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County plans new highway facility

The Waupaca County Board voted to appoint members to a committee to begin plans for a new county highway facility.

At the board’s monthly meeting Tuesday, April 22, County Chairman Dick Koeppen said he would like to set a goal for building the facility in 2020.

“This isn’t going to happen today or next year,” Koeppen said, “but we have to plan.”

Six years ago, Waupaca County purchased 40 acres near the intersection of U.S. Highway 10 and County Trunk A in the town of Lind.

Koeppen noted that the Waupaca County Highway Department’s current main facility was built in 1936.

“It’s really outdated,” Koeppen said.

Noting that the current facility is located on property along the Waupaca River, Koeppen said the potential petroleum spills could be “an environmental nightmare waiting to happen.”

Koeppen recalled how the county made a controversial decision 25 years ago to build a new courthouse and another controversial decision 15 years ago to build a new law enforcement center.

There was opposition to plans to build new facilities even though the former courthouse was more than a century old at that time and failed to meet modern building safety codes and state inspectors were threatening to close the old jail.

“We need to move forward,” Koeppen said.

Appointed to the Waupaca County Highway Special Building Committee were Dick Koeppen, Bob Flease, DuWayne Federwitz, Bill Jonely, Dave Johnson, jack Penney, Dean Steingraber, Heidi Dombrowski, Mary Robbins, Brad Hardel and Roger Holman.

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