By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The East Troy Village Board member discussed Feb. 15 having holiday lighting and/or decorative banners installed on the village square and the four corridors leading into the square.
The idea has been brought up at various times over the years by different trustees and again a couple of months ago by Trustee Linda Kaplan. The board asked Kaplan to put together some numbers so they could have a better idea of what the project would cost.
Kaplan told the board she thought this would be a good way to showcase the village and draw people into the square and help promote the businesses. She also said it was a plus for the community as they could enjoy the beauty of the lighted displays throughout the holiday season.
Kaplan said she and Public Works Director Mike Miller plotted the four main thoroughfare in and out of the village square to determine how many decorations would be needed.
She also presented two options to the board – silhouetted-style lighted poles with banners or garland-style lighted poles with banners.
If the village were to purchase the decoration in January or February of next year, they would be eligible for a 33 percent discount. The total cost to light all four corridors and the square was estimated at about $38,000 for the silhouette-style lights and $26,000. If the discount is taken advantage of, those numbers drop to $26,000 and $17,000 respectively.
Kaplan suggested the board budget $30,000 for the initial investment and $5,000 a year after that for maintenance.
There was some discussion about the possibility of seeking support from the business community to get the project started, but Kaplan and Trustee Ann Zess said the prevailing feeling in they had come across is that the area businesses have been giving a lot in many areas, including the School District and other community endeavors, and they were starting to get a bit weary of constantly being asked to ante up for more and more.
Zess reminded the board that most, if not all, of the area communities had holiday decorations and the only reason East Troy didn’t is because “we just never got it going.”
Board President Randy Timms asked Miller about the cost to put up and take down the lights each year, and Miller told him it would only be about a day’s work each time for his staff and he didn’t consider it a big expense.
The board members decided to take the matter of how to fund the project up again during the 2017 budget talks. At that time they will decide whether to fund the whole initial investment in 2017 or do it a little at a time over a couple of years.
Zess reminded the board that there was a lot of money in the fund balance that they had specifically set aside for things like this and she thought they should consider using that money.
“We have millions sitting in the fund balance. Why don’t we put that to use and beautify the community?” she asked.
