Town OKs annual report

Several town residents approved the Town of Belgium’s 2019 financial report at Tuesday’s annual meeting.

Income totaled $665,976 for the year, while expenses came in at $635,240.

Among the highlights was nearly $17,000 for the final loan payment for the Town Hall. The board agreed to buy the building in 2014 for $110,000.

The town took in nearly $451,000 in local taxes, a $42,000 increase over 2018.

On the expenditures side, Mother Nature triggered nearly $61,000 for snow and ice removal, up from $38,000 in 2018.

Seven town residents unanimously approved the report.

The meeting, usually held in April, was moved to May due to the coronavirus.

In other business, the Town Board decided to wait to conduct a land survey until 2025.

A town resident had recently inquired about doing a survey.

Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks said the town’s initial survey was done under former Gov. Tommy Thompson’s Smart Growth initiative.

Names of the programs have changed and more comprehensive requirements have been added. The town’s plan works in conjunction with Ozaukee County’s comprehensive plan that lasts until 2035.

The plan has been revisited twice since 2015. The next update is scheduled for 2025, when Richard Kania, a principal planner for the Southeastern Regional Planning Commission, recommends conducting another land survey.

A surge in population growth or uptick in development makes the survey worthwhile, Parks said.

The survey, which gets mailed to each town resident, takes work and would cost money.

“You don’t do it for the fun of it. You do it because you’re trying to find out if you’re still on track,” Parks said.

Land use planning 101, he said, includes establishing goals determined by survey results and then working with SEWRPAC to achieve them.

Town Chairman Tom Winker said he remembers filling a survey out decades ago and said the general feeling was to keep the town “rural and rustic and we prioritize agriculture.”

The town would like development and population growth to be along the lakeshore and the hamlets, he said.