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Group lodging possible at large home on Wacouta

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This eight-bedroom home at the corner of Wacouta Avenue and Iowa Street is owned by River to Valley Initiatives, who would like to lease it to AAA Family Homes, of Viroqua, for the purpose of a community-based residential facility. (Photos by Correne Martin)

This is the original banister, right off the front entryway of the home, leading to the second level—simply cleaned up and painted/stained.

This is a picture of how the kitchen will look upon completion of renovation.

The modern light fixtures in the home are quite ornate.

A notice to cease construction was placed on the front door of the 225 S. Wacouta Ave. home late last week by the city’s planning and zoning department, which has not seen state approval of building plans and code requirements.

River to Valley Initiatives and AAA Family Homes are meeting city and state roadblocks

By Correne Martin

A group lodging facility is proposed for the two-story, eight-bedroom home still undergoing renovation at the corner of South Wacouta Avenue and Iowa Street in Prairie du Chien. Owned by River to Valley Initiatives Inc. (RVI), the facility, which occupies three city lots, could be leased as early as April by AAA Family Homes, owned by William and Serap Graser, of Viroqua. It may be opened up to elderly individuals with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or mild mental disabilities. But, the two entities have some hoops to jump through before that might happen.

RVI representative Judy Wall and the Grasers met with the Prairie du Chien Plan Commission Monday night, Oct. 19, to discuss AAA’s application for a conditional use permit to operate a community-based residential facility (CBRF) in the city’s R-3 high density residential zoning district. A public hearing was also held. By the end of the 90-minute meeting, however, the plan commission, under the direction of city attorney Lara Czajkowski Higgins, determined it had no jurisdiction to deny the conditional use permit. The only jurisdiction the city has, does not come prior to operation. Rather, 11 months after the CBRF opens, the common council may determine whether there are health, safety or welfare issues impacting the community and, if so, order cessation of the business.

Notice to cease construction
Zoning Administrator Julie Jackson pointed out that neither she nor building inspector Dennis Hampton has seen any state approvals of building plans and code requirements for the home at 225 S. Wacouta Ave. In light of that, a notice to stop construction was placed on the front door of the home, following the meeting, late last week.

Once building plans are submitted, the state can begin the operator’s licensing process, which also requires approval by the Department of Health Services of the Grasers’ business model.

“We have been asked numerous times by neighbors [what is happening at this house.] Tonight’s meeting gives the neighbors the opportunity to hear it right from you,” Jackson said to Wall and the Grasers.

AAA Family Homes operates five, four-bed adult family homes in Vernon and Crawford Counties, including four in Viroqua and one in Soldiers Grove. According to William, many of the residents in those homes have more mental health issues than the type of residents they expect to accept at the Prairie du Chien facility. “We’re trying to keep this one to more elderly,” he stated.

How a CBRF would operate
For the local CBRF, which AAA Family Homes anticipates calling Rosewood Manor, plans are to staff the facility 24/7 with two to three employees at all times. They want to hire 10 to 15 people, mostly certified nursing assistants (CNAs); all will be required to have full background checks. “There is no requirement for skilled nursing, but [registered nurses] may serve our residents, short-term, for below four hours per week if needed,” William said, explaining that RNs would be hired by the residents’ care management organizations (CMOs).

Potential residents would go through an application process, reviewed by AAA Family Homes, after being referred by agencies such as the Aging and Disability Resource Center. “We would evaluate their records and then see if they meet our criteria and if we can meet their needs,” he added. “We don’t take in sex offenders, criminals or anyone who would perpetrate on children.”

The renovated home
According to Wall, who offered the editor a tour of the facility on Tuesday, Oct. 20, a fair amount of construction remains before the property is ready for AAA Family Homes to take over the lease around Nov. 15. (It will be a five-year lease to purchase.) Wood trim, kitchen cabinets, smoke detectors and an elevator need to be installed, and bids on a sprinkler system collected. The screened-in porch and courtyard on the south side have yet to be finished and the fence erected surrounding the grounds. Once the Grasers take possession, they plan to furnish the home and make it certifiable with guardrails, wheelchair-accessible ramps, etc.

According to Wall, the original floor plan of the former Victorian bed and breakfast/single family home was basically taken down to the studs and modified for this RVI project by Kansier Construction, of Monona, Iowa. In addition to the eight bedrooms, each of which has a bathroom, the home has many amenities, including energy-efficient windows and a furnace, foamed/insulated exterior and interior walls, four-foot-wide hallways, an elevator, two staircases, a sprinkler system, a security system to control potential wandering residents, fire egress windows, French doors leading to the three-season porch, a staff office and kitchenette, laundry room, solid surface floors, storage in the basement, a two-vehicle garage for transport vehicles and off-street parking for three to four vehicles. It also has two living room areas and a community room with large TVs, a kitchen with two dishwashers, a double fridge, cooktop stove, triple sink and handicapped-accessible counters and appliances. While most bathrooms have their own tub/shower combination, each level has access to a barrier-free shower as well.

“Rosewood Manor will offer a higher quality facility than what these people typically receive,” Serap Graser said.

“When I did my research, I went to the Association of Assisted Living website and, within Crawford County, aside from the Lori Knapp homes, there are no facilities like this. There’s one in Soldiers Grove and one in Gays Mills,” Wall said during the public hearing last Monday. “I think, from a community standpoint, we need this. Only 10 percent of the demand is being met. Rather than put your loved one in an institution, this is a wonderful facility in a small setting that offers a quality of life that is not being provided by anything I’ve seen in this community.” Wall said RVI intends to hold a public open house at the property yet this fall.

Public provides input
About six members from the neighborhood attended the public hearing Monday night to ask questions of Wall and the Grasers as well as the plan commission and zoning administrator. All seemed gravely concerned about what a CBRF might mean for the future of their “family neighborhood.”

Alex Osterkamp, a neighbor who said he’s worked in the mental health field for 15 years, expressed concerns about possible disruptions such as screaming and yelling that might occur with mentally ill residents. He also worried about excess garbage and traffic in the back alley. The Grasers assured him that the walls are insulated and that the property will be surrounded by fence. “We’ll leave the door open (for you to talk to us). We don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Serap said.

Resident Virginia Antoine addressed the plan commission and pointed out a chapter of the state’s administrative code having to do with a community advisory committee for CBRFs. It should include representatives of businesses, local residents and a government representative, she said, and shall form within 10 working days of the DHS receiving AAA’s application. The DHS shall inform the city of any health and safety concerns, she noted.

Antoine also asked Wall why she and RVI did not rehab the property into another single family home.

“When we took it out of foreclosure, the property was too large for a single family to qualify to buy this as an affordable house,” Wall responded. “It’s unlikely they would come in and put this kind of work into it.”

Fellow resident Mary Antoine took issue with Wall’s comments. She declared that she’s rehabbed several homes to fit single family needs within the community, all “without a penny of assistance.”

Transparency questioned
City Administrator Aaron Kramer had a number of questions for Wall and Graser. He said the conditional use application from AAA was “extremely deficient.”

“We have spent a considerable amount of time determining where our jurisdiction falls (as a city),” Kramer stated. “One may question if there’s been enough transparency in this case.”

He also asked Wall what her original intent for the property was. When she said it was purchased “always with the intent of making it a multi-family arrangement,” he questioned why she once checked “single family dwelling” on the papers she filed with the city’s planning and zoning department.

“We’ve been told all along we could not apply for multi-family status until we had a multi-family provider,” she retorted. AAA only came on board a few months ago.

According to Kramer, all permits for the property, prior to September 2014, were listed as a single family residence. But, since April 2015, it has been marketed as a community living arrangement.

Jackson added that, in September of 2014, Wall came into the city office and asked what she needed to do to make the home a CBRF. She was told she needed a new permit. Shortly after, a garage with rooms above it was added to the home. Jackson said Wall then submitted an application for a CBRF but provided no fee.

“I told her I would not process it,” Jackson stated, “because [RVI] was not the licensed agency for the CBRF.”

As the two sides debated at the public hearing, those neighbors in attendance became frustrated that their time was wasted by the meeting, since the plan commission had no jurisdiction in the matter.
“We’re sitting here but we can’t do anything,” neighborhood resident Kathleen Hein said.

“There’s certainly no harm in meeting to make sure we do what’s right,” attorney Czajkowski Higgins responded.

AAA’s DHS violations
At last week’s public hearing, the Grasers were asked whether their current adult family homes in Viroqua and Soldiers Grove have had any DHS violations. They stated that there have been some, which have been corrected.

Yet, a quick provider search of the DHS website Monday revealed otherwise.

AAA Family Homes received an order, on Aug. 12, not to admit new or additional residents to one of its homes. A plan of correction has not yet been filed, according to the website.

Other violations, some of which have been addressed under a plan of correction, have included: uncorrected citations; non-compliance with regulations such as hours of training, fire safety evacuation plans, service agreements, resident records and staff health screenings; not obtaining enough information to determine residents’ needs and provide safe care; restricted access to food and money; not providing opportunities to increase independence; not planning activities and services for residents, restricted and unreasonable visiting hours; and  allowing conditions which present risk or harm.

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