Spending plan prioritizes road work

The Belgium Village Board supported most of the items on a list of $40,000 worth of projects last month, but it wants to see more money go toward road and sewer work.

Staff members presented the board with a list of several items recommended to be paid for with the village’s fund balance, essentially a savings account for emergencies and unexpected costs.

Ten new chairs for the board room costing $3,500 and new bike racks for the parks and Village Hall totalling $2,000 were eliminated.

Trustee Josh Borden said he would like to see the majority of fund balance money go toward street repairs and infrastructure.

“There are some streets that can get overlaid,” he said, adding others need crack filling.

Public Works Director Dan Birenbaum said the only street work in this year’s budget is for crack sealing and repaving Chestnut Street, as well as the sidewalk  and curb work along it.

Among the projects that made the cut are storm sewer laterals for $10,000. Birenbaum said they are needed in the old Ardennes subdivision where residents complain their sump pumps are running all the time.

“One way to get rid of the water is to provide a lateral,” Birenbaum said.

The village is spending $12,000 for cameras at the recycling center. They will make it easier to read license plate numbers and retrieve information in the system, Birenbaum said.

A $7,000 deicing system is expected to save the village money during winter storms.

“You’ll save on salt. There’s no question,” Borden, who works for the Ozaukee County Highway Department, which uses a deicing system, said. He said the system should pay for itself in two years.

The village will spend $3,500 to remove dead ash trees that the electric company won’t take down.

For $3,000, the village is replacing its shop doors that Birenbaum said are rusting on the bottom.

Providing electric service to the scoreboard at Heritage Park will cost $1,000. Last fall, the fence was moved. Over winter the scoreboard was moved closer to the fence. The move necessitated the electric connection, Birenbaum said.