Silver Lake Village Board approves loan resolution for storm sewer repairs

silver-lake-VHThe Silver Lake Village Board approved a resolution to authorize applying for a loan from the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners to fund storm water repairs in the village.

The loan amount is $530,000. It will have a term of 20 years and 4.25 percent interest.

Village President Sue Gerber said the village initially sought a loan from Peoples Bank, which has a branch in the village, but the bank withdrew because of the uncertainty around the upcoming November village government dissolution  referendum.

Village attorney Linda Gray said passing the resolution doesn’t necessarily mean the village will borrow the money ultimately. The commissioners will not be able to meet to approve the loan until next month, which could be too late to start storm sewer work.

If the village does not dissolve and it had received the loan proceeds, it could prepay the commissioners loan if it could get better terms from Peoples, Gray said.

The resolution passed with Trustee Patrick Dunn voting no and Trustee Mike Decker and Chris Willkomm absent.

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14 Comments

  1. Pete says:

    Can we vote yet? Not soon enough for me.

  2. Bad Investment says:

    Silver Lake is a bad investment. The Peoples bank knows that. The library has opened the banks eyes.

  3. Bernard Punsley says:

    Well let’s saddle the taxpayers with ANOTHER $530,000 “loan payment”. Let’s just keep loading up those credit cards, folks! Our own local bank withdrew because of all the uncertainty surrounding the project. Our “downtown” is in shambles, sewers are failing, police and fire are in a state of disarray, our budget is an absolute train wreck…….let’s put another half million plus on the taxpayers back. Lets’ see Ms. Erb work some “spreadsheet magic” with these new figures!

  4. $ilver Lake $pending says:

    Ummm….did we win the lottery in Silver Lake? $250,000 “loan” for the library that nobody wants except a few folks in Silver Lake. $500,000+ annual budget for police “protection”. $28,000 annual “stipend” to provide ambulance service minus paramedic level protection(“not needed….only 2 paramedic calls per year in Silver Lake). No money for firefighter gear,tires for the fire trucks, much less recognizing Fire Chief Draeger. On top of all of that, we are going to be saddled with $530,000 for the next 20 years to repair SOME of our sewers, not ALL of them! But hey, the interest rate on the loan is ONLY 4.25%, so lets’ all do cartwheels. Even our own local bank “balked” at loaning us the dough! And once again, when an issue as important as this is presented to the board, Willkomm and Decker are “absent”. As is any common sense. But hey, Attorney Gray advises that passing the resolution doesn’t neccessarily mean the village will borrow the money. Oh. Thanks for that gem!

  5. What does Salem think? says:

    What will Salem think of paying for the new sewer after Galich and Albrecht’s flunky’s vote to dissolve?

  6. Wow says:

    Wow what will Salem think when they have to take over because Silver Lake goes bankrupt.

  7. Salem Sitizen says:

    OK..I’ll bite….I live in Salem……………who are “Galich and Albrecht”? Do I need to be concerned?

  8. Bernard Punsley says:

    @What does Salem think?……ah…who cares? If the “flunky vote” to dissolve FAILS, then we can pay the $530,000+ payment, for the next 20 YEARS! And don’t forget, this is only to repair/fix SOME of our dilapitated sewers, NOT ALL OF THEM!!!!!! So we will be going “back to the bank” sometime in the future when the rest of our sewers need repair. DISSOLVE NOW!!

  9. Karen Erb says:

    I little more of the detail of the loan…the bank only declined to finance the project at this time because of the pending referendum. Once the fate of Silver Lake is secure, they would be glad to offer a loan at a much lower rate than that of the state. The loan from the state has no pre-payment clause, so we would be safe paying it off with a loan from the bank and getting a much shorter term to boot.

    Isn’t it funny that all those who criticize the Village Board are afraid to use real names? The anonymous comments should not be taken seriously! Perhaps these nay sayers would have an equal amount to say if the board voted to let the houses continue to flood after a bad storm. Do they have a solution….you bet: Let Salem pay for it. All you Salem Electeds beware…these could be your constituents soon. It is not possible to make them happy! Be careful what you wish for. Our dowry might sound appealing, but it comes with these bunch of voters. There isn’t going to be anything you can do right either! And remember the truth is not their friend.

  10. Bernard Punsley says:

    @Karen Erb: Ah….once again Karen, you offered no SOLUTIONS. The loan is $530.000 for the NEXT 20 YEARS. It does NOT fix ALL of our sewers, only SOME of them! So getting a lower interest rate is your solution? Since you maintain “anonymous comments should not be taken seriously”….virtually ALL of the posts on West of the I are “anonymous”. So following your rationale, only yours or people using their real names should be considered. REALLY? You already “know” who I am….why does “Bernard” offend you? Don’t know what “dowry” you are referring to…..WE DON’ T HAVE ONE!!!! All we have is loans, loans, loans, loans, loans, loans……………….you conveniently FORGET one thing, Karen, Salem is NOT seeking to have Silver Lake join them! So keep trying your “bait and switch/smoke and mirrors” tactics.

  11. Careful what we wish for ?? says:

    We don’t wish this. This isn’t like some property owner who wants to annex into a neighboring community.

    You guys aren’t voting to join us.

    YOU ARE VOTING TO END YOU!

    I really don’t see the big deal. Your taxes will go down and we won’t have to build a new fire station. Your board members can run for our board and maybe Salem will increase it by two.
    I think the biggest change will be for Darren at WestoftheI. One less board meeting to attend and a lot less comments to moderate.

    Oh yea, one more thing. You guys can always vote yourselves back into a village. You just have to tell your people why living in Salem is so bad.

    Signed, another anonymous Salem resident.

  12. @Salem resident says:

    Don’t believe the lies,,,,, Just because someone says taxes will go down, doesn’t make it true. Where’s the proof? I’ve asked several people who want to dissolve to provide me any thing that will show me Silver Lake taxes will go down,,, nobody has done so. Because the truth is taxes will go up from the majority of residents. We will get less services , less support, have less say in how our town is run,,, and be forced to pay more for it.

  13. to WOW says:

    No matter how many times your repeat a myth,,, doesn’t make it true. The village isn’t going bankrupt. That’s another dumb talking point our former president came up with. The same former president who residents overwhelmingly voted out of office.

  14. @ Salem Sitizen says:

    You should be concerned, first off your going to assume all the Village debt and secondly, it’s been his goal since retirement to become a fire chief somewhere… hmmmmm maybe Salem… there goes that department too!!

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