Roadwork, station cleanup underway

Work is underway to reconstruct 13th Avenue in the Village of Grafton, and crews will soon begin redeveloping the former Clark gas station site. 

The Village Board on Monday, April 6, unanimously approved allocating $275,000 from its Revolving Loan Fund program for the projects.

“The advantage with applying those funds is we are on track to avoid borrowing for road projects this year,” Village Administrator Jesse Thyes said.

The village had $725,000 in the loan fund. The $450,000 remaining in it will be used for future loans, Thyes said.

Last spring, the Village Board approved the process to de-federalize the Revolving Loan Fund program after the state made the decision to close all Revolving Loan Fund programs in February 2019. Communities that received money for the program from the state before 1992, including the Village of Grafton, are still allowed to continue their loan programs once they have been de-federalized.

“De-federalization allows communities like Grafton to maintain their current funds or utilize them for other economic development projects with the understanding that there will be no future funds from the state or federal government to recapitalize the programs,” Thyes said. 

Public Works Director Amber Thomas said work began this month on reconstructing 13th Avenue near Veterans Memorial Park between Washington and North streets. The road will be closed to through traffic until the project is completed in late May. 

Officials said access to BMO Harris Bank will be maintained throughout the project.

Thyes said crews will soon begin work on redeveloping the former Clark gas station at the corner of Washington Street and 11th Avenue.

In March, the Ozaukee County Board approved foreclosing on the property and allowing the village to take possession of it to remediate the site. In doing so, the county forgave $16,497 in back taxes and asked the village to pay about $2,000 to cover special assessments such as water and sewer bills paid by the county, as well as foreclosure fees.

The gas station has been out of business since June 2016 and is considered an eyesore because of its prominent location. The Department of Natural Resources has removed fuel tanks from the site but ground contamination remains, Thyes said.

Thyes said the village intends to clean up the ground contamination, raze the building and sell the property.