For years, the site of the old Dodge school as hemmed in by Franklin Street to the east, Fifth Avenue to the south, Park Avenue to the west and Sixth Avenue to the north in Stanley Wisconsin, had an alley that ran east-west, dividing the lot down the middle.

For years until its formal erasure (“vacation”) from the map and transfer per the June 7 Council meeting, nobody knew it was there or the eight original parcels on either side of said alley—a legal technicality of sorts.

Now with the alley suppressed and the Dodge School site reunified as a single square per official County records, it was time to redivide the site into four lots, one for each duplex currently rising at the site. Rick Denzine of Denzine Surveying Inc. was on hand to sum it all up in detail at the July 6 Stanley Common Council meeting.

“It was originally an alley and eight parcels and now it’s no alley and four parcels,” Denzine said in reply to a question from one Council member.

With motion from Council member Kevin Hendrickson and a second by Council member Jacob Huff, the Dodge school lot was divided into its new arrangement.

Earlier in Council talk meanwhile there was a discussion of the ash tree replacement situation: Two much of a single tree species, isn’t necessarily good when that particular tree comes under attack from nature, whether by pestilence or other challenge. As such, the replacement schedule for the City of Stanley’s ash trees might seek to embrace greater biodiversity in the City’s tree stock, while Laurie Foster reported that the City was five years in on the Tree USA program and had racked up over 10 points on the point system, which would be good on a grant application due by October related to the tree population in the city.

As to public works more generally, John Hoel outlined routine maintenance and paving that still needs to be done on Elk Park Road.

“Lawn mowing, equipment maintenance and repairs, pot hole and crack filling, street sweeping,” and repaired water service on Sawmill Road were among the more routine work alluded to by for the past two weeks. Then there was the park.

“We met with Kevin Lambrecht of Market and Johnson and representative from NPI Testing to look at the remaining stretch of Elk Park Road that needs to be paved,” Hoel wrote in his report to the Council. “They are recommending to Cedar Corp. that the remaining road be dug up approximately two feet deep.” The road would then have a foot of breaker rock added, “a new layer of geo-grid mesh,” and “a foot of new base,” the public works operator in charge said. “Then that section of road should be able to be paved,” Hoel wrote, with Lambrecht of Market and Johnson saying he would get a proposal submitted to Cedar “which would then be presented to the Council.” With no new training planned for the next 60 days, there were several small items that needed to be completed at the Community Center and a switch on the north unit HVAC that needed to be replaced. With soffits needing to be replaced in several spots around the building and downspouts still to be installed, among the more salient details were that hail covers for the HVAC had been ordered and would need to be installed when delivered.

“We will install this,” the public works operator in charge wrote of storm defenses at the Community Center, along with window tint on the bathroom windows at the same. The temporary serving windows still need to be replaced by permanent ones and the big doors caulked, though Hoel was silent in the report on just who would do this.

As of the July 6 approval of disbursements a payment of $342,135.34 was made to Market and Johnson Inc. for the Community Center, the 35th payment total for the project.

The replat of the Dodge School site with vacated alley and old lot boundaries shown with dotted line. Image taken from Council packet.