Karen Kendrick-Hands and Larry Hands, Hollandale Lending Library patrons, came to the Hollandale Village Board meeting on Tuesday, May 5 to discuss the future of the Lending Library building.
The Hollandale Lending Library is located in the old bank building on Main Street. The building has been a topic of discussion at many board meetings due to its maintenance issues, such as broken window pane, peeling paint, tuck pointing, possible moisture issues, and crumbing stairs. There are other issues that need to be addressed as well.
Kendrick-Hands stated that she has had discussions with librarian Jeanne Lisser on the condition of the building. Lisser had planned on talking about the meeting that same night but was unable to attend. Kendrick-Hands felt that the amount of maintenance repairs the building has could be large and wasn’t sure if the community would want to continue to pursue having the library in that building if the maintenance cost outweighed the cost of the building.
Kendrick-Hands stated that Lisser has done a tremendous service for the community in keeping the building open and running and the library has been a great resource for her. She just wanted what is best for the community.
“Sometimes things have run their course,” Kendrick-Hands said.
Kendrick-Hands idea was to have the village look at other options for the building and lot if the community wasn’t approving of putting more money into the building. She wanted to see some growth in Hollandale by possibly finding a developer to creating affordable housing or even some parking or other space for community gatherings. She added that if that is the direction the village would be willing to go, she could help put forth some time and energy to help the village look into other possibly options.
Village president Meta Chrostowski commented that this has been a topic of discussion and they are currently talking to different contractors to get some quotes on maintenance repairs. She added that the bank was purchased by the village for $1 but it wasn’t only the village board’s decision but a community decision so if the building were to be demolished or no longer used by the village, that would also have to be a community decision. She felt there were other properties in the village that would be better for placing affordable housing or creating a parking lot. The village was in the very early stages as to what was going to be happening to the building. There are some repairs that need to happen right away to lessen damage that may occur later.
The village board thanked them both for bringing their ideas to the board and for having a concern about the lending library building and wanting to keep that community space within the village. More decisions on the building will be made in the coming months and the village will be looking at all viable options. They were glad to hear that people are concerned and that there are ideas and interest out there.
On that same topic, board member Rob Massey stated he chatted with Larry Droessler, who does restoration work and he will be coming down to look at the building. The bricks are not the type of grade material that can be sandblasted and if that happens, the integrity of the brick will disintegrate. Chrostowski stated she had someone coming to look at the glass in the windows and another person would be coming to give the village a quote on tuck pointing. The board questioned if they wanted to replace the entire front steps or do some repairs since in the future there will be some road construction and they aren’t sure if the sidewalk will be affected. The board did agree to have screen doors repaired on both the apartment and main door. More issues will be addressed at a later meeting.
Public Works
The sanitary survey, which was to inspect the water system’s facilities, operations and records, came back from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. There are only minor issues that need to be dealt with and will be soon.
The water quality trading projects out at Leonards is being bid on right now. They are in a time crunch because they are only allotted a short window due to the Blanchard Cricket Frog’s breeding season, which takes place in mid-May to mid-August.
Dumpster day went great. People have been asking about having a metal dumpster and Public Works Director Jerry Doescher stated he will be working on getting one.
The dump truck is still waiting on having First Capital Salvage from Belmont to come and pick it up.
The plow on the current truck broke several times during the winter. Doescher is looking into pricing for a new one.
Other business
If anyone is wanting to be an election inspector for the village of Hollandale, contact Holly at the Village Hall.