2013 Better Newspaper Contest entry: Reporting on Local Government

Thursday, August 29, 2013 - Page 1

Single copy — $1Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971

Ripon Commonwealth Press Issue No. 35www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864

2011Wisconsin WeeklyNewspaperof theYear


INSIDE

Our Views

Build on successThe Tiger volleyball team finished with its best record in six years last fall. Now they feel it’s time to use those wins as a springboard to more.

See page 19

Tall taleThese area scouts climbed up high to spin a story of achievement while they were on their summer vacation.

See page 7

Sports

Area

Campaign stopWhen on vacation, why not go sightseeing to track down the bedrooms of presidential hopefuls, as publisher Tim Lyke did?

See page 4



Top farmer Riponite nominatedA Ripon man is one of 10 finalists who could receive the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer and Agriculturalist Achievement Award.

See page 3

HARLAN BOSSENBROEK OF Brandon motors on down Dartford Road as he leads a pack of tractors during the fifth-annual tractor cruise, held last week Saturday. Waving to friends on the green and yellow Oliver tractor is Steve Kulick. For more photos, see page 3. Jonathan Bailey photo

Who prevents an AFK ‘explosion’?Flood water inside the foundry

could be catastrophic, but whose responsibility is it to address this?

Ladder truck fails state inspection

by Ian [email protected]

For years, replacement of the aerial ladder truck has been the elephant in the room for the Ri-pon Area Fire District (RAFD).

With the truck being 31-years-old, the department long has known it needed to be replaced.

But, because it continued to pass certi-fications and in spec t ions , that elephant has remained h i d d e n i n a dusty corner of that prover-bial room.

No longer.“It has been taken out of ser-

vice,” RAFD board president Joel Brockman said following an emergency session of the RAFD board last week. “It failed its state inspection.”

Without the ladder, Ripon must rely on mutual aid from

other communities if a problem ever occurs at a taller structure.

And now the department must look the $1.1-million elephant in the eye and decide how to proceed with replacing the out-of-service rig.

To put into perspective just how long the truck has been in service, national standards sug-gest it should have been out of service years ago as a front-line truck.

“NFPA [National Fire Protec-tion Association] standards state how long a ... vehicle should be front line, and that’s 20 years,” Saul said. “After 20 years, [a

d ep a r t me n t ] should be put-ting that in a reserve status — no t you r front-line out of the door.

“Then, usu-ally after 25-

30 years, you don’t keep that truck because standards change so much.”

Ripon’s truck, meanwhile, is at 31 years.

“It’s not something we haven’t known,” said RAFD board mem-

Fire truck now out of service as fire district debates how to solve the $1.1M problem

“It’s really past the point where it should have

been replaced.”Ald. Howard Hansen


Imagine, someday, the city floods, and water pours into the AFK foundry building off Pacific Street.

Water reaches a pot of molten metal. Catastrophe ensues.AFK officials have imagined the result could be a “huge and violent

explosion and fire.”Within a one-mile blast radius, windows are blown out of every home and

business. Close up, the damage is worse, and anyone working at the plant likely is seriously injured.

The question is ... Whose responsibility is it to ensure this never happens?Is it AFK’s, since the foundry is operating the plant?Or is the city’s, since it maintains the storm sewer system?

Downtown apartments ready to buildby Ian Stepleton

[email protected]

A hybrid townhouses/apartment development is ready to move for-ward.

The Commonwealth Cos., based in Fond du Lac, was given all the necessary approvals last week Wednesday by the Plan Commission to go ahead and build the project off Jefferson Street this fall.

The building will be known as the Jefferson Street Apartments, per documents turned in to the Plan Commission.

Mayor Gary Will praised the planned new construction and its proximity to Watson Street.

“Any town you go to you need people downtown,” he said. “You need to get people to live and work and shop in the central business district.”

Other Plan Commission mem-bers agreed.

“It’s a good use,” Bill Hoch said, to which Will agreed, “A very good use.”

“It looks like a very good proj-ect,” commission member Steve Reimer said.

JASON DAY, LEFT, and Stan Ramaker of Excel Engineering examine the plans for the new apartments. Ian Stepleton photo

Tractor parade

All in the family:Nephew gets Habitat home

3 What: Ground-breaking ceremony for Habitat home

When: Saturday, 9 a.m. Where: 120 Wolverton Ave.

See FOUNDRY/ page 18

See LADDER/ page 18


Eleven years ago, a young Alan Huar Jr. watched as his aunt became Ripon’s first recipient of a home from Habitat from Humanity.

“She said it was a wonderful experience, getting the house and working with all the people,” Huar said of Aunt Romelia Rodriguez. “It encourages you to help oth-er people, [she told me].”

Just over a decade later, Huar will enjoy the same experi-ence.

He and his 1-year-old son, Em-mit, were selected to be the recipi-ent of Ripon’s second Habitat for Humanity home.

It will be built off the northeast corner of Wolverton Avenue and Eureka Street.

He won’t be given the home; rather, he’ll help build it, and then Huar will begin paying a mortgage on the property.

An official ground-breaking and

ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the build site, at which time Huar will be in-troduced to the community.

Huar, though, admits that’ll be far from the first time he’ll see where his new home is set to be built.

He admits he’s snuck a few peeks in recent weeks since finding out he’ll be the recipient.

“Yea, I’ve done that already,” he said, laughing about driving past.

H u a r e x -plained that, as a father, he’s proud he’ll be able to provide

a home of his own for Emmit.“We’re just really happy to have

a place for our family,” said the 22-year-old.

A Ripon resident since 2001, Huar graduated from Ripon High School in 2009 and now works at Advanced Paper Enterprises in Ripon.

Frankly, he never expected to be selected, joking he is one of “the

See BUILD/ page 16

WATER CAN BE seen rising up the front of the AFK building off Pacific Street during a May 2004 flooding event. Rising water, however, is not an uncommon sight at the plant. submitted photo

See HABITAT/ page 17

Page 18 - Thursday, August 29, 2013

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News

ber Ald. Jim Werch during Mon-day’s Common Council meeting in explaining the problem to the council. “We’ve seen this on the [horizon] for many, many years. This situation is the catalyst ...”

Ald. Howard Hansen agreed.“It’s really past the point

where it should have been re-placed,” he said.

That the failed inspection occurred two weeks ago didn’t come as a shock to those in the department, either.

“There was some, as the guys were saying, some ‘settling’ with the ladder,” Brockman said, explaining firefighters needed to “keep lifting it” for it to stay at a given height.

The inspection two weeks ago identified why.

“The main hydraulic rams that lift the ladder” must be repaired, Brockman said. “The repair estimate — it’s a broad estimate — is $10,000, but they do not stand very firmly by that estimate until they get in there and look at what is wrong.”

To put that in context, what’s the old truck worth?

“The value of the truck is $8,000,” Brockman said.

During Monday’s Common Council meeting, he elaborated, noting, “The only thing we can probably do with it is scrap it” if it can’t be repaired.

“This is not a little failure,” Brockman said.

Hansen added it’s unclear whether other problems exist with the truck as well.

He explained that, when the inspector found the problem with the rams, he “stopped all other testing.”

That left the RAFD board in a quandary last week Wednes-day when it held an emergency meeting.

“I t was a spl i t board on whether we do the repair or not,” Brockman said, noting it couldn’t decide whether a repair was “throwing good money after bad ...

“It came down to, we need the aerial.”

Numerous buildings around the area, he explained, require an aerial ladder truck to ad-equately fight fires. Locations

LADDER/New truck could cost about $1.1M continued from page 1

such as the dormitories at Ripon College are too tall to address through other means, Brock-man said.

“[So] we need to keep the old one running until we can afford to get a new one,” he said. “Ba-sically, the decision was ... the

$10,000 repair is the limit set by the board.

“[Now] each municipality must review how to finance a new ladder truck through their budgets.”

Cost to replace the aerial ladder truck is believed to be

about $1.1 million, the bulk of which — about 75 percent, or $825,000 — would be picked up by the city of Ripon (as the larg-est municipality in the RAFD).

Most of the remainder would be paid by the town of Ripon, with the town of Nepeuskun responsible for the final portion.

“When you spec a truck out, it will vary ... depending on what you put on the truck,” Brock-man said of the actual cost for a ladder truck. “I’ve instructed the chief to start gathering data on what’s out there.”

According to Saul, the de-partment wouldn’t need to pay extra for additional features on the truck.

“These days, ladder trucks that are stock ladder trucks ... have almost everything you need because of NFPA standards,” he said. “We don’t need the bells and whistles; we need something that is functional, that will meet our needs, keep our firefighters safe and help the community.”

The board is willing to con-sider looking at a used truck, rather than a new one, but Brockman said his preference — and the board’s leaning — is to go new.

“You inherit a lot of prob-lems,” he said of buying a used truck. “When you buy a used vehicle, most of the time it has so many hours on them ... [though that] depends on where the aerial comes from, too.”

With that in mind, “We’re probably looking at a demo or a brand-new one,” Brockman said.

Before any serious steps are taken toward replacing the truck, though, the RAFD needs to know exactly how bad the cur-rent problem is, and whether it’s worth making the repair.

“No. 1, we are in the process of making the repair, investigat-ing how bad it is ... and then each municipality is tasked with tak-ing it to the budget hearings to implement a plan to purchase,” Brockman said.

This likely will take through the remainder of 2013, and pos-sibly into early 2014.

“I don’t see a clear-cut an-swer coming out of this until [budgets are done],” he said.

RIPON’S AERIAL LADDER truck is extended to full height during a special event at the fire station during the winter of 2012. Ian Stepleton photo

The Ripon Common Council debated this dilemma Monday night after receiving a request from AFK to do something about the storm sewer situation in that area.

Ultimately, the council agreed it’s the foundry’s responsibility to take steps necessary to protect its plant, but added it may be best long-term to see the plant relocate to a safer spot.

“There is no question AFK on Pacific Street has issues with runoff drainage when we have a hard rain — this is not new,” City Engineer Travis Drake said in his overview for the council. “I gave you a written report in 2002 when [there was a problem].”

One issue — and an issue AFK focused on when contacting the city — is that a storm sewer pipe leading to Silver Creek cannot convey all the runoff it is fed during a heavy rain.

According to the 2002 report, “The investigation determined that the drainage system does not have capacity to convey the design storm runoff directly to the creek without ponding in Pacific Street in front of AFK.”

“Their feeling is a larger [storm sewer] pipe will take care of that,” Drake said Monday night, though he disagreed with that sentiment.

Drake, however, as he noted Mon-day and in the 2002 report, believes a large part of the problem is that the storm sewer pipe actually is below the water level in places for Silver Creek. In fact, during storm situa-tions, there are storm sewer grates on Pacific Street that are lower than Silver Creek’s surface level may be.

“The submerged outfalls [where the pipe drains to the creek] results in the runoff entering the street and AFK yard during anything other than the most common storm events,” the report concludes.

Bottom line: the land AFK is on is so low, it always will be prone to flooding as long as the storm sewer runs through there, according to the report.

“When it rains and all the wa-ter comes down ... it comes down through the pipe and back-floods,” Mayor Gary Will said.

“The size of the pipe won’t make much difference in that,” Drake said.

One potential way to mitigate the problem, per the report, would be to run a new line around the north side of AFK to a point that “could provide unrestricted discharge.”

Eleven years ago, cost to do so was about $100,000. The city, how-ever, has not been keen on paying that cost, and has offered in the past to do engineering work on such a project — so long as AFK pays for construction.

On Monday, Drake described the new pipe as the “preferred solution ... But I don’t know how much more we could do at this time.”

While this might help, council members debated whose responsibil-ity it is, considering AFK knows it exists within a floodplain.

“We, as a council, do we need to look at helping them out — getting them out of this area and moving them to the industrial park or go with this lesser route and work on the drainage?” Ald. Rollie Peabody asked.

“First, that’s something we want to know: if they are interested in [moving],” Will said, noting that, given the property’s problems, AFK would have a difficult time re-selling the land if it did move.

Peabody, though, focused on the danger to the community associated with having the foundry there.

“You’ve got a risk of a business in the floodplain with I don’t know how many tons of molten metal in the basement ... [An explosion] would be terrible,” he said. “We’ve got to look at it.”

City Attorney Lud Wurtz, though,

emphasized the responsibility falls on the business, since it knows it’s oper-ating a business in a risky location.

“I think it is relevant it’s in a floodplain ... and they know it ex-ists,” he said. “It’s a known situation ... It’s their duty to deal with the risk. They’ve had this [report] since 2002. It’s a private business aware of a known risk for their business.”

It’s not that AFK has not tried to mitigate the problem, Drake ex-plained.

“Over the years I’ve been here, they’ve taken many steps to try to reduce that risk,” he said. “They’ve done a lot to mitigate that.”

“What kind of damage would be done if molten metal came in contact with surge waters?” Ald. Joel Brock-man asked.

“I can only repeat what was said to me: We’d all be replacing windows [for] probably a mile [around the foundry],” Drake said. “No doubt there would be severe injuries if there was anybody in there at the time.”

Wurtz, though, reiterated AFK is culpable for anything that happens because it’s continuing to operate in an area it knows is prone to flooding.

“That’s what water does: it goes to floodplains,” he said. “... It’s some-thing they need to address.”

The council implicitly agreed later, voting unanimously not to take direct action, but to meet with AFK to come up with a solution to the problem.

That did not bind the city into paying for any such solution, though. The city would help with engineer-ing work, but it would not pay for construction.

Meanwhile, the city also intends to discuss the possibility of relocation with AFK leadership, which council supported.

“Include relocation [in the talks] and see what the options are,” Brock-man said.

SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IS visible on the north side of the AFK foundry following a heavy rain in early August. AFK photo

FOUNDRY/continued from page 1

Yeah, he’sadorable,

but you havesix of him.

Place an ad in theRipon Commonwealth Press/Express

• Call: 920-748-3017

• E-mail: [email protected]

• On-line: www.RiponPress.com

Thursday, February 14, 2013 - Page 1

❤ ❤

INSIDE

Single copy — $1Thursday, February 14, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971

Issue No. 7www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864

Our Views

Tourney timeThe Tiger boys’ basketball team is charging into the tournament strong with another victory in its pocket.

See page 19

Plenty to giveThe Webster Foundation board shows it can be fun to give away tens of thousands of dollars to the community.

See page 14

Sports

Business

A moving storyA move to Indiana last fall for the Rev. Mark West came right when he needed it: just in time for him to get a new doctor, who found cancer.

See page 4

Trial Starts TuesdayLee Stellmacher, accused of trying to hire someone to commit murder, goes on trial starting Tuesday, Feb. 19.

See page 3

Divisive politico visits Ripon

Boca payments fall further behind

Kevin A. Taylor


A Ripon Police officer is lucky to be alive after a Milwaukee man allegedly almost ran him over as

the suspect fled authorities.

Now Kev-in A. Taylor, 20 , i s be -ing charged with multiple counts in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court.

Meanwhile, individuals at a

Ripon home also may face drug-related charges after the chase for Taylor led to a search warrant served at a Ransom Street home.

For now, however, the charges against Taylor include:

‰ First-degree recklessly en-dangering safety-repeater (a fel-ony),

‰ Attempting to flee or elude a traffic officer-repeater (a felony)

‰ Possession of marijuana-repeater (a misdemeanor), and

‰ Possession of drug parapher-nalia-repeater (a misdemeanor).

If convicted on all four counts, he could face a maximum penalty of $36,500 in fines and more than 30 1/2 years in prison.

Additionally, he could lose his driver’s license for as many as 10 1/2 years.

“[The officer is doing] good — he wasn’t injured at all,” Ripon Po-lice Capt. Bill Wallner said of offi-cer Timothy Schroeder’s condition after nearly being gravely injured during the chase. “It’s fortunate because it very well could have ended up with him being injured or having to use deadly force.”

He later added, “The charges this kid [Taylor] is facing are ap-propriate. He was charged as a repeater — that goes to show this is not his first go-around.”

HIGH-SPEED CHASE INTO CITYThe alleged incident began

last week Wednesday at 1:50 a.m. when Fond du Lac County Sher-iff’s Department deputy Laura Halfmann pulled over a vehicle she’d witnessed travelling at 71 mph along Highway 23 near Coun-ty Road C west of Fond du Lac.

According to the criminal com-plaint, “Halfmann [asked Taylor] if he had any form of identifica-tion and the male said he did not ... Halfmann smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and directed the driver to exit the vehicle.

“... The driver put his vehicle in drive and sped away.”

The pursuit flew through Rosen-dale, with the vehicles reaching 75 mph in the 25 mph zone, according to the complaint, which added, “A northbound semi had to stop at the intersection to allow the suspect vehicle through.”

Once past Rosendale, speeds increased to nearly 100 mph, even

Officer nearly injured during recent pursuit

Rove touches on economy, 9-11, more in talk at college

by Tim [email protected]

Karl Rove encouraged Ripon College students last week to follow his lead: “Participate in the great drama of America’s democracy.”

The campaign strategist and White House advisor to President George W. Bush told the 325 gathered in Harwood Memorial Union last week that politics is meaningful, exciting and seriously fun.

During his almost 90-minute appearance, he discussed: ‰ How President Obama won last

November; ‰ Why he’s “bullish” about the

GOP’s future;‰ The moment when, listening in

to a call President Bush received on 9-11, he realized that America was in grave danger;

‰ How the Affordable Care Act already is proving to be more expensive than the White House had predicted;

‰ Why the Tea Party’s future is “durable;” ‰ The precautions interrogators must make to assure their captives are

not tortured;‰ Why more Latinos should vote Republican; ‰ Media that mask their liberal bias behind claims of objectivity.Open to college students, staff and faculty as well as the greater Ripon

community, Rove’s visit was sponsored by Ripon College Republicans and

Experts sought to solve Silver Creek mysteryby Ian Stepleton

[email protected]

Why does Silver Creek stink near Pacific Street?

The DNR still doesn’t know, but it’s taking steps to reduce the odor — as well as find out what’s going on.

And those steps may mean bringing in a company from out of state to do some work.

Last week, the DNR received

the results of tests it had the State Laboratory of Hygiene run on two samples it took from Silver Creek: one from the surface of the creek, and one directly from a “seep” where groundwater is flowing into the creek.

What did the results tell the DNR?

Essentially that it needs more information before identifying the true nature of the problem.

That doesn’t mean it’s going

to wait the months it will take to officially solve the mystery before it does something about the stink, though.

DNR officials will be moving forward on two tracks, the second being finding a way of mitigating the problem currently as it seeks the overall source.

BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUEIt’s been a long road for those

investigating the odor already.

The search began two years ago, when neighbors around the Pacific Street area started com-plaining of a sewer-like smell. Later, the city of Ripon found a gray slime had appeared at a rocky outcropping adjacent to the creek just east of Pacific Street.

The slime, otherwise known as sulfur-reducing bacteria, is emit-ting hydrogen sulfide (H

2S)— a

KARL ROVE VISITS Ripon’s Little White Schoolhouse last week Wednesday prior to speaking at Ripon College. Pictured are, from left, Rove, Ripon College senior Jacqui Michalak, Ripon Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Paula Price, Ripon College first-year student Logan Soich and Ripon College Professor Lamont Colucci. Ian Stepleton photo

KARL ROVE SPEAKS to a crowd of about 325 at Ripon College’s Harwood Memorial Union. Aaron Becker photo

3 For an editorial related to this story, see “U.S. de-

mocracy stinks of cash cows,” page 4.

Developer now owes more than $500k to city, county


A downtown developer has fallen another year behind — more then half a million dollars worth — in pay-ments due to both the city of Ripon and Fond du Lac County.

All told Boca Grande Capital LLC now owes the city of Ripon more than $300,000 for two grant-reimbursement payments missed, and hundreds of thousands of dol-lars more to Fond du Lac County for several years worth of unpaid property taxes.

“Those have not come in,” City Administrator Lori Rich said.

The developer, meanwhile, says it intends to make good on the pay-ments, though it has not told the city when.

“We met with the developer, and we continue to meet with him and try to encourage projects to move forward in any way we can,” Rich said, noting she met with Boca prin-cipal Jim Connelly as recently as last week Wednesday. “... Yes, they do

still intend to pay those amounts and have identified a couple of sources that could help them come up with funds to pay these.

“They did not give a timetable.”The Commonwealth attempted

to contact Connelly for comment as well, but found he retired from his position as a partner at the Mil-waukee offices of Foley & Lardner as of Feb. 1.

A secretary there who works with retired partners forwarded on

the message to Connelly, and later returned the following message with a demand from Connelly that it run exactly as written:

“Despite repeated attempts by The Ripon Commonwealth to portray Boca Grande Capital in the worst possible light, the City of Ripon leadership, recognizing the chal-lenges inherent in the worst economy in more than 75 years, has worked

See BOCA/ page 18

See POLITICO/ page 17

See OFFICER/ page 16 See CREEK/ page 16


Page 18 - Thursday, February 14, 2013

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Please call 920-748-1550 to reserve a session spot.(Sessions last approximately one hour)

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cooperatively with Boca Grande in addressing thoughtfully and proac-tively these matters. Boca Grande Capital, LLC has kept City of Ripon leadership fully and continuously ap-prised as to its positive progress under the Development Agreement with the City. As the City is well aware, it is the clear intent of Boca Grande Capital that all outstanding payments, interest, and penalties currently due to the City of Ripon and to Fond du Lac County will be addressed and paid in full not later than September 1, 2013.”

He then concluded his note with the following message:

“This statement must be utilized by you and the Commonwealth exactly as it appears above, without editing or modification of any kind. Boca Grande Capital, LLC will have no other written or oral comments to you or the Commonwealth on these matters at any time.”

PAYMENTS MISSED TO CITYThis is the second-straight year

Boca has failed to make its grant-reimbursement payment to the city of Ripon.

This payment is meant to help the city make debt-service payments for tax-increment finance district (TID) No. 11 — a district the city created in 2009 that funded the loans made to Boca Grande.

Boca, meanwhile, is obligated to make grant reimbursement payments under the terms of the development agreement it signed at that time with the city.

As a part of that agreement, the city took out more than $10 million in loans so it could provide Boca with $8.6 million for its development work.

The city’s ability to pay for those loans, though, was tied directly to the amount of additional property taxes the city expected to collect from the properties involved.

So, in the developer’s agreement the city and Boca signed, each project has an expected payback schedule. This schedule represents how much the city must bring in to pay for interest-only payments early on, and later principal and interest payments on the loans.

Regardless of whether a project moves forward or whether its value reaches projected levels, the devel-oper’s agreement obligates Boca to cover these amounts.

Projects have not moved forward

as expected, meaning this clause in the developer’s agreement has come into play, and Boca must make grant reimbursement payments.

Last year, Boca missed a payment of $123,168.65. With interest, that figure now has grown to $128,096.15.

Then, on Jan. 31, a second pay-ment was missed: $183,636.91.

This brings the total Boca owes to the city to $311,733.06.

“At this point, it’s not creating a problem,” Rich said of how the city does not yet need to take money from the tax rolls to offset the dollars Boca is supposed to be paying to the city’s loans. “There are four other TIF dis-tricts ... that are sharing with TID No. 11, so that helps prevent a shortfall.

“Even if we assumed no increase in [property] values with the TID, it would be more than five to 10 years before a problem occurred, and any development in the downtown TID ... creates additional increment [to pay off the loans].”

Meanwhile, Rich explained the city is optimistic at least one change could be coming downtown as well.

“Jim Connelly is continuing to work with another developer, and there seems to be some movement forward, albeit slowly,” she said, refer-ring to a new developer taking over the flagship project Boca proposed: a downtown hotel. “The next step is for him to request an amendment to the developer’s agreement [that would allow someone else to do that work].”

Whether that has occurred yet is unclear; the Common Council met Tuesday night in closed session to discuss “Conferring with legal coun-sel for the governmental body who is rendering oral or written evidence concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved — re: Ripon Renew Inc. Development Agreement.”

Ripon Renew is another Boca-related entity created for downtown development.

PAYMENTS MISSED TO COUNTYThe city of Ripon, however, isn’t

the only entity looking for payment.Fond du Lac County has not re-

ceived any property taxes from Boca Grande in years.

Delinquent taxes remain from both the 2010 and 2011 tax years — and now 2012 has been added to that list.

Exactly how much Boca owes to the count, however, is not clear. As of late Tuesday morning, Fond du Lac County Treasurer Julie Hundertmark told the Commonwealth her office was running into software issues that prevented her from pulling up an ac-curate number.

As of Nov. 30, 2012, however, she’d told the Commonwealth Boca owed $256,332.07 in back taxes, penalty and interest.

That number, however, has grown substantially since then. The total would need to add on property taxes for all its properties for 2012, as well as additional penalty and interest for past years and for February of this year.

NewsBOCA/Payments were due Jan. 31 continued from page 1

Thursday, July 11, 2013 - Page 1

Single copy — $1Thursday, July 11, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971

Ripon Commonwealth Press Issue No. 28www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864



INSIDE

Our Views

Home-grownThese days, it doesn’t seem hard to turn a Tiger into a Red Hawk. Numerous RHS players plan on taking their talents across town.

See page 14

School mattersWhat began as a class project is turning into a community celebration as Brandon School celebrates its big 6-0.

See page 9

Sports

Education

Helping handsSeveral Ripon-area residents went to Oklahoma and put a homeowner there in tears — tears of joy, that is.

See page 4



Quiet 4th Few illegal fireworksIn a sense, it was an easy weekend for the Ripon Police Department as most heeded its warning not to shoot off fireworks for Independence Day.

See page 3

Should pit bulls be banned in Ripon?


This is the second of a two-part series that aims to shed light onto concerns many have with pit bulls.

In part one of the story last week, experts disagreed over whether pit bulls are dangerous dogs.

This week, experts answer the question the Ripon Common Coun-cil likely will discuss later this month: should pit bulls be banned in the city of Ripon?

Some argue pit bulls are won-derful family dogs.

Others, such as a local emer-gency room doctor, note that what’s more important is the tremen-dous damage they can do if they do attack.

But does this mean the city of Ripon should choose to ban pit bulls?

Most experts in Ripon agree the answer is “no,” though their reasons vary — from believing it’s wrong to ban any particular breed, to suggesting a breed-specific ban simply won’t work.

And the passion people feel for keeping the dogs legal in Ripon varies as well.

Take, for in-stance, Damon Marquart, a Ripon resident and pit bull owner, who feels strong-ly pit bulls

should stay.“If you want a ban on a

specific breed, it’s a subtle racism,” he said.

PIT BULLS HARD TO DEFINEGreen Lake Area Ani-

mal Shelter director Janine

Part two of a two-week SerieS

by Aaron [email protected]

A downtown Ripon business that defaulted on a contract with the Ripon Area School District recently was sued for allegedly defaulting on another agreement in Portage County, Wis.

That same business also owes $750,000 to the city of Ripon in the next several years to repay a development loan.

Last month — as a result of a 2011 Portage County civil case — court judgements for tens of thousands of dollars were filed against three partners of Granite Broadband, whose website lists the address 305 Watson St.

The men are Riponite Frank Cumberbatch, along with James Connelly and Mark Dodge, court records show.

According to “transcripts of judgement” filed last month, the amounts owed are:

‰ Cumberbatch: $54,448‰ Connelly: $65,614‰ Dodge: $65,604Cumberbatch, the president of Granite, said the parties involved are

working through this.“We’re aware of it,” Cumberbatch said Monday. “It’s an ongoing pro-

ceeding. Attorneys are handling it.”Cumberbatch and Connelly, meanwhile, are principals with Boca

Grande Capital, which has purchased numerous buildings in downtown Ripon.

Financial woes grow at Granite

Offer made on current RMC site


A local developer is interested in becoming the next owner of the city-owned hospital building.

The city received an offer June 22 to purchase the building, located at 933 Metomen St., and considered it during a closed-session discussion Tuesday night.

Who that developer is, however, remains unclear.

But, when the council went into closed session to review the offer Tuesday, it was joined by Green Lake developer Alex Zabel.

The only other person to enter with the council was Dr. Robert House, who was there about a sepa-rate issue regarding his Rolling Hills subdivision on Ripon’s west side.

It’s also unknown what proposal was made for the hospital, which is expected to be vacated around late 2014. That’s when RMC’s parent company, Agnesian HealthCare, completes construction on a replace-ment hospital.

At that time, Agnesian plans to start moving services to the build-ing. Not all services would move immediately.

Once the move is complete, the city will be left with an empty, aging health-care facility — unless it finds an appropriate suitor.

One such buyer — possibly Zabel — has stepped forward. City Administrator Lori Rich confirmed Monday an offer has been tendered.

“Yes, yes,” she said when asked about it, though that was nearly all she could say.

When asked about the nature of the offer given, or its impact on RMC’s ongoing operations, she ex-plained, “I wish I could share.”

After checking with legal counsel, Rich added, “It is a local developer in-terested in purchasing the property.”

Mayor Gary Will, meanwhile, agreed Monday little could be said at this time about the offer.

“No, it’s way too early,” he said. “All it is, is an offer right now. It’s very, very preliminary.

“It’s just somebody showing interest in the building and doing something with it.”

Because the offer to purchase could lead to negotiation with the party interested, the discussion was held in closed session at Tuesday’s Common Council meeting.

Following the meeting, Will could only say “the council reviewed” the offer, and could not confirm the identity of the developer who made the offer.

Rich, meanwhile, admitted Mon-day she knew little about what the

New superintendent: Schools set up success

Ground broken for new biodigester


Ripon schools must provide strong role models, ample support and good options for the youth it serves every day.

Mary Whitrock emphasized these traits as she gave one of her first public appearances since becoming the Ripon Area School District’s new superintendent July 1.

Speaking to the Ripon Noon Kiwanis club Tuesday, Whitrock interwove tales of her childhood with comments on her philosophy as an educator.

Take, for example, a childhood friend who sat by her in grade school.

She recalled how he was a bud-ding artist — and how she lost track of him over the years.

When she reconnected with him recently via Facebook, she explained, Whitrock discovered her old school-

mate had found a way to utilize those art talents — as the puppeteer for “Maxwell,” the pig in Geico com-mercials.

To Whitrock, it’s an example of how schools can either foster — or

suppress — a passion a child has.

“Having role models around chi ldren [ is key],” she said to the Kiwan-ians.

In another tale, she re-called how, as a

fifth-grader, she began dance classes much later than her best friend — but that the dance school she attended allowed kids to take as many classes as they desired for a single fee, so she

3 For a letter related to

this story, see “Responsible pit bull owners are not the prob-lem,” page 5.

See BANNED/ back page

See GRANITE/ back page

See RMC/ back page

by Tim [email protected]

What had been a partnership on paper for nearly four years became a $4 million reality Tuesday morning as ground was broken for a biodi-gester eight miles east of Ripon.

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation, with private partners Milk Source and BIOFerm Energy Systems, began construction on a new biodigester at Rosendale Dairy.

The biogas plant will serve as a renewable energy source while pro-viding learning and research opportu-

nities for university students, accord-ing to speakers during the 20-minute ceremony at the building site.

Jim Ostrom, co-founder and partner of Rosendale Dairy’s par-ent company, Milk Source, said his company is excited to move forward with the project for several reasons.

“Our community partners and Rosendale residents, since the begin-ning, have asked [for] — and some of our most vocal neighbors have demanded — a digester,” he said. “We have kept them informed of our efforts as it was prudent and we have walked them through all of the steps toward this agreement by attending

numerous town board meetings and hosting various events and tours at Rosendale Dairy.”

The biodigester will be able to use about 240 tons of solid waste and liquid manure from Rosendale Dairy’s almost 9,000 cows to gener-ate, capture and combust methane that will create up to 1.4 megawatts of electricity — enough to power the equivalent of approximately 1,200 homes.

Two cylindrical anaerobic diges-tion reactors built by Viessmann Group, parent company to BIOFirm

See GROUND/ back page

See SUCCESS/ back page

Mary Whitrock

A RENDERING OF the new biodigester plant at Rosendale Dairy shows an education center and two cylindrical, anaerobic digestion reactors, which may be operational by December. submitted graphic

Page 20 - Thursday, July 11, 2013

News

Rubeck, meanwhile, argues it simply would be a foolish enterprise.

When referring to “pit bulls,” she explained, “we’re referring to a type of dog, not a breed.”

It can refer to several related breeds — and sometimes other dogs that just happen to look like pit bulls as well.

The Humane Society describes them as “three breeds of dog and their mixes: the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Terrier.”

But that doesn’t mean people only identify those three by sight as pit bulls.

“Who decides what’s a pit bull and what is not a pit bull?” Rubeck said. “In my mind, the American bull dog is not that different than a pit bull. The average person may look at them and see a pit bull.”

She facetiously said if a city were to adopt a breed-specific ban, it would “need to put someone on staff all day, every day, and do cheek swabs of any dog” that looks like a pit bull.

NOT THE ONLY DANGEROUS DOGMarquart, an owner of two Ameri-

can Staffordshire Terriers, added other breeds are just as dangerous as pit bulls, if not more so.

“You get chows and sharpies and they’re specifically bred to fight — and there’s no ban on them,” he said, adding that pit bulls “are muscular, they are very strong,” but said that doesn’t mean pit bulls should be banned.

Dr. James Bednarek of the Veteri-nary Clinics of Ripon/Berlin agrees.

“I would say, on the whole, no,” pit bulls are not more dangerous, he said. “We see quite a few pit bulls in here, and over 90 percent of them are fine.”

Rubeck suggested an alternative to targeting that breed.

“Ninety-seven percent of dog bites are unneutered male dogs,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the pit bulls that do the biting. It’s unneutered male dogs.

BITES NOT NECESSARILY FROM UNPROVOKED SITUATIONS

Meanwhile, while Ripon Medical Center emergency room Dr. Michael Combs has concerns with pit bulls, he agrees their owners usually are more vigilant about their dogs because they can be dangerous.

“People usually keep pit bulls pretty well secured,” he said. “They usually make fairly good family pets: they usually don’t bite their owners or families.”

From what he’s heard through the medical community, it’s other people and dogs that must look out due to pit bulls’ territorial and protective nature.

“They are bred for fighting, so

they don’t like ... [other] dogs in their territory,” he said, adding people who enter a property with a pit bull also could be a target. “A lot of bites we see are people trying to break up fights between a pit bull and another dog.”

Marquart believes dogs such as his can be good dogs.

“These dogs — they are like my kids,” he said. “They are a part of my family.”

Both his pit bulls are rescue dogs, having come from bad situations. Before they came home with him, he had them tested for temperament, and thus he felt comfortable to allow them around his young daughter and other children in the family.

But he knows not everyone is that careful — and that’s why he believes the target of any city law should be owner behavior, not dog breeds.

“It’s really the owners,” he said. “If somebody is doing nefarious activities like fighting dogs, take [the dogs] out of their hands ...

“[But] bringing specific legisla-tion [against pit bulls], I think it’s damaging.”

Bednarek agrees Ripon should not have a specific pit bull ban, but rather there are “specific dogs that need it.”

REASON FOR CAUTION EXISTSCombs, though, believes extra

caution is merited with pit bulls.“Any large dog can be dangerous

to have around, but I guess the con-cern would be the bites are so terrible that you need to be extra cautious,” Combs said.

Dr. Michael Herrick, a veterinar-ian at Associated Veterinary Clinic in Ripon, agrees pit bulls should receive

extra caution — but doesn’t take the stance they should be banned.

“I think potentially aggressive and dangerous dogs should be judged on an individual basis, rather than with a breed,” he said. “Certainly I know there is a history of problems with pit bulls. But that does not mean pit bulls are a problem ... We may con-demn animals that don’t need to be condemned.”

Rubeck, though, agrees with Combs that there may be cause to add extra levels of precaution for pit bulls.

“There is something to be said of changing the requirements in the city of Ripon [to include] spaying/neutering, and that they need to have completed some kind of obedience class.”

Besides, Rubeck suggested, “breed-specific legislation just doesn’t work. Because people who have a bad pit bull ... are not vacci-nating or training their dogs. People who go to City Hall to register their dogs, it’s not going to be their dog [that does the biting].”

CDC WEIGHS INThe CDC also warned against us-

ing the data it offers to move toward breed-specific bans.

“It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic,” the CDC’s dog bite page said. “Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available infor-mation about breeds involved in dog

LAWSUIT ALLEGES DEFAULTThe Portage County civil case

began in 2011, with RMM Leasing LLC suing Granite Broadband, and specifically Cumberbatch, Connelly and Dodge.

RMM — headquartered in Wausau, Wis. — is “engaged in the business of leasing technology solutions and services,” court docu-ments state.

A seven-page civil complaint reads, in part:

“Granite and RMM entered into a lease agreement signed by Cum-berbatch as president of Granite on Aug. 18, 2009, and signed by Rimon Moses as member of RMM on Aug. 20, 2009 ... The lease pre-scribes a down payment by Granite to RMM of $50,000 followed by 36 monthly payments from Granite to RMM of $3,301 in exchange for RMM performing a router/network project for Granite. Pursuant to the lease, and as part of the router/network project, RMM agreed to purchase certain electronic equip-ment to be rented from RMM to Granite ... Pursuant to the default provision in the lease, Granite de-faulted by failing to pay monthly rental payments ...”

RMM then decided to accelerate the rental payments, and notified Granite with a written letter, the complaint states.

“Following receipt of the notice letter, Granite made payments from time to time to reduce the outstand-ing balance ... On or about May 18, 2011, in an attempt to reduce the balance owed by Granite to RMM, Connelly signed and delivered a ‘credit card authorization,’ permit-ting the withdrawal of up to $5,000 per month from Connelly’s personal American Express account ... On or about June 30, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and RMM exercised its right under the credit card authorization to withdraw $5,000 from Connelly’s personal American Express ac-count. As of July 15, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and thus, on July 22, 2011, RMM exercised its right under the credit card authorization to with-draw $5,000 from Connelly’s per-sonal American Express account.”

Then the situation changed, the complaint alleges.

“As of Aug. 30, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and RMM attempted to ex-ercise its right under the credit card authorization to withdraw $5,000 from Connelly’s personal American Express account. However, RMM’s attempt to withdraw funds from Connelly’s personal American Ex-press account was declined. Upon information and belief, Connelly cancelled the credit card authoriza-tion to prevent RMM from continu-ing to withdraw payments ...”

In September 2011, RMM sent a letter to Granite “in an attempt to resolve the matter and collect the total unpaid amount owed” — more than $43,000 at that time, the complaint states.

“No payment has been received by RMM from Granite since the demand letter,” reads the complaint filed in November 2011.

RMM sought a judgement for $44,386 plus interest, costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees, the complaint states.

“... Cumberbatch, Dodge and Connelly are each jointly and sev-erally liable for the entire amount owed by Granite to RMM, includ-ing, without limitation, all costs and expenses such as attorney’s fees,” the complaint states.

Asked about the allegations of missed payments, Cumberbatch

did not comment specifically. He indicated he didn’t fully understand all the legalities.

“That is difficult for me to admit or deny,” he said.

He acknowledged having civil judgements for tens of thousands of dollars is serious.

“Exactly, which is the reason they’re working on it, how to re-solve it,” he said.

SCHOOL AGREEMENTMeanwhile, Granite Broadband

continues to owe the Ripon Area School District nearly $60,000 for wireless Internet service it never provided, district officials said.

Granite contracted with the district to offer wireless internet to students’ homes, thereby creating a level playing field where all stu-dents would have at-home internet access.

The service was supposed to begin in 2010-11, but it never materialized. The contract was for $84,000, of which the school dis-trict paid Granite $60,000.

“There were some minor ser-vices provided, but the full service was never provided,” school district business manager Rick Ketter said.

Ketter explained “a small por-tion” of the debt was satisfied in services that were provided, but the majority was not.

Asked why Granite cannot sim-ply return the $60,000, Cumber-batch indicated it may be a cash-flow issue.

“I think it’s for cash-flow pur-poses,” he said. “We don’t have it right now. But when we do have it, we will repay it.”

When will that be, asked the Commonwealth.

“I don’t know,” Cumberbatch replied. “If I knew the answer to that, I would tell them. I wouldn’t tell you.”

What has the district done to recover the money?

“At this point, we haven’t pur-sued any legal process,” Ketter said. “And that would be up to the [School] Board to do that ... Very honestly, I don’t think anybody’s going to get anything, because there’s so much that could end up being paid in legal fees.

“It’s just a sad situation.”

CITY OF RIPON LOANIn addition, Granite will owe

the city of Ripon approximately $750,000 over the next several years to pay back a developer’s loan from 2009.

That loan was authorized for Granite to provide wireless inter-net in Ripon and “throughout the county,” Cumberbatch said in 2009.

The loan was provided “to the business to provide [Internet] to whomever our customers are,” he said Monday.

Right now, Granite is paying only interest on that $750,000 loan, with three “balloon payments” of about $250,000 each due in 2014, 2017 and 2019, City Administrator Lori Rich told the Commonwealth.

Granite has been paying that interest, she said.

“Sometimes they’re paid ahead, sometimes they’re a little late, but they’re up to date except for their last invoice,” Rich explained last week. “... They’ve always paid their interest payments.”

The first balloon payment of about $250,000 is due Aug. 1, 2014, Rich said.

Asked whether that will be paid, Cumberbatch said, “I imagine we’ll have to wait and see ... We have a [due] date, and I imagine when that date comes around, it will be repaid.”

bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.”

Instead, the CDC offers a link to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions instead.

“Many practical alternatives to breed-specific policies exist and hold promise for preventing dog bites,” the CDC’s site said.

NO LOCAL SUPPORT FOR BAN AMONG RIPON EXPERTS

Herrick had a similar perspective — that by banning pit bulls, cities “might miss other aggressive dogs. I’m against breed-specific regula-tion.”

“Other breeds that come in here [are worse],” Bednarek said. “I’ve seen way more good pit bulls than bad ones around here.”

Meanwhile, back in Ripon, Ripon Police Chief Dave Lukoski remains lukewarm on the idea of banning pit bulls.

“As far as our experience here in Ripon, we haven’t had any situations with pit bulls,” he said. “... I am aware pit bulls are more apt to be involved in a [serious incident] than other breeds. But we haven’t had any situations with pit bulls. I do think the potential is there to have a situation with them.”

Should that mean a ban on them?“That,” he said, “I’d leave to the

decision-makers.” The decision-makers — i.e. the

Common Council — will take that up later this summer, possibly at the end of this month.

party interested in the building would do with the site.

“Even the person who submitted the offer hasn’t shared a lot of that,” she said. “I really can’t characterize it.”

If city leaders become interested in this offer, it could answer the ongo-ing question of what to do with the old building.

“In the perfect world it would be great to have someone ready to take over when Ripon Medical Center vacates that property, but it’s a big project for somebody,” said Joan Karsten, Ripon Community Devel-opment Authority (CDA) president, back in May.

The CDA sought proposals in spring from schools with architecture and planning programs, and Karsten also had been in touch with a devel-oper to see if that developer would be interested in coming to the hospital to suggest different uses or taking on the project.

In May, city leaders acknowl-edged it could be difficult to find a new use for the aging building.

“Remodeling it for something is probably one of the biggest chal-lenges anybody would have with that building, hence the hospital building [a] new [facility] and not remodeling [the existing building],” Mayor Gary Will said in May. “That’s one of the tougher things that maybe I would see with the building. There have been so many additions to it, trying to connect everything and run every-thing or separate everything; logisti-cally, it seems like a pretty tall task.”

Energy Systems, will each have a 1-million-gallon capacity.

“This is the right time and the right provider for this project that will help reduce odors and potential pathogens from the dairy, develop green en-ergy and still allow us to provide the needed nutrients to more than 12,000 of the 100,000-plus farm acres within a 10-mile radius of Rosendale Dairy,” Ostrom said.

UW-Oshkosh officials believe the biodigester, which they hope will be operational by December, will help the university meet its 2025 target date of achieving carbon neutrality on the Oshkosh campus.

They also said it will provide the institution’s environmental sci-ence, microbiology, sociology and other students with an off-campus laboratory.

The new biodigester follows the UW-Oshkosh Foundation’s and Viessmann’s previous, successful collaborations including launch of the first dry-fermentation (food-and-plant-waste-based) anaerobic biodi-gester in the western hemisphere on the UW-Oshkosh campus in 2011 and startup of the first, small-scale compact (livestock waste) biodi-gester at a family farm northwest of Oshkosh in 2012.

The Rosendale facility will pro-duce seven times more energy than the existing UW Oshkosh dry-fermentation anaerobic biodigester.

“Not only will we be respon-sible for managing and maximizing sustainable energy on the farm, but we will also be producing future environmental and social scientists,” UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard

BANNED/No support locally among experts for ban continued from page 1 GRANITE/Cash flow appears to be issue continued from page 1

RMC/ continued from page 1

GROUND/Aims to reduce odor continued from page 1

Wells said. “This energy facility and research instrument will be as beneficial to Wisconsin as it will be to our graduates.”

The new biodigester will include a public education center operated by UW-Oshkosh students and faculty. It will give Wisconsin K-12 students, teachers and residents an up-close introduction to the environmental science and engineering involved in harnessing a renewable energy source from a state-of-the-art dairy farming operation.

UW-Oshkosh plans to use biodi-gester revenues to develop a new cen-ter on rural community development — including a remote classroom and lab for UW-Oshkosh microbiology, biology, environmental studies and chemistry classes — as well as to fund scholarships

was able to catch up with her friend in her dancing skills.

How does this relate to schools?“Rules and policies we have in the

adult world create opportunity,” she said. “... We, as an organization, can open doors.”

Later in her educational journey, Whitrock earned her doctorate, along with a woman she referred to as “Sis-ter Marie” from Uganda.

Whitrock was impressed how Sister Marie received her doctorate — in her second language.

“So, when I think of our second-language learners, really, the sky is the limit,” she said.

SUCCESS/Door will be open continued from page 1

Not that everyone must follow the same path, she explained.

“One thing I am very aware of is college was the path I chose ... but it may not be the path all our students go down in Ripon,” Whitrock said. Educators need to “set them up well for success in whatever they choose.”

The district’s path, meanwhile, appears to be one toward success, she added, describing it as “really sound financially.”

And, as superintendent, she aims to fulfill the mission others set out for her — to be “very involved in the community,” “high-energy” and “collaborative and inclusive.”

Whitrock plans to continue to meet with groups, such as Kiwanis, and solicit feedback in the coming weeks.

She’s midway through what she termed “phase two” of her entry into Ripon, during which she will speak with as many people in Ripon as possible.

This will continue through the summer. Results of a survey also seeking input will be released this fall.

Not that people can’t visit with the new Riponite any other time.

“My door,” she said, “is open to anyone who wants to come in.”

DAMON MARQUART PETS one of his American Staffordshire Terriers, both “pit bulls,” with neighbor Sarah Paegelow, left, and daughter Lanh Marquart. Tim Lyke photo

Documents

2013 Better Newspaper Contest entry: Reporting on Local Government