Mayville Officials Opposed To Kekoskee-Williamstown Consolidation

12/16/17 – City officials in Mayville are opposed to a planned consolidation between the Village of Kekoskee and the Town of Williamstown. After a lengthy closed session meeting this week, the council voted to have the city attorney represent Mayville’s “best interest” in the merger. Under the proposal, the village would absorb the township and be renamed the village of Williamstown, giving the new entity ‘home rule.’ That means the new village would be equals with the city of Mayville when it comes to matters like annexing land. Because there are currently no border agreements in place between the city and the town, it is currently much easier for Mayville to annex land into the city.

Mayor Rob Boelk says the consolidation would have an impact on Mayville and the future growth of the city is a key factor in their decision to have the city attorney get involved. Boelk says the city has had over $13-million dollars in growth over the last two years which is how they have kept taxes down. In addition, he says if land just outside the city cannot be annexed into Mayville those land values would go down without city amenities like emergency services and utilities. Boelk says before moving forward an agreement should be established between Kekoskee and Mayville.

In October, the village and town boards approved a draft Cooperative Plan and then held a public hearing earlier this month. The town and village have until the end of next month to formally adopt a consolidation resolution, which then requires approval on the state level. Affected residents have until the end of this month to submit comments on the proposed Village of Williamstown.

Comments can be directed to:

Cooperative Plan, W3275 County Highway TW, Mayville, WI, 53050

Mary Wille at tnwille@gmail.com

Bonnie Hoyt at kekoskeeclerk@gmail.com