No more “lawyer-ing up” for three towns north of La Crosse

Boundary agreement could be set by March

A new boundary agreement meeting Monday night had just three comments from the public.

People in the city and town of Onalaska and the village of Holmen don’t seem to have many objections.

Onalaska city mayor Joe Chilsen thinks it will reduce the urge among the three communities to compete for businesses and residents.

“We’re going to treat each other with respect in the process from now on instead of building up barricades and lawyering up,” he said.

Holmen village administrator Scott Heinig says it took a while for the local governments to get to an agreement and the plan won’t force anybody to be annexed to another community against their will.

Residents that may fear that their property is being transferred from one jurisdiction to another, they don’t have to worry about that,” Heinig said.

All three communities are expected to approve the proposal during March. Plans for the town of Onalaska to incorporate as a village have been scrapped, for now. It also calls for a referendum and a 65-percent vote for any incorporation to happen in the Brice Prairie area.

Only a few spectators spoke of concerns. One man wanted to be sure a local sewer plant doesn’t pollute his neighborhood. Another said he didn’t quite understand the language in the agreement.