow, Donna Loesl, Addie Stuebe, Ed Stuebe, Bonnie Olson, Blanche Eckers and sub-stitute workers Donna Dallmann and Bon-nie Utke.

“It’s nice to have such a crew of dedi-cated and trained workers,” McCauley said..

Diane Wetzel votes on the touch-screen computer during the Sept. 12 primary.

Town will plan budget this fall; tax rate hike unlikely

January caucus will nominate spring election candidates

Cloverleaf Lakes Sanitary District upgrades equipment

Town clerk’s

hours:

9-11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday or by appointment Regular Town

Board meetings:

Second Monday of each month, 7:30 p.m. Committees:

Planning, Zoning, Gibson Island Stewardship What permits are

required:

Building, liquor license, operator’s license, zoning, and oak wilt How to get

permits: Contact town clerk or the town chairman. In some cases, Shawano County also issues special permits. Population

estimate: 1,910

Page 2

AUTUMN 2006

Autumn is the season for preparing budg-ets for Belle Plaine town officials.

Chairman Alvin Bartz said he expects the 2007 budget and town tax rate to be similar to 2006 levels. The 2006 town budget is $800,000.

“We try to do our best to hold the tax down through cost savings,” Bartz said.

The Town Board starts the process in October by going over the 10-month projec-tions to see how expenditures compare with budget amounts. Then the budget for next year has a public hearing and is approved in No-vember, so that property tax bills can be sent out in December.

Only about 10 to 15 percent of the tax bill is for town expenses, with the remaining portion going to the school districts, county, vocational schools and state.

“We are limited to the increase set by the Legislature, about two percent,” Bartz said. That was an increase of about $9,000 in 2006

and a constant tax rate. Bigger items in the budget are highways,

solid waste, fire department and ambulance, and general cost of government.

Major highway projects in 2006 were re-surfacing Belle Plaine Avenue and Pine Ridge Road. “Everybody’s feeling the crunch of fuel costs,” Bartz said, with the cost of blacktop skyrocketing. Citizens are welcome to attend the budget hearing, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13.

People interested in running for town office or nominating someone to run should attend the town caucus in January. The date of the caucus will be announced by the Town Board.

The procedure for running is to prepare slips of paper displaying your name for people to cast when voting for that position.

Those running generally offer a short speech regarding their background and qualifi-cations. The names of the two top vote getters

for each office will appear on the spring ballot. Those not nominated must run as write-in candidates.

The meeting and the opportunity to run is open to all of the town’s voting residents.

All current officials are serving two-year terms that expire in April.. They are Chairman Alvin Bartz, Supervisors Harold Polzin and Bob Tomashek, Clerk Harriet McCauley, Treasurer Kenneth Rosenow and Constable Dennis Hoffman.

Motors, valves and sensors, some as much as 28 years old, have been replaced with new equipment by the Cloverleaf Lakes Sani-tary District this summer and fall.

Included in the upgrade are new metering systems to monitor sewage flow, motors and check values, new pipes for most of the pump-ing stations and new sensing equipment, ac-cording to District President Tom Weniger.

“We’re upgrading the entire system. Some of the equipment is deteriorating to the point that it can’t be repaired — it must be replaced,” he said.

The original equipment “has held up well” over the years with few breakdowns, thanks to good maintenance, he said.

The district workers have also accom-plished the annual flushing of the system in recent weeks.

The Sanitary District was formed to pro-tect the Cloverleaf Lakes in the southern part of Belle Plaine and was expanded later to in-clude the Long Lake area.

Besides Weniger, commissioners include Bob Holzbach and Wayne Vander Linden, who has a master plumber’s license. Holzbach and Vander Linden were appointed by the Belle Plaine Town Board within the past year and are serving unexpired terms.

The commissioners meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. at town hall. Meetings are open to the public.

Majority of 2005 taxes for schools State of Wisconsin 1% Shawano County 27% Town of Belle Plaine 11% Clintonville School District 52% Fox Valley Technical College 9% (Note: Shawano School District and North-east Wisconsin Technical College District percentages are slightly different)

Bear gets tough on recycling

Here is a summary of Transfer Station rules. The town sent a brochure with complete information in August.

• Put garbage in clear plastic bags.

• Recycle plastics marked 1 through 7; glass containers, steel cans, aluminum, paper and cardboard.

• Not accepted are appliances, furniture, tires, cement, porcelain, medical waste, engine fluids.

• Bring TVs, computers and microwave ovens to the Transfer Station on the first Saturday of the month for no-fee disposal.

• Winter hours start third week of November: Saturdays, 8 a.m-5 p.m.; Wednesdays, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

• Shawano’s landfill accepts items not taken here, for a fee.

Page 3

AUTUMN 2006

It was 95 degrees on this July Sat-urday afternoon, but “Bear” was at his familiar post at the town Transfer Station, chatting with townspeople and offering weather forecasts.

Recycling rules

Sunshine or rain, hot or cold, Saturday or holiday, “Bear” is on duty. He stands by the big box at the Transfer Station that contains every Belle Plainesian’s garbage, greeting every-one, instructing them on recyclables and chat-ting about the weather.

He has a real name (go to the last para-graph if you can’t wait), but he’s just “Bear” to everyone, even his mother.

When another guy quit after two weeks on the job in fall 1984, Bear got the call and he’s been there ever since. He also worked for the Cloverleaf Lakes Sanitary District for 20 years after stints in the Army and as a bartender as well as in his brother’s salvage yard..

Things have changed over the years as the town dump became the Transfer Station and recycling became a way of life. “We used to have a hole where we threw everything in, then we burned it,” Bear said.

The Department of Natural Resources now requires recycling of cans, paper, card-board, glass and plastics. Bear’s job is to remind people to put their items in the proper contain-ers. In August, the town hired Bob Tomczyk and Cory Retzlaff to help with that work as well as keeping the area neat and tidy. There’s still an informal exchange, where some custom-ers go home with more than they brought, like chairs, lamps, toys and bowling trophies.

New this year is a policy that TVs, micro-wave ovens and computers have to be recycled and there is a charge. The town pays the tab, however, if those items are delivered on the first Saturday of each month. Bear has collected

about 200 of those items since May. He also reminds folks to use clear plastic

bags for garbage and blue for recyclables. And he said oil containers, even though plastic, should go in the garbage because the oil is diffi-cult to remove.

Hottest day he’s worked? 101 degrees. Coldest? 25 below zero. “You’ve got to have enough clothes on,” he said.

It’s a busy place, he said, with 400 to 500 visitors on a typical Saturday, 50 or so on Mon-day mornings and 150 more on Wednesday afternoons. Holiday weekends are busier, with 700 or more customers.

Where did Bear get his nickname? “I was hitchhiking when I was young and heard a noise in the woods by the road. Finally some-one picked me up and I told him, ‘There’s a bear chasing me,’” he said. “I’ve been Bear ever since, even to my mother.”

Real name? Wayne Richter. - Dennis Thornton

Compost wood, yard waste

The town’s compost site on Range Line Road is open in summer months. Accepted are wood and yard wastes. Prohibited are garbage, metal, demolition materials, plastics and painted materials. The Town Board voted in September to bring in a chipper to handle the tree limbs.

What was once a nice ice cream social for the residents of Maple Lane Health Care Center and their families has turned into perhaps the event of the year here in the Town of Belle Plaine.

Because of the tal-ent and enthusiasm of Belle Plaine residents Brenda Schroeder and her colleagues Lana and Mark Dittmann, Terry Rautman and many vol-unteers, the Maple Lane Car Show has become a major fun-filled summer day for people from throughout the area.

Brenda who is Maple Lane’s activity director, along with one of her assistants, Lana, and staff expanded the ice cream social into “Fun Fest” in 1999, and then largely because of the interest in old cars of Lana’s husband, Mark, they decided to combine Fun Fest with a Car Show in 2003.

The 4th Annual Maple Lane Car Show on July 22 drew more than 2,000 visitors and family members to see 175 an-tique vehicles, listen to live music and participate in mini-carnival activities ranging from hay rides, bake sales, cake walks, raffles, games and even a petting zoo.

“It was wonderful to see all the positive energy,” says Brenda of this year’s event. “We have to thank the commu-nity for all of its support, especially the sponsors.” More than 130 area businesses and organizations from throughout the region gave money or donated prizes.

Vehicles on display are not limited to just cars, says Mark. Also included are antique semi-trucks, tractors, snow-mobiles, ambulances and fire trucks.

Proceeds from the event are used to benefit the resi-dents of Maple Lane. Purchases over the years have included a big screen television, a large wall fish aquarium and outdoor

patio furniture. Special cable television channels are being considered for this year.

In addition to raising money for the Maple Lane resi-dents’ fund, the purpose of the day is to bring the community together and to show off the impressive county-owned-and-operated health care center, as a wonderful resource for Sha-wano County.

“We’re so lucky to have this facility right here in our community,” says Lana. “It makes it possible to see your loved ones whenever you want.”

Maple Lane, which is located on Highway 22 in the Town of Belle Plaine, is licensed for 99 beds including a state-of-the-art Alzheimer’s unit serving 16. More than 100 people are employed in three shifts. It is located on county-owned property of 600 acres that includes ski and hiking trails and sledding hills, and a field for remote-controlled aircraft. The current building opened in 1978 replacing an older county facility that had operated for many years.

Next year’s Maple Lane Car Show is scheduled for Sat-urday, July 21. Anyone interested in volunteering should con-tact Brenda at 526-3158. “We can always use more help,” she says.

- Jan Thornton

Car show showcases Maple Lane Center Page 4

AUTUMN 2006

Sharp modified and antique cars drew attention at the Maple Lane Car Show in July.

Left: Residents and visitors enjoy a clown’s balloon art. Right: Mark and Lana Ditt-mann, and ac-tivity director Brenda Schroe-der, right, are key planners of the Maple Lane car show. Terry Rautman, not pictured.

It’s the highlight of the Belle Plaine 4-H Club’s calendar — the Shawano County Fair. According 4-H Leader Nancy Schauer, 36 4-H young people exhibited during the Labor Day weekend in 31 of the fair’s categories in-cluding animals, photography, cake decorating, crocheting, cooking and theater.

Belle Plaine’s club of about 40 members meets each month at the Belle Plaine Commu-nity Center and sponsors many activities while having fun throughout the year.

In addition to participation in the fair, the club keeps Highway 22 clean in the stretch of highway from the Shell gas station to the Maple Lane Health Care Center. The group erected a lawn display with an apple theme (“Good to the Core”) on the Town Hall lawn promoting national 4-H Week Oct. 1-7, sponsored a float in the Shawano Chamber of Commerce’s downtown Fall Festival parade on Oct. 7, and plans a Halloween party Oct. 16.

Other yearly activities include a float in the Chamber’s Christmas parade in early De-cember, a Christmas party and a January bowl-ing party.

Sponsored by the University of Wiscon-sin-Extension, 4-H is open to children in the first through 12th grades with the option for seniors to stay on a year past graduation. There is no cost for first and second graders (the “Cloverbuds”); a $7 annual fee including county fair entry fees is the cost to those in third grade and above. Open enrollment starts in October every year with the final paperwork for new membership due prior to Feb. 1, 2007. Call Schauer at 524-2856 for the forms.

4-H started more than 100 years ago as an organization for young people who lived in the

country and has expanded to big cities, small towns and suburbs as well as rural areas. The Belle Plaine chapter is one of 26 4-H clubs in Shawano County and one of many thousands of communities of young people across Amer-ica who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. The four “Hs” stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

In addition to Schauer, the other leaders are Linda Olson, Nancy Netzel and Claire Christensen. The county UW Extension con-tact at the county courthouse is Joe Stellato.

Young people active and have fun in 4-H Club

Longtime County Fair tradition benefits fire departments

Oct. 9: Town Board, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15: Cloverfest Walk-Run starting at Popp’s, 10 a.m. Nov. 7: General election, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 13: Town Board and budget hearing, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11: Town Board, 7:30 p.m. Jan 8: Town Board, 7:30 p.m. January: Caucus for spring town election (date to be set by Town Board) Jan. 31: First half of taxes due Feb. 3: Clover Bares Fishing Derby, Cloverleaf Lakes Feb. 12: Town Board, 7:30 p.m. April 10: Annual town meeting, 7:30 p.m.

Page 5

AUTUMN 2006

Ashley Ainsworth, 12, showed two cross breed barrows at the Shawano County Fair.

Belle Plaine

Calendar

Feeding a hungry crowd at the Shawano County Fair adds money to the Belle Plaine treasury and creates camaraderie with the towns of Richmond and Waukechon.

The three towns join annually to staff the Rural Fire Department food stand at the fair. Belle Plaine Chairman Alvin Bartz, who fries and serves burgers for the duration of the an-nual event, said the stand grosses about $20,000 and nets a $6,000 to $8,000 profit.

“We try to keep the prices affordable while providing a family atmosphere,” he said.

Included are 50-cent sodas and $2 burgers, with no extra charge for cheeseburgers “to support the farmers.”

The crew serves up to 2,000 hamburgers and cheeseburgers a day and eight to 10 big pots of chili. Other town residents help out, including Wayne Vander Linden peeling and chopping 100 pounds of onions a day.

The fire departments of the three towns, which cooperate and share firefighting equip-ment, have been operating the food stand for more than 60 years, an amazing tradition.

Grass Lake boat launch fees bring dollars to town

Milfoil, gypsy moths put a damper on Long Lake’s fun times

Page 6

AUTUMN 2006

By Bob Tomashek The Town Boat Launch located on Grass Lake gives

access to all three of the Cloverleaf Lakes. An estimate of use, from 2005 data, is about 2,000 boats a year use the boat launch.

The majority of these boats are owned by people who do not live on the lakes, but live in the surrounding area. This is the second year that a launch fee has been charged ($2 for residents, $3 for non-residents) and more than $4,400 has been collected this year as of mid-September.

The town maintains the boat launch and helps the state and the Cloverleaf Lakes Protective Association fight invasive species. Invasive species normally are brought into a lake from boats that are coming to the lake and transfer the aquatic plant or animal from one lake to another.

The Cloverleaf Lakes currently have three invasive spe-cies, two plant types and one animal type. The fear is to have zebra mussels brought into our lakes. Shawano Lake has zebra

mussels and it would be relatively simple for a boater to infect our lakes. We have had a young man monitoring some of the boats coming into our lakes and trying to educate boaters on boat hygiene (Clean Boats Clean Water). This is only a part time thing and boaters come seven days a week at all hours.

Not all are negatives at the boat launch and it is an inter-esting place to spend some time. There is a bad habit that some of the boaters have when putting their boats back on their trailer. The boaters will power their boats onto the trailer. This is lining the boat up with the trailer and then ap-plying power to their engine and actually driving the boat onto the trailer. The turbulence caused by the engine digs a hole into the bottom of the lake making the water rather deep. Then when launching a boat and backing a trailer into the lake the driver finds that the trailer dropped into deep wa-ter faster then anticipated.

Tomashek is a town supervisor and president of the Cloverleaf Lakes Protective Association.

Petition asks DNR to increase Cloverleaf Lakes water depths A petition asking for deeper water in Cloverleaf Lakes

was presented to the Town Board at the Sept. 11 meeting and will be referred to the Department of Natural Resources.

Jerry Eckers of Pine Lake said he and others had col-lected 167 signatures on the petition asking for a two-inch increase. He said dry conditions this summer prompted him to circulate the papers. “I have a 15-foot boat with a motor that doesn’t have an automatic tilt,” he said. “I can’t get it off my hoist.”

The DNR has been enforcing a lake level of 72 to 78 inches, measured from the top of the culvert on County Y between Grass and Long Lakes. The levels were set in the 1950s, but sediment has clogged the lakes since, in effect changing the depths, he said.

Supervisor Bob Tomashek, who also heads the Clover-leaf Lakes Protective Association, said the lakes were kept at 69 inches (three inches deeper) for many years. A group of lake residents has sought lower lake levels.

By Ken Sojka Did you ever ask yourself, “What are those Long Lake

people doing over there?” No? Well! We have been doing, doing, and will do more. The swimming, boating, tubing, skiing, fishing, pontoon parties, picnics, hay rides, laughing, joking, what times. (Sometimes though, we just lay out in the sun to work on our tans and nap.) Now, we are having our Packer parties. We find the ladies and gentlemen on our lake are some of the best cooks around. I can prove it by the belt on my waist getting too small.

In the spring, we are planning a lake wide rummage sale on the Memorial Day weekend. Come on over and get some great bargains on electronic items, fishing and hunting equip-ment, etc.

We had some bad news. We have gypsy moths on our trees. If you haven’t heard about them, they are serious trou-ble for your trees. In the caterpillar stage, they will first attack your stately oaks and then go after your other hardwoods. They can defoliate a 30 year old tree in a summer and kill it. No insecticide will effectively kill them. The good news was we have someone on our lake that told us how to terminate these terrorists of the trees. Don’t handle the caterpillars, as their hair can cause a skin rash.

We recently found we have the devil plant, Eurasian Water Milfoil, in our lake. It was bound to happen. It’s been in the lakes all around us. This means, moreover, it will con-tinue to spread throughout the rivers, streams and creeks in the watershed area, spread by birds, fish, fishermen and hunt-ers. Friends, this plant is a nightmare. It can greatly spread and increase its area in one season. Left unchecked it forms a dense mass on the water’s surface that will tangle fishing lures, boat props, and around the bodies of swimmers and water skiers. It will choke out the good water plants. When it dies off in the fall it can rot into bottom muck, affect the clarity of the water and dissolved oxygen content with the possible result of fish kills.

We were fortunate to discover it early on. We got a grant from the DNR to hire experts to spray it. The stunning news is this plant cannot be effectively eradicated. It can only be controlled. We ask anyone living on, or visiting the lake, to please inspect your boat, boat trailer, boat equipment, drain-ing all bait wells and live wells, and removing any plants, be-fore launching at Long Lake. If you don’t, you are facing a stiff fine.

Sojka is editor, of the Long Lake Property Owner’s Association Newsletter with help from many talented people.

Lakes’ news

Dense forests once covered the Town of Belle Plaine

Gibson Island Stewardship Committee plans trails, boardwalk

Segments of two major electrical transmission lines will be constructed in the Town of Belle Plaine. The American Transmission Company plans a line from Weston east to the existing Badger substation in Belle Plaine. The other line, from New London to western Oconto County, will follow Highway 22. Hearings have been held and landowners are being contacted for easement rights.

Page 7

AUTUMN 2006

Did you know?

Forester Dick Thurow, left, talks about Gibson Island’s trees to Chair-man Alvin Bartz, center, and Supervisor Bob Tomashek during a tour of the island by the Stew-ardship Committee in July.

By Pastor John E. Smith Would you believe that the Belle Plaine

area was mostly a thick wooded area at one time? The early pioneers who came to this area were greeted by trees and mosquitoes. Also, there were some swampy areas as well, to help produce those large mosquitoes.

The early history books paint a very dif-ferent picture from what we see as we drive around Belle Plaine today. Those early pioneers had a lot of work to do before they could build houses, barns, schools and churches.

When they started to cut down the trees to clear an area, the major problem was what to do with the branches, stumps and wood that remained. There was really no way to move the wood for lumber out of the area. Besides, there was really no market for lumber.

There were no roads to speak of, maybe a small path to get you from one area to another

leading an ox or horse, but nothing wide enough to move much of anything. So they did the only thing they could do to clear the land, and that was to burn whatever they could. Some lumber would be saved for building later on, but most of that beautiful hardwood had to be burned to make room for buildings and fields for crops.

But you know what happens when you burn in a closed-in area? There was much thick smoke over the area because of the burning, not to mention the problems they had in the summer with warm temperatures.

When you drive around Belle Plaine, take note of the fields that still have a border of trees and think of the pioneers who cleared the fields to make Belle Plaine what it is today: a beautiful part of Wisconsin.

Now that the town’s acquisition of Gib-son Island is complete, the town’s Stewardship Committee is planning nature trails on the Clo-verleaf Lakes property that will be open to all.

The committee, which advises the Town Board, is planning a trail through the landward lot from Cloverleaf Lake Road to the wetlands on Grass Lake. Then a boardwalk would be constructed on the lake side of the wetlands to the isthmus. A nature trail would then circle the island along its 5,000 feet of shoreline.

Ron Ostrowski, county conservationist, presented plans for a 320-foot boardwalk at the committee’s Sept. 12 meeting. Once plans are completed, an application for a grant will be filed with the DNR.

At an earlier meeting, the committee set rules for island use, subject to Town Board

approval. They include pedestrian access only; no fires, picnics or camping; no horses or dogs; and use during daylight hours. The emphasis will be on keeping the island natural.

The acquisition of the Island was the re-sult of a public-private partnership in which citizen volunteers worked with the town and DNR to raise funds to purchase, from a private owner, the uninhabited 25-acre property.

Funding came from nearly $300,000 in donations, a $416,000 federal grant, sale of the town lot on Pine Lake for more than $130,000, and $200,000 from the property’s owner.

Town-appointed advisory committee members include Joy Krubsack, chair; Dennis Thornton, secretary; Fran West, Dick Thurow, Allan Waelchli, Barry Anker, Stan Kleiss, Nancy Green and Alvin Bartz.

History Corner

Residents should check with both the town and the Shawano County Planning and Development Depart-ment to see if permits are needed before begin-ning any construction. There are town and county regulations on structures, setbacks from roads or lakes and other requirements. In some cases, variances must be requested and hearings held before construction can begin, particularly in areas affected by the county Shoreline Zoning Ordinance. When in doubt, check it out with the town clerk.

This is our first attempt at doing a semi-annual newsletter. I would like to thank Jan and Dennis Thorn-ton for their expertise in preparing this edition. We had talked about this for a number of years; now we finally got at it.

I would like to cover a few areas I have noticed that need attention. Fire numbers are very important if you have an emergency. They should be next to your driveway, where emergency personnel would expect to see them. I have seen some on fences, on decks, leaning against trees or covered by vegetation.

If you plan to do a controlled burn of brush or a building, notify the Shawano County Sheriff’s Depart-ment at 526-3111. We have had several fire calls where someone driving by called in a fire on a cell phone, only to find it was a controlled burn. That leads to an unnec-essary visit by the firefighters.

Fuel costs have had a big effect on the town’s budget. Blacktop this year went up about 33 percent. We usually have about a $300,000 road budget, but now a mile of blacktop can run from $70,000 to $80,000 per mile. That means fewer roads can be resurfaced.

Health insurance and other fringe benefits of county employees have also had a huge impact on the

cost of doing maintenance. We have done a few projects across town with chip seal and crack sealing to try to add 10 or more years to the life of a road. We would welcome any comments you may have on this process. The town has formed a sanitary district

in the northern section, near the highway 22-29 inter-change, in cooperation with the Town of Waukechon. The Town Board members are the board of directors.

On behalf of the Town Board, I would like to thank you for the cooperation we have had over the years and wish you good health and prosperity in the year ahead.

————————- Words of wisdom: Children are people who are

going to carry on what you have started. They are going to sit where you are sitting, and when you are gone, attend to those things you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they are car-ried out depends on them. They will assume control of your cities, states and nations. They are going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities and corporations...the fate of humanity is in their hands.

From Alvin Bartz

Town chairman’s corner

Town of Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine Community Center N3002 St. Hwy. 22 Clintonville, WI 54929