Top Stories, January 13th

Senior Center Building Committee To Study Two Sites

1/13/11 - Plans for a new Senior and Community Center in Beaver Dam continue to move forward. An ad-hoc committee met last night to get an update from the Senior Center Building Committee. Community Activities and Services Administrator Evonne Koeppen says the committee has been looking at five different sites, and they’ve selected two for closer study: the former Fullerton Lumber site at 209 South Center Street and the Warmka retail building site at 123 Dodge Drive, behind Ponderosa. The Senior Center Building Committee will spend $7500 from their endowment fund to have designs and a business plan drawn up.

The Senior Center and Recreation departments were combined in a cost-saving move in 2007. A new building is not intended for recreational program use but would continue to house an office space for rec staff to plan programming and for public registration. Koeppen says they are basically looking for a bigger version of their current building. She says the Senior Center Committee has identified a need for an 18,000 square foot facility, up from their current 5000 square feet. They are looking for a project that would cost around $1.5 million with the money coming from grants and /or a capital fundraising campaign, not taxpayer dollars.

Ad-hoc committee chair Jon Litscher says funding sources have to be considered seriously in moving forward, especially given the cities current debt load. The senior center group is looking to bring designs and a business plan back to the ad-hoc committee sometime in the next two months and Litscher says the concept will be re-evaluated based on their recommendations for funding. A recent feasibility study commissioned when the group looked at moving into the former Herberger’s Department store determined that between $500,000 and $800,000 could be raised from private donations. The Senior Center currently has “slightly” over $300,000 in their endowment fund. The other sites reviewed by the committee are the Beaver Gunite warehouse and retail store on Mackie Street, the city-owned property north of the new YMCA of Dodge County and the Get Fit building on Highway 33 just outside town. Koeppen says all options are still on the table.

Fire Destroys Town of Calamus Residence

1/13/11 - Fire completely destroyed a mobile home in the Town of Calamus late Wednesday morning. Beaver Dam Deputy Fire Chief Matt Christian says they responded to the Maple Grove Mobile Home Park on Forest Road just before 10am. Christian says at the time of the blaze, all full-time staff happened to be in the fire station taking part in mandatory EMS training, which helped in their response time. When crews arrived, both the home and a nearby minivan in the driveway were fully involved. The occupants had already safely evacuated. The fire started as the result of unattended food. Christian says they were using a propane cooker outside of the home but the deep fryer ignited and quickly spread to both the mobile home and the vehicle. The propane tank eventually failed and accelerated the spread of the fire. Crews were on the scene for about two hours. The homeowner did not have insurance. The American Red Cross is assisting the family. Beaver Dam received mutual assistance from Columbus and Randolph.

Inquest To Determine Cause of Farming Fatality

1/13/11 - The Fond du Lac County District Attorney will hold an inquest this week, taking a look at a farm accident that resulted in the death of a 59-year-old Town of Byron man. Lee Batterman was killed last August when he was hit by a tractor driven by his 26-year-old son Michael at the family farm. District Attorney Dan Kaminsky says an inquest can serve as an investigative tool. Six people will determine whether the incident was an accident or if circumstances suggest there was a crime. Kaminsky says he has his own opinion, but has gotten different input from others in law enforcement and his own office about the accident. A Flight for Life helicopter flew Batterman to Theda Clark Regional Medical Center in Neenah after the accident. He’d suffered serious head injuries and died there.

West Bend Man Charged In OD

1/13/11 - A West Bend man has been charged after his girlfriend died from an overdose of heroin. 25-year-old Michael O’Brien faces a felony count of possessing heroin, and misdemeanor charges of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He is being held in the Washington County Jail under a 10-thousand-dollar bond, and he’s due back in court January 31. According to prosecutors, O’Brien drove to Milwaukee last Thursday to buy heroin. He then returned to an apartment he shared with the victim, 23-year-old Jessica Schmidt. Authorities said they fell asleep – and after he woke up, he learned she was not responsive. Officials said O’Brien’s mother, who also lived in the apartment, saw him inject Schmidt with a medicine designed to counteract overdoses of heroin and similar drugs. He apparently tried C-P-R, but Schmidt died a short time later.

Flood Wall Project Substantially Completed

1/13/11 - The bulk of the work for the flood wall project in downtown Beaver Dam is nearly complete. A downtown revitalization plan sparked by the 2008 floods included the installation of flood walls along the river on the 200 block of Front Street. As part of the plan, the city purchased and razed ten downtown buildings constructed over the river a century ago that were in violation of modern state statutes. Those flood plain restrictions prevented the property owners from spending more than fifty percent of their assessed values on improvements. The flood walls will remove those restrictions for most of the remaining buildings. The lone hold-out in the city’s acquisition and demolition plan, The Fountain Inn Tavern, is not protected. Sheet pilings were driven as much as 18 feet into the ground and the wall itself stands about 10 feet tall. Mike Laue with MSA Professional Services says installation of the walls is wrapping up but crews will return in late March or early April for trim and decorative work. The cost of the project is $564,000, paid for with grant funding and TIF District funds.

Supreme Court Decision On Hold While Archdiocese in Bankruptcy

1/13/11 - The Milwaukee Archdiocese might have to wait until it emerges from bankruptcy before it can try again to tap insurance to pay off victims of priest molestation. The Catholic church filed an appeal two days before Christmas, asking the State Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court decision from November. But the case was put on hold after the archdiocese filed its petition for Chapter-11 bankruptcy last week. The church said part of the reason for the bankruptcy was that the church could not use insurance money to pay claims filed by those sexually abused by priests a number of years ago. Milwaukee’s appellate judges said it would be wrong for the church to tap insurance to pay the claims, because the sex abuse alleged in over a dozen lawsuits was intentional and not an accident. The church could ask the bankruptcy court to lift the hold order so the Supreme Court could act on the appeal. But archdiocese attorney David Muth would not say if he would seek such a move. The bankruptcy petition also delayed action on the lawsuits filed by the abuse victims. The Milwaukee Archdiocese serves Catholics in 10 counties in southeast Wisconsin, including Dodge, Washington and Fond du Lac counties.