HOWARD (NBC 26) — The new town of Pittsfield chairperson shared with NBC 26 his thoughts on the village of Howard annexing about 150 acres of Pittsfield.
- Meet Scott Mielke, town of Pittsfield chairperson, on his first official day in office
- Howard village administrator Paul Evert says the village's efforts to aquire Pittsfield property ramped up when previous town leadership expressed their opposition to Howard's plan
- See a map of where Howard has expanded its territory into former Pittsfield property along Glendale Avenue
- Hear what Pittsfield is considering to curb the annexations
(The following is a transcription of the broadcast story.)
The village of Howard has annexed almost 150 acres of land north of Glendale Avenue which once belonged to the town of Pittsfield. In Wisconsin, cities and villages can annex town land, but not the other way around.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full broadcast story below:
"The main reason [we are expanding into Pittsfield] is, in Wisconsin, if you don't grow as a municipality you find yourself in a very tough situation financially," Howard village administrator Paul Evert said. At Howard village hall Tuesday he said the village boundary has to expand to accommodate the demand for housing.
"How much have you guys spent over the past couple years buying these properties in order to annex them into the village?" I asked.
"Oh, that's a good question," Evert said. "A lot of these are being made on like land contract payments, but we've probably spent maybe a million and a half dollars on these properties that we can then turn around and sell."
Evert says developers want to annex what was once Pittsfield property to get water and sewer lines for single family home developments.
On Tuesday, Scott Mielke's first day in office as the town of Pittsfield chairperson I asked him what he thinks of the annexations.
"I'm not naive to think that I can stop it," Mielke said. "It's probably eventually going to happen someday but I really don't want to see it ... As the new chair I just don't like to see it and I want to keep Pittsfield Pittsfield."
Previous town leadership made it clear they did not like Howard's plan to expand into Pittsfield. That's when Evert says the village ramped up its efforts to get more Pittsfield property.
"I understand it," Mielke said. "If I was in their shoes I'd probably be thinking the same way. But, obviously I'm on the other side of it and I don't want to see it happen. I want to keep the town viable the way it is as Pittsfield and not eventually be dissolved into other communities."
Mielke says the town has made changes to lot size and frontage requirements and is considering adding sewer and water services to certain areas to attract developers who want to keep their property in Pittsfield's name.
Both Evert and Mielke say they would be open to sitting down and talking about what the future looks like for both communities.
"We're neighbors," Mielke said. "Neighbors should talk."
