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Crawford County Board

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Awards totalling $6,000 were made from the Crawford County Community Fund to four organizations during Tuesday morning’s Crawford County Board meeting. Seated are Rachel Jovi (village of Gays Mills/Stump Dodger Trail); Nancy Ashmore (Ready, Set, Grow/Prairie du Chien Memorial Library); and Rick Lange and Carol Abrahamzon (Kickapoo Indian Caverns/Mississippi Valley Conservancy). Standing are Kile Martz (village of Gays Mills/Stump Dodger Trail); Larry and Sherry Quamme, Jeanne Rutter and Marsha Stross (village of Ferryville/Sugar Creek Playground). (Photo by Barb Daus)

 

County Board authorizes 

$2.04 million in notes to pay for 

several projects and refinance debt

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The Crawford County Board of Supervisors voted 15-1 to authorize the issuance and sale of $2,040,000 in general obligation promissory notes at its regular meeting Tuesday morning. Supervisor Larry Kelley voted against the measure.

The $2,040,000 will be received by the county on Jan. 12, 2017. Eight hundred thousand dollars will be deposited into the county’s project account to pay for a new 911 system, a telephone-communications system, technology upgrades, highway equipment and Sheriff’s Department vehicles. The rest, $1,240,357.35, will be deposited into debt service to pay off bonds that were issued in 2005 at an interest rate of 4.1 percent. Because of the county’s A1 bond rating, the new interest rate will be 2.53 percent. The 2005 bonds will be paid off on March 1, 2017. By refinancing the 2005 bonds at a net interest rate of 2.53 percent, the county will save $71,629.77.

The county is pursuing grant funding to pay for part of the aforementioned projects. It is hoped that the county can get $300,000 or more in grants. Once the projects are paid for, whatever portion of the $800,000 that remains will go into debt service.

In other business, the board heard a presentation by Sharon Murphy, board chair of the Crawford County Community Fund (CCCF). Murphy told the county board that the CCCF now has approximately $110,000 in its endowment. 

The CCCF awarded a grant of $1,000 to Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC) to go towards the purchase of Kickapoo Indian Caverns near Wauzeka. The Kickapoo Indian Caverns site is 83 acres. In addition to the caverns, the site has bluffland, a prairie and forestland. Carol Abrahamzon, executive director of MVC, said that the purchase of Kickapoo Indian Caverns is expected to be finalized this summer and the site will then be opened up to the public for hikes and guided tours of the caverns. 

CCCF also gave a $1,500 grant to the Prairie du Chien Public Library to help with its library expansion project. Construction is expected to begin in the spring. 

The village of Ferryville received a $1,500 grant from CCCF to further develop its Sugar Creek Park with new playground equipment and other additions. 

The Stump Dodger Trail project in and near the village of Gays Mills received a $2,000 grant from CCCF to help pay for signs along the trail. Signs will describe native flora, fauna and area history as well as the Stump Dodger Train.

Since its inception in 2008, the CCCF has awarded more than $24,000 in grants to local non-profit organizations that have had a significant impact upon the county. 

In further business, the county board authorized the sale of 3.9 acres of land in the town of Scott for $30,000. The land was no longer needed by the county for highway purposes.  

 
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