The Ellsworth Village Board approved the Request for Proposals (RFP) process for a new property owner to take over the old village library building off of Main Street on May 4.
The RFP will be open until Aug. 7. From there, the Community Development Authority will review submitted documents, with the Village Board expected to field the agenda item during the Sept. 7 meeting.
The RFP includes the following goals and measurables:

• Activate the downtown through a commercial use that attracts both residents and visitors.
• Demonstrate financial feasibility and ensure long-term operational and economic viability.
• Preserve and enhance the character of the W. Main Street corridor.
• Deliver measurable economic benefits, including job creation and increased tax base.
• Provide a realistic and achievable timeline for development and construction.
• Maintain high architectural quality and design consistency.
• Ensure compatibility with surrounding businesses and the broader downtown environment.
• Support uses that generate significant foot traffic and contribute to a vibrant future for the site.

After making a few legal tweaks suggested by Village Attorney Bob Loberg, the board made the approval.

Floodplain delineation

Back in August, the board approved a $16,000 floodplain delineation study in the East End Industrial Park to find out if some of the village property in the area was developable for interested buyers.
That study was completed, and during the May meeting, the board was faced with an additional $2,000 expense for clarifications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“We know the study. To get the FEMA maps changed, we have to go through this step. If we don’t get the FEMA maps changed, anyone who has property down there and builds within the areas of the old floodplain maps, then they would have additional flood insurance expenses and a lot of added expenses. So, it’s in our best interest just to get the maps amended,” Village Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Brad Roy said.

After a separate item’s closed session discussion, the board accepted a $23,000 land purchase offer in the industrial park.

The board also approved a $204,260.11 payment toward the Grant and Piety Street project.

Public comment

A pair of East End business owners spoke about the Broadway Street work being done.

“I do believe that when you build something, remodel something or whatever, you have until the day that it gets done to change things,” Hair Traffic Control owner Fay Albarado said. “Yes, it needs to be paved. Yes, the sidewalk needs fixing. But the 14-feet sidewalks, that’s crazy, and the worst part is the parallel parking. I’m going to lose so much frontage space if it goes to parallel parking [from angled].”

Albarado said there are elderly clients at Hair Traffic Control, and this change will be hard for many of them. Additionally, Albarado said it would be cheaper to fix the current road and sidewalks to remodel the street entirely.

Board Trustee Ryan Bench said the village went through a change after a project was already approved when they took bike lanes off the North Grant Street project and it cost $25,000 to reengineer. To reengineer the entirety of Broadway would be a significant expense, Bench said.

BW’s Tavern Owner Wade Olson said despite parking space totals remaining relatively the same overall, pulling spots from Broadway and relocating them around the rest of the project to allow for the change to parallel parking hurts Broadway businesses.