DARLINGTON — Mayor Mike McDermott called the City of Darlington meeting to order at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
The council approved amending Chapter 7.14(2)(a) of the Municipal Code of the City of Darlington, which opens Wis. 23 South, from Old Center Hill Road to Donahoe Drive to UTV and ATV traffic.
What the action does is open all state highways within the city that have a speed limit of 35 mph and lower.
The law will go into effect a day after it’s published in the Republican Journal on Sept. 29.
New phone & internet system debated
The City of Darlington’s phone system and internet connection comes underground across Main Street from Lafayette County Courthouse. The system was set up years ago (27 years), when Lafayette County Human Services occupied the upstairs of the city’s municipal building.
Brenda Mims of Marconet, a company that specializes in municipal phone and internet connections, was present to explain the logistics of making the change. Marconet manages the county’s phone and internet at this time. TCNetwork is also involved in the potential change over.
Mims had an estimate for the city to break free of the county — a one time fee of $17,000 to switching off from the county and purchasing the equipment (controller) and labor to facilitate their own system.
Two options for carrier had proposals — Mediacom $445 per month and Lumen $895 per month. Currently the city pays the county around $200 per month for a carrier.
Mims recommended that Lumen would be a better fit, because the county uses Lumen.
Lumen is affiliated with Brightspeed and Centurylink.
“Why would we do that?” Alder Steve Pickett asked.
Mims said that from what she’s heard, the county has said that the city should look into options to change.
It was stated that the county’s new IT person doesn’t want to be responsible for any issues that should come up with the city’s phone and internet system.
Alder Dave Roelli noted if the city went with Lumen it would cost almost $700 more per month.
“At this point, I would like to look into it more and not act on this tonight. We’re looking at a significant increase in monthly payments, plus a one-time $17,824 fee. I’d like to talk to the county to see where they’re at,” Pickett said,.
Alder Joe Boll asked if one day the county could “just cut us off?”
“I don’t think they would, but yes. There is an old contract that hasn’t been rewritten for years,” Clerk-Treasurer Phil Risseeuw said.
Pickett said there would need to be some communication with the county before advancing.
The item was tabled until the second meeting in October.
In other city business:
● Approved the changing of the campground expansion completion date to May 31, 2024 due to a delay by the DNR for water main and sewer main installation permits (originally the completion date was set at Nov. 10, 2023).
● The city approved giving support to a group planning 175th Anniversary of Darlington. After research, Alder Ray Spellman is asking the city to recognize that the city was established in 1849. The anniversary will be celebrated in 2024.
● Approved a resolution to authorize the redemption of general obligation corporate purpose bonds. This action will pay off the bond and will then consolidate the monies into a new loan.
● Approved taking a loan from Apple River Bank in the amount of $1.672 million for approved projects and debt consolidation.
● Approved the Aug. 31, 2023 financial statements for the City, Water Dept. and Sewer Dept.