Village Board considers walking/bike trail
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The East Troy Village Board is considering investing in a walking/biking path that will run through the village, Town of East Troy and into the Village of Mukwonago.
Town of East Troy Chairman Joe Klarkowski and Connect Communities and East Troy Area Community Foundation member Mary Nicoson presented a preliminary plan for a multi-governmental entity that would build and maintain the trail.
The project sponsor would be Walworth County and include the village of East Troy and Mukwonago, the Town of East Troy and Waukesha County.
The estimated cost of the trail is about $2 million, but much of that would be funded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program. The cost to each of the municipalities in the multi-governmental co-op running the trail would be about $80,000.
Nicoson told the board the multi-use trail would be an asset to the area and would attract visitors and residents alike. She said connecting the communities would help “knock down some of those walls” perceived by some.
Klarkowski said that the idea for a trail wasn’t new, but this would be the first step in actually making it happen. He said there have been some preliminary talks with the municipalities involved and he has received a very positive response from them.
The construction of the trail would hinge on getting permission from the East Troy Railroad to use their right of ways, as the trail would basically follow the tracks through the village and into Mukwonago, with a few step offs onto places like Army Lake Road, where following the tracks isn’t feasible. Klarkowski said the railroad has indicated it would be willing to let the municipalities us its right of way for the trail, but there were some details to work with some liability issues and safety concerns.
If all of the entities involved can come to an agreement within the next couple of months, the application for the TAP funding could be submitted in October and, if approved, design work would be done in 2018 with construction of the trail in 2019.
The East Troy Village Board members indicated they were in favor of the project.
“Is there anything more we can do other than get the word out?” Trustee Ann Zess asked.
Klarkowski said there would be things in the near future the board could assist with, but right now they needed to hammer out an agreement with the railroad before the project could go further.
Nicoson said they would be meeting with railroad officials on Saturday to work on the plans.
Other business
In other business Monday night, the Village Board adjourned to a Committee of the Whole meeting to participate in a second financial workshop with Ehlers, Inc.
The board is looking at long-term budget projections and discussing future operations and capitol project plans, including some major infrastructure work on the water, sewer and sanitary systems in and around the village square.
The consensus of the board members was that they were going to need to prioritize the infrastructure work and create a timeline for the future to get the needed work done in a timely manner without over burdening the taxpayers.
