Thiensville decides to bury power lines

Thiensville - The Thiensville Village Board decided Monday to bury power lines that span Pigeon Creek as part of the Main Street Improvement project in an effort to remove the eyesore in the village's soon-to-be made over downtown area.

Last month, the Thiensville Committee of the Whole debated whether the power lines would mar the view created by the improvement project that includes relocating the Main Street parking lot and improvements to the Green Bay Bridge. The COW did not want to immediately approve spending an extra $86,000, which is the cost to bury the lines. The cost of removing one pole and two crossings, the second option the COW and Village Board considered, would have cost $10,000.

The board does not yet know specifics on how they will bury the power lines, Village President Van Mobley said.

On Tuesday, the board also approved the whole Main Street improvement project that includes a wall along the west side of the creek, a municipal parking lot between the old fire station and the Reuter's building to the north, landscaping which would turn the area just south of the new parking lot into new park space, a walking path and improvements to the Green Bay Road bridge that spans the creek.

"While I can't speak for the entire board my thoughts on the lines were that I have never been to a high quality downtown area that had utility wires hanging over a creek that is an integral part of the downtown area," Mobley said.

The total project amount, excluding the cost to relocate the power lines, is approximately $412,000. The village would "borrow" these funds from the 2013 Main Street water project fund, and pay back into the fund out of next year's capital budget - in keeping with Thiensville's "cash only" method of funding public projects without using debt.

The $86,000 for the electricity portion of the project would also be "borrowed" from the water project fund, Village Manager Dianne Robertson said.

The Village Board on Monday also voted to award the Green Bay Road Reconstruction project to Stark Asphalt. The cost for this project is $304,425 according to village documents.