Mayville Appealing State Decision On Williamstown-Kekoskee Merger

(Mayville) The city of Mayville is appealing the state’s decision to approve the merger of the town of Williamstown and village of Kekoskee. Early this month, the Department of Administration accepted a proposal that would see Kekoskee dissolve and join the unincorporated town of Williamstown. The entity would be renamed the village of Williamstown, giving the area ‘home rule.’ That means the new village would be equal to the city of Mayville when it comes to, among other things, annexing land. Mayor Rob Boelk says the city filed their appeal last Friday. He says the decision will affect Mayville tax payers by stunting future growth and ultimately cause taxes to go up. Hoping to address concerns, Williamstown and Kekoskee included a ‘future growth area’ in their plan which would surround Mayville to allow the city to grow. Property owners would be able to detach their land into the city with a three-fourths majority vote. The area would last for 100 years. Boelk maintains that the plan would stunt the city’s growth and adds that no border agreement was met when the merger plan was approved. Boelk says no word was given on when a state ruling would be made on the appeal.