By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – Of the 8,800-plus registered voters in the village, more than 40 percent have already requested mail-in absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 general election, Village Clerk Bonnie Swan reported at the Monday, Oct. 19, Suamico village board meeting.
As of Monday, the day before in-person absentee voting began at village hall, Swan said Suamico issued 3,813 absentee ballots, for approximately 43 percent of the village’s 8,858 registered voters.
She said 2,454 ballots were already returned with 1,359 not yet received back.
Swan said mail-in absentee ballots may be returned either by mail or dropped off at village hall.
She said Suamico has a drop box in front of the village hall for voters to drop off ballots.
Swan said the locked box is checked twice daily, monitored by the village’s camera system and chained to the building.
She said she expects a large turnout at village hall for the in-person absentee voting running through Oct. 30 with the fire department helping limit the number of people inside voting at one time.
On Election Day the village will have a single polling place in the building vacated by the Marq at 2310 Lineville Road, east of the Shopko building in the Urban Edge Towne Centre.
Swan said the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
She said the new polling location will help keep residents, poll workers and staff safer in response to the social distancing challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Swan said all ballots will be kept secure and transported to village’s central count location at 2310 Lineville Road for processing to begin at 8 a.m. on Election Day.
She said the village has plenty of interested poll workers, with a waiting list of about 30-40 and some being sent to help in the City of Green Bay.
With absentee ballots due by 8 p.m. Nov. 3, unless the deadline is extended by a court order, Village Administrator Alex Kaker said those ballots in Suamico may be returned on Election Day either at the polling location or at village hall to be valid.
Land for sale
After meeting in closed session, Kaker said the board agreed to put up for sale a vacant 40-acre parcel the village owns at 2534 E. Deerfield Ave. for $190,000.
He said the board also discussed, but took no action, on the current Fire Station No. 1 site it is seeking to sell after vacating the property next year to move into the new fire station under construction.
Kaker said he expects the existing Fire Station No. 1 site will be back on the board’s agenda for possible action at the Nov. 2 meeting.
Donations
The board also passed a resolution thanking Dr. Jon Henry for donating $5,000 to the Suamico Fire Department to help offset the cost of having glass apparatus bay doors for the new Fire Station No. 1.
Kaker said Saputo Cheese previously announced plans to donate $50,000 toward the glass doors and exercise equipment at the new station, but has yet to finalize an agreement with the village.
Refurbished sign
Another resolution passed by the board recognized seven individuals along with the Suamico Fire Association for donating time and supplies to refurbish the monument sign at Fireman’s Park, where improvements made this year by the village include a new canoe/kayak launch and walking trail.
CSM approval
The board approved two four-lot certified survey maps.
Zoning Administrator Steve Dunks said the CSM for Chambers Leasing Co. for 5.3 acres 1,000 feet east of Velp Avenue on the north side of Sunny Lane creates three lots where duplexes are expected with an outlot remaining vacant for now.
The conditions of approval included $1,800 in parkland dedication fees.
Dunks said the 13-plus-acre area in the CSM for S. Sonnabend Properties at the northwest corner of Shady Lane and Lost Creek Lane, where public sewer and water are not available, is shown to remain rural on the future land use plan with all lots fronting existing roads.
The conditions of approval included $1,200 in parkland dedication fees with four new lots created.