By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Efforts to solidify a long-range cooperative boundary plan between the two Waterford municipalities continue in the second half of 2024, in preparation for eventual review and adoption by each governing board.
Last year, village and town officials jointly agreed to convene a work group that would delve into the nuts and bolts of a cooperative boundary plan. Upon completion, the document also could outline a series of protocols that could be taken when land currently within township boundaries is annexed into the village.
The formation of the work group and the intergovernmental boundaries is a turning of the tide from the past, when village and town officials had squabbled over issues revolving around annexations.
Representatives from both municipalities serve on the work group. Tom Mroczkowski, who serves on the Town of Waterford Plan Commission, has been heading up the ad-hoc organization.
Village representatives on the work group include President Don Houston and Trustee Adam Jaskie. Additional town representatives include Supervisors Dale Gauerke and Doug Schwartz.
At a recent listening session, Mroczkowski touched on some of the work group’s efforts in the first half of the year, which have included looking at the possible boundary lines within the map.
The goal, he said, is for the plan to stretch into 50 years – a deviation from many of the other cooperative boundary plans that are in place between townships and adjacent incorporated villages and cities elsewhere in Wisconsin.
“This is not a one-year plan or a five-year plan,” Mroczkowski said in underscoring the long-term nature of the document.
Mroczkowski and other work group members provided a glimpse into some of the terms that could be outlined the in cooperative plan, once the document is completed.
The map, upon completion, would set parameters around future annexations into the village.
“Those boundary lines represent the broadest, furthest, boundary lines for the Village of Waterford for the next 50 years,” Mroczkowski said. “They’re not the boundary lines that will be in place the day after the state approves this, if they do.”
The plan, as proposed in its current state, also could include a number of other provisions, including a pledge from the town that it would not pursue any further incorporation attempts. Several years ago, town petitioners had attempted to incorporate the municipality into the Village of Tichigan, though it ultimately failed.
Additionally, the plan could include a revenue sharing agreement between the municipalities, with the town continuing to receive tax revenue from the village on any annexed parcels, based on assessed valuations and mill rates at the time the detachment from the town took place.
There are a number of steps that will have to take place before any draft documents go before the Waterford Village and Town boards for adoption, and ultimately going to state authorities for final approval.
“Ultimately, the lawyers need to take their swing at this,” Mroczkowski said in illustrating one next step.
For now, members of the work group continue to solicit feedback from residents in both municipalities. Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected].
“We want to talk, we want to hear what the issues are,” Jaskie said.
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