Sauk City commends Eagle Scout, hears public comment on bleacher funding

Sauk City’s village meetings throughout December and January were relatively routine, with a December 10th and January 14th meeting passing quietly as far as the agendas went. At the January 14th meeting, however, the Village did issue a proclamation commending Alexander Peter Dorr for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. A resident at the December 10th meeting also questioned the board’s apparent verbal commitment of public funds at a previous meeting without a vote.  At the December 10th meeting during public comment a resident wanted to know how much the village was going to pay for new bleachers at Chuck Hall Field because there was “no vote on it.” The resident added, “Because I was kind of concerned, because there was no, really no vote on it. It was just kind of, ‘Oh yeah, well, we can put in the extra money.’ So I just kind of wondered what was going on with that.” Per state law—which dictates that board members cannot legally comment on non-agenda items—which this was, no one on the board responded to the comment.  At a September 10th, 2024, meeting, Donny Ballweg spoke to the board about the bleachers for the baseball field. He was blunt: “You’re sitting on a lawsuit waiting to happen.” The bleachers were in such bad shape that everyone at the meeting who know of them agreed they were “unsafe.” Ballweg said his organization had raised $103,000 of the $127,000 needed to replace them. He asked the board if the village was willing to pick up whatever little remainder there would be once the funding is done, if any. The board quickly agreed—verbally, without taking a vote--with Village President Jim Anderson saying “Yes, we can do that.” At the same meeting the board was told that SaltCo, who recently agreed to expand operations in the business park, would be starting off with a smaller footprint than expected. The board was fine to find that the company wanted to open with a 4-bay building alone and not include the office upon initial construction. At their January 14th meeting, the board voted to commend Dorr for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. The proclamation noted that Dorr joined the Scouts on September 21st, 2021, and has since completed 32 merit badges. His Eagle Scout Service Project was to install a mini free pantry to supplement the Sauk Prairie Food Pantry, to address 24-hour food insecurity in the community. Dorr has previously been a patrol leader and senior patrol leader for the Troop and is currently Troop 74’s Chaplain and Troop Guide. Dorr plans to pursue a career as a military chaplain after graduation.