By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – An amendment to Urban Edge’s Planned Development District to construct two 20-unit luxury apartment buildings north of Festival Foods and west of the former Shopko store was approved Monday, Aug. 3, by the village board.
Zoning Administrator Steve Dunks said Midwest Expansion proposed the luxury apartments, which will be “a step up from what was built behind Shopko.”
“(Midwest Expansion is) trying to do something to bring in bodies to either draw or keep existing retail businesses in there,” he said.
Dunks said conditions of approval include parkland fees of $300 per unit ($12,000 total) being due upon obtaining a building permit for the project, which must also meet the requirements of all other applicable ordinances, regulations and reviewing agencies.
Village Administrator Alex Kaker said the luxury apartment project includes an enclosed garage area between the two apartment buildings.
Road flooding remediation
In other action, the board approved a road project change order to reduce the amount of water present on the surface of Sunset Beach Road and Lane.
The change order from Northeast Asphalt includes using $22,931 from the unassigned road reconstruction fund, $4,530 for a pipe plug and $1,500 to install the plug from the unassigned storm water utility fund.
“In conjunction with the (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources), we believe we can isolate the area between the road and the walking trail, utilizing the DNR’s pump station to pump out the water from that basin to an area further west,” said Public Works Director Andy Smits.
To accomplish this, Smits said three things need to be done:
• The culverts that allow water from the Suamico River and main bay of the impoundment into that basin need to be plugged.
• Sunset Beach Road will need to be raised over the portion that contains the culvert.
• The Sensiba walking trail emergency overflow needs to be raised to keep water contained to the main bay within Sensiba.
Smits said the culvert under Sunset Beach Road is a 42-inch pipe that will need an inflatable device to seal it off, for which a diver will be used to install the plug.
He said about 485 feet of pavement will be raised with 4 inches of stone for a total height change of 7 inches, which should keep water in the river and prevent it from flowing over the road.
Smits said the Sensiba walking trail emergency overflow has been under water and unusable in its current condition, so the DNR will take care of this portion of the trail, along with the pumping of the water through the agency’s pump station.