July 6, 2018 – Hartford, WI – Administrator’s Comments: Last week, I attended the 2018 Wisconsin City/County Managers Association Conference in the Wisconsin Dells. This was the 60th Anniversary of this organization. We had three keynote speakers which addressed the topics of Fostering a Positive Work Environment, Mastering the Art of Appreciation, Improving your Mindfulness, and Creating Fun in your Organization. Other topics included Health Care Cost Reduction strategies, Keys to a Good Compensation Plan, Giving Proper Feedback to your Staff and Sex Offender Ordinances. Over 200 people attend these conferences both in Summer and in Winter.
3 Candidates vie for 3rd District Alderperson next Tuesday. Three residents have sent in resumes to run for the open seat for the 3rd District Alderperson on the Common Council. The three candidates will each have time on Tuesday night to present a three-minute speech along with answer any Council questions. The selected candidate will immediately be sworn in and take the office for the remainder of the meeting. This opening took place after the resignation of Alderperson Roger Randolph who moved from the state for work. Residents can watch Tuesday’s meeting on Public Access TV.
Maple Avenue Total Reconstruction Project continues this week: WE energies will be working on Maple Avenue this week replacing old gas mains and laterals to be completed by July 27th. This is the next step of the total reconstruction of this stretch of road which will include the replacement of all utility mains, all lead water laterals, sidewalks along with curb and gutter finishing with the street pavement. The bulk of this project will start the first week of August with completion scheduled for eight weeks after.
Utility Billing to be outsourced next month: Last Friday, Michelle Wirth completed our last in-house utility bills. Starting next month, all bills will be printed and mailed from an outside source allowing more time for our Finance staff to perform deeper dives into our billings and help residents with payments. Michelle has done the mailing of the Utility bills for the last 22 years.
Thin Asphalt Work Continues: The paving contractor was in town last week for the thin asphalt overlay on Riverbend Ct. and Robert Ct. The final piece of our 2018 thin asphalt budget will be the intersection of N. Main and Hidden Creek View which will be completed in the new two weeks. While this intersection gets worked on, access will still be granted to local residents.
Game of Games at JRML: On Thursday, June 21st, the Jack Russell Memorial Library held a Game of Games: Library Edition event for teens. The event was based off of Ellen Degeneres’ new gameshow “Game of Games.” At the event, teens participated in some wacky games. The program was sponsored by American Family Insurance in Hartford.
New Way-Finding Signs going up in July: The City took delivery of the new way-finding signs group purchased by the BID, Chamber and HADC. These new signs will help travelers find important properties including public parking, schools, parks and public attractions. This project was a joint effort between these three business groups.
Electric Utility responds to outage: On Saturday, the Hartford Electric crew was on the scene of an electrical outage on E. Rogers. The cause of the outage was a transformer issue. 15 households were impacted and the electric was restored within 2 hours.
Aquatic Center has hot weekend: Even with a shortened day on Sunday due to inclement weather, just under 2900 people packed the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center last weekend. The heat index over the weekend reached over 100 degrees making the pool the perfect place for families to come and cool down. The next two weekends are expected to likewise offer seasonable warm/dry conditions so our hope is to again pack the pool.
High Street Water Tower has shiny new dome: The repainting project of the 1940’s High Street Water Tower was completed last week. The contractors on this project were able to complete the project on budget and ahead of schedule. Tower painting usually last 15 years with towers inspected every 5 years for issues. Next year, the water tower on Airport Road will be repainted with the Monroe/Hwy K tower scheduled for either 2020 or 2021.
Hartford Fire and Rescue assist Racine Co Depts: Over the weekend, Hartford Fire and Rescue went to the aid of a Racine County Department in a major fire at John’s Disposal in Franksville. The crew took a 12-hour shift Sunday night starting at 9 PM and returned to the station after 11 AM on Monday. Several departments were called to assist with this magnitude of fire.