Village committee hears county help and grant options as Silver Beach Road flooding and freight needs persist

At a Village of Belgium Silver Beach Road Committee meeting, town chairman Tom Waker and Ozaukee County road commissioner John Edgren outlined a multi‑year effort to fix chronic flooding and rebuild Silver Beach Road to village standards so it can safely carry semitrailer traffic. Village officials and county staff discussed grant programs, land negotiations and an engineering timetable; village leaders said the municipality currently lacks the borrowing capacity to finance the local share for a major project for several years.

The committee’s purpose, as presented by Dan Gurnbaugh, is to resolve persistent stormwater issues by building a pond and improving drainage, then reconstructing the road. "The scope of the project is to get some stormwater drainage up there... and then make the road fully approved for village standards for semi traffic," Gurnbaugh said, describing the work as a multiyear undertaking.

Why it matters: the road floods frequently and the engineering team told the committee the pond needs to sit on the north side of the road (east of Franklin) to collect runoff. Committee members said continued flooding is hampering economic activity in the adjacent industrial park and discouraging investment.

County road commissioner John Edgren described related county and state projects that could affect timing and opportunities. He outlined two county projects — a multi‑mile widening/repave with added shoulders and a township repave — and described the state’s planned I‑43 expansion and interchange work, which county staff expect to begin preparatory work in the near term. Edgren urged villages to have projects "ready to go" so they can take advantage of competitive infrastructure funding when it becomes available.

Committee members discussed multiple grant programs as potential funding sources, including STP, TEA (Transportation Economic Assistance) and multimodal/local supplement grants. Dewey (telephone participant) noted TEA grants generally do not exceed $1 million and statewide award pools have been modest in recent budgets; he offered to provide staff with program details by email. Several speakers emphasized that grant programs typically require local matching funds and that match ratios can vary widely (speakers discussed examples ranging from roughly 50/50 to as high as 90/10).

Village staff said borrowing capacity is the central constraint. Vicky Beeline, the village staff member who reviewed grant postings, said many federal and state programs favor shovel‑ready projects or include loan components that still require local borrowing capacity. Committee members concluded the village is unlikely to be in a position to fund the local share for a major grant before about five years without changes to debt limits or revenue.

On land acquisition, Pete Anzia reported a constructive meeting with landowner Dan Gasser and his son Luke; the owners signaled they would negotiate over roughly eight acres needed for pond siting, but said they expect farmland valuation rather than a municipal land swap. The committee agreed the near‑term next step is to have engineers assess exact acreage and pond feasibility before firm negotiations or grant applications proceed.

Next steps agreed by the committee: Dewey’s office will email grant details to village staff; the village will ask its engineering firm to assess pond siting and the acreage required; and the committee will defer further meetings until the village has engineering estimates or new funding options. "If you have projects that are ready to go, you know, apply for this funding," Edgren said, urging readiness when funding cycles arise.

The committee approved minutes from the previous meeting and adjourned; no formal funding commitments or grant applications were authorized at this session.