Vidar to be moved from State Street
By Holly Neumann
The Iola Village Board approved the 2018 Iola Dam Inspection Report completed by Davey Engineering.
No structural, only maintenance concerns were noted at the Sept. 10 meeting.
Changes that needed to be made included updating the emergency action plan, shoreline riprap and inspection and maintenance plan.
All changes were considered routine maintenance.
Kathy Briquelet, who heads the Park Committee, discussed moving the wood carving of Vidar, which is currently located on State Street, to another location.
According to Briquelet, when Vidar was created it was known that it would have to be moved.
“The base begins to rot over time,” she said. “It is being moved down to the area by the dam, but a definite spot hasn’t been decided.”
Pamela Parks, chair of the Public Property/Streets Committee, discussed the proposal of reducing street lighting beyond the property now owned by the Iola Car Show, located at 700 E. State St.
“Glenn [Tetzlaff] and I have been talking about lights and we are looking at saving money for the village,” said Parks. “So there is a proposal for reducing lighting in certain areas as this would save us quite a bit on funds.”
The proposed area would include six lights, from Jensen Drive to Keatings Lake Road.
“I don’t think we necessarily have to have those six lights anymore,” Tetzlaff said. “There is nothing down there. No housing or anything. I don’t know if there is an advantage for them being lit up.”
Briquelet pointed out that there is a sidewalk that run along that area.
“To eliminate all of them when there is a sidewalk is a concern,” said Briquelet. “If we have a sidewalk, we have a responsibility to light it.”
Tetzlaff said the sidewalks were not owned by the village but rather the Iola Car Show. It was also his understanding that the Iola Car Show was turning everything off.
“They have told me multiple times that they are they are not going light anything in the whole area,” he said. “They are going to kill the power and that the only time the lights were going to be on was for the car show, from what I understood.”
No decision was made as more information was needed as further discussion was needed. Bruce Meagher, attorney for the village, was going to look into the matter a little further.
The board also discussed relocating a light post from the parking lot at the Iola Village Library, due to concerns with plowing. Cost of moving the light is $1,000. The village has been asked to pay 50 percent of that cost. The motion was unanimously approved.
Trick or Treat hours have been set from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28