Beaver Dam Mayor Outlines Ambitious Borrowing Plan

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam Mayor Becky Glewen outlined an ambitious five-year borrowing plan at a special council meeting Monday night with the goal of revitalizing the downtown and addressing road maintenance.  City officials are governed by a self-imposed resolution that limits annual borrowing to $1.6-million dollars for equipment purchases and building and infrastructure projects. There were over 20 of the mayor’s supporters on hand at the meeting; business and community leaders many of them part of her ad hoc Downtown Planning Committee.

Glewen is proposing that the city exceed the borrowing cap by $2.1-million dollars each year for the next three years. That means, instead of borrowing $1.6-million, the city would borrow around $3.7-million this year, next year and in 2020. In the final two years of the five-year plan, the city would borrow $2.1-million dollars.

The borrowing plan would allocate $1.7-million dollars this year for traditional infrastructure and equipment purchases that had already been identified in previous five-year plans. That number would fluctuate between $1.6-million and $1.85-million over the five years. Another approximately $550-thousand dollars would be directed to additional street projects over five years. This year, $1.4-million would be dedicated to downtown revitalization efforts. Revitalization funding would drop to $1-million in year two and $900-thousand in the third and final year.

Glewen repeatedly reinforced the message that (quote) “community development is economic development.” She got choked up when she discussed the pending closure of the Boston Store and emphasized the need to have amenities that will attract young families to the city.

The $1.6-million-dollar cap can be exceeded with a successful vote by three-fourths of the council, as opposed to a simple majority. No word yet on the tax impact of the borrowing increase.

Listen to the presentation:

Downtown Revitalization Conceptual Drawings: