ELLSWORTH — The East End Redevelopment Plan, which includes the redesign and reconstruction of Broadway, Morse and Wall streets, was back on the docket at the April 6 Ellsworth Village Board meeting, this time to select a bid for construction.

Cedar Corporation Project Manager Russ Kiviniemi presented the results of the bidding process for the project. Four bids came in, the lowest of which was from Haas Sons Inc., with a base bid of $3.16 million. There is an additional engineering cost of $527,800, and after approving an alternate bid for a different lighting manufacturer, the selected bid decreased to $3.03 million.

The bids came in well below the $4.05 million budgeted for the project, which brought up two major financial points. The first is that special assessments on property owners that will benefit from the project will likely decrease from what was presented in the preliminary report. The second point is that coming in below budget does mean the received $1,574,982.38 grant will see a decrease proportional to how much the street work came under budget, not the entirety of the project.

“Haas did provide a very, very good bid,” Kiviniemi said. “Quite a bit under our estimate and budget and so forth that was done in 2024.”

Kiviniemi said they knew going in that street lighting would be one of the more expensive portions of the project, which is why they sought alternate bids.

“If you put all three [lighting options] next to them, you wouldn’t even notice the difference,” Kiviniemi said. “We knew the decorative streetlights were going to be one of the most expensive portions of the project.”

The board also reached an agreement with Cedar Corporation for engineering on the project during the construction phase. Cedar Corporation had a separate contract during the design phase, so upon approving a bid, an updated contract was needed.

The East End Revitalization Initiative was recognized as the Wisconsin Top Rural Development Initiative by Wisconsin Rural Partners.

“The award highlights innovative projects that strengthen rural communities through collaboration, strategic investment, and long-term economic impact,” village documents state.

During an active public comment period, multiple residents spoke up about the redevelopment project. Just like at recent meetings, multiple people spoke against the change from angled to parallel parking on Broadway Street.

“I’m still really wondering how it can get cut and dry when we didn’t get to say stuff on it,” Hair Traffic Control Owner Fay Albarado said. “We all have room [to remain at angled parking].”

Albarado said many of the consumers in the area are older community members, and parallel parking makes it more difficult for them to park on Broadway.

While the total number of parking spaces will remain about the same in the East End business district, the change on Broadway decreases spaces on the street and spreads them around on other streets to make up for the difference.

“Think about the people in this town instead of the Chamber of Commerce where half of them aren’t even from this village,” Former Village Board Trustee Tom Schutz said. “Everything the Commerce wants, Ellsworth Village gets.”

Resident Sean Hall referenced Trustee Tony Hines’ statement at the March meeting that there have been 15 public meetings on the East End Redevelopment topic, claiming there are only 3-5 listed online in the archives. He said either the 15 meetings claim is false or the village is not taking the proper steps to archive meetings online.

“There’s too many [meeting minutes] missing. There’s not enough updated,” Hall said.

Due to rules of the board, representatives cannot respond to public commenters, but the Journal can confirm there have been double-digit open meetings regarding the East End Redevelopment Plan between Village Board and other committees including the Community Development Authority and Street and Sidewalks Committee since the spring of 2025.

Other business

• After discussing four items during closed session, the board reconvened to open session to approve a contract with CBS Squared regarding the Grant and Piety project, approved a motion to terminate the wastewater foreman employee due to an inability to return to work and adequate perform the work as well as opening the hiring process for a replacement and disallowed a claim from Sarah Beil.
• Approved an employee compensation study that would allow the village to find a competitive compensation window for positions to attract and retain staff. Included in the item is an update to the employee handbook.
• Agreed to terms with Cedar Corporation for the closing of the CDBG revolving loan program, which the state is mandating municipalities to return funds from.
• Accepted a $2,500 donation from the Chamber of Commerce for the Façade Improvement Program.
• Approved water tower inspection and cleaning, the purchase of a $22,750 portable air compressor and a change in phone service for Village Hall.
• Approved Class B beer, Class C wine and dance licenses for The Poor Farm Event Center at 760 Crosstown Road.