By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor
The next time you see Ontario Police Chief Matt Hoskins, he likely will be wearing a Monroe County Sheriff’s Department uniform.
Hoskins, who had served the village for nine years, resigned earlier this month to take a county position.
On Monday evening, the Ontario Village Board appointed Philip Welch to serve as interim police chief at $17 per hour until the board finds a candidate for the position. Welch has been working part time for the village and is employed full time with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office. He lives in Westby.
Other business
• Ontario American Legion Post Commander Mark Williams suggested a plan to renovate the headstones in Ontario’s two cemeteries. Williams had received $1,000 from Art Luetke for the project and inquired if perpetual-care money could be used as well.
The government may pay for veterans’ stones, but others are also crumbled, falling down and otherwise unreadable, Williams said.
The board agreed to tour the cemetery and develop a plan for improvements.
• The board heard a request from Tonya Payne for a conditional-use permit for property she wishes to purchase from Dave Duren on Highway 33, west of Lamb Hardwood Lumber. The area is zoned industrial, but Payne would like to build a cabin. A zoning committee meeting will be scheduled to deal with the matter.
* On another zoning matter, Don and Shirley Finucan requested that the board amend a conditional-use permit they had received last month for property they own on County Highway ZZ. They asked the board to increase the number of camping rigs they can host from two to four and the increase the length of stay from five days to two weeks.
They also requested permission to keep their camper on the property year round, rather than three seasons.
Although trustee Bette Ferries questioned if it were not sounding more like a campground, all board members voted in favor of the changes while adding the word “nonconsecutive” to the length of stay.
• Enterprising Woodworks of Cashton submitted a bid for three different grades of cabinets for the Ontario Community Hall kitchen, ranging from $5,000 to $9,500 with an additional $2,000 for countertops. The board will meet with the kitchen committee to discuss the proposals.
• After comparing prices from four different suppliers, the board chose Premier Cooperative as its propane provider.
• Operator’s licenses were issued to Lisa Sullivan, Donald Frees Jr. and Larry Handschy.