Wilton’s village board race will be contested

By SARAH PARKER | County Line Editor

Roughly 40 people attended the Village of Wilton caucus on Monday, nominating three board president candidates and 10 trustee candidates. 

Because only two candidates are allowed for each slot on the April ballot, the electors had to vote Monday to reduce the number of nominees. In the end, they voted to place Missy Coldren, challenger, and Jamie Evans, incumbent, on the ballot for president. 

The trustee candidates will consist of Delores Bever and Sid Thayer, both incumbents, and Hank Erdman, Cindy O’Rourke, Jennifer Thompson, and Jen Wallman, all challengers. The six candidates will vie for three village board spots. 

Incumbent Eli Yoder had filed non-candidacy papers prior to the caucus; his stint on the board will end in April. 

When the electors voted at the caucus, O’Rourke was eliminated from the president’s race; and Cori Evans and Todd Slavens, from the trustees’ race. 

 Former board president Tim Welch, who had resigned in July, chaired the caucus. 

By state law, the nominees have five days to submit candidacy papers to the Village of Wilton. 

Bever advocates for reinstatement of public comments

Suggesting that the board reinstate a public comment session at its meetings, board member Lorrie Bever said, “A lot of people feel as if they’re not involved with what’s going on in the village, and they’d really like the chance to talk. I’ve heard this from different people, and I think people would enjoy expressing themselves. Instead of having to call each board member individually, they could present whatever concerns they had (to all board members at the same time).”

In response, board president Jamie Evans said he intended to bring back public comments at some point. “My time frame is after the election (in April), and we’ll see if everyone’s on the same page.” 

Early last fall, the board ceased offering public-comment sessions, which they are not legally obligated to provide. 

Board raises ambulance fees

The board members approved new ambulance fees, though they did not announce the amount. It is possible, however, that clerk/treasurer Leigha Barton did state the fee increases, but she does not use a microphone at village meetings and is largely inaudible to the audience. 

The County Line emailed Barton on Tuesday morning, asking for the list of new fees, but did not receive a reply before press time. 

Maintaining that a fee increase was warranted, Evans noted that the costs of supplies have gone up, but the ambulance charges “have not been updated very recently.” 

The Wilton Ambulance Service covers the villages of Wilton and Kendall and at least part or all of the towns of Wilton, Clifton, Wellington, Sheldon, Glendale and Ridgeville.

Other business

• The board voted to obtain a $250,000 line of credit from Farmers & Merchants Bank to create a new softball field that would be used by the Norwalk-Ontario-Wilton School District. Board member Roger Wilchinski voted against the measure. 

In October, the board voted to move its accounts from Farmers and Merchants Bank, which has a branch in Wilton, to the Bank of Mauston. At the time, the board said the switch would allow the village to pay its employees by direct deposit and to accept ACH (Automated Clearance House) payments, which would allow the clerk to scan in checks rather than manually deposit them. 

Since then, Farmers & Merchants Bank has announced it would merge with Ergo Bank of Markesan, Wis., and with the new structure, the village’s requested services would become available. 

• The board agreed to raise the fines collected from residents who fail to shovel their sidewalks. If a village employee needs to clear a sidewalk, it will cost the resident $50 for the first 50 feet and 50 cents for each additional foot. Before, the village charged a flat $50. 

“It’s not entirely fair for somebody with 50 feet of sidewalk to pay $50 and somebody with 300 feet of sidewalk to pay $50,” Evans said. 

• Bever asked the board if the village still planned to install a railing at the Wilton Senior Meal Site, which is offered at the Wilton Fire Station. Other board members indicated that the project hadn’t been done because they were waiting to see if the Monroe County Aging and Disability Center would move the Wilton site to another location. 

December meeting

After meeting in closed session at its Dec. 12 meeting, the board agreed to extend a one-year lease to Joel Maxfield of Sparta, who will rent a 48.85-acre, village-owned parcel for $2,500. 

In his bid, Maxfield wrote that he planned to use the land for bow hunting only. 

Others who submitted bids were the following: Dave Martin of Wilton, $1,510; Tony Vitcenda of Wilton, $2,500; Mark Langner of Wilton, $1,500; Debbie Luchinski of Little Chute, Wis., $50 more than top bid; and Kenneth Luchinski of Little Chute, Wis., $1,600. Almost all bidders expressed their intent to use the land for bow and gun hunting. 

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