Green Tree Subdivision -Another Village Botch-Up

 

    A few months ago Kronenwetter was presented with a preliminary plan for a  60-lot development in the NE corner of the Village Water and Sewer District. Normally this would be a great opportunity to break the Village's growth-drought of the past couple of years. 

   Unfortunately, it appears that no one at the Village knows the difference between a "preliminary plan" which is like an "initial offer" (or starting point),  and a "final plan" which is the product of discussion including the Village's interests in the project.

    On Sept 28, the Kronenwetter Village Board voted unanimously to approve the preliminary plan by a company called Green Tree, as is, with only the most minor of tweaks suggested by the Plan Commission.

   This appears to me to be yet another example of the staff/Village Board ineptitude and Charlie-Brownish inability to do anything right. 

   A person might almost think that Admin Davel, Prez Joling, and the rest of the Board are going out of their way to sabotage Kronenwetter's best interests and to hobble the likelihood for future growth.

This article covers the topics:

• A history of alleged corruption in 2026.

• An apparent pattern of current laziness, lack of due diligence, incompetence in dealing with Village business.

• Disregard for Village Ordinances and State Statutes.

• Cost to the Village (taxpayers) due to the above.

Disreputable Track Record

This "dropping of the ball" is disappointing, as is is just another in a growing list. 

  In 2026 so far, the above-mentioned actors have had at least 3 major strike-outs plus numerous errors; with no runs and no hits for the Village residents.

1. In January Prez Joling supported by his allegedly fake "attorney for the Village on this matter" allegedly ignored lawful proper procedure, and several higher court rulings to ramrod through the approval for a 23 acre sand pit next to single family homes at the Maple Ridge/Hwy 39 interchange area. This was one of the Village's most promising areas for commercial and/or light industry development.

      To add insult to injury, and great embarrassment to the Village as a whole, Prez Joling crowed to local news about how this debacle was actually good for Village taxpayers, when in fact, it was detrimental to the value of neighboring homes, and potential future commercial growth such as a Woodman's Grocery or other similar entities needing a large acreage near an interchange.

   The big winner for all of Joling's efforts was the applicant Milestone Materials who effectively realized a instant multi-million dollar asset windfall  due to the permit approval, at the expense of the Village residents.

      As if to rub salt into the wound, admin Davel then apparently contacted the news media with an absurd (non)story about Kronenwetter planning for a "main street", with a possible location in the Maple Ridge area. This was exactly where they just gave irrevocable approval for a perpetual sand pit operation to proceed. The unmitigated buffoonishness of Davel and trustee Aaron Myszka's PR stunt can hardly be exaggerated.

2. In August -September, another prime commercial/industrial location on Old 51 near the Hwy 39 interchange was effectively surrendered to the County amid Davel's public groveling and brown-nosing of county officials. While this was a tremendous boon and financial benefit to the County, the Village of Kronenwetter taxpayers did not realize a single advantage from this deal; zero.

      Instead, the Village lost thousands of dollars in current revenue, in addition to 30 acres of potentially taxable property and millions of dollars of potential taxable increment. We're talking approximately $200,000 in annual revenue lost to the village due to Davel's lobbying efforts on behalf of the County.

   This was followed up by Plan Commission/Village Board  approval in obedience to Davel's obviously bad advice.

3. Now, we had the Green Tree Subdivision which could have been a great move forward for the Village, but again like Charlie Brown, the officials involved let the ball hit them in the forehead rather than catching it in their glove.  A home-run for the other team, and a blunder for Kronenwetter.

   I'll just say here that the packet report and Davel's comments at that meeting, were not exactly true. Davel once again revealed an extremely short-sighted mentality, and lack of business sense.

   The whole Sept 28th presentation to the Board both written and verbal seems to reek of misinformation, with the appearance to me of some kind of backroom deals favoring the developer. On top of that the whole plan appears to be illegal, which  both the Plan Commission and the Board apparently knew when they approved it.

Background of the Subdivision

   This project was originally a Denyon homes plan that was looking at 116 lots, at least ten of which would have been zero lot line duplexes. So, 126 homes total.

   The Board originally balked at the zero lot line (twin homes as it is sometimes called; which is essentially a duplex with separate owners.), looking for more information.

   Someone at the Village started talking about putting an ill-advised "TID 5" somewhere in that area, for which Joling, Myszka, Mortensen, and Stowell voted to spend $3000. My objections were due to the fact that a TID 5 was not a likely possibility for this area. We have never seen what Ehlers provided for that $3000.

   Denyon decided at some point to back out of the project, and Green Tree has dibs on buying the land for the current project. The Board was not provided with any details of the back-out, or even that Denyon had lost interest.

   Here is that original Denyon plan on page 83.  

   There was also an issue of cost for a lift station that would be needed, and who was supposed to pay for it. Denyon reportedly was willing to pay for a lift station to service the development.

   Village officials wanted a larger lift station able to accommodate future development in that area. It would be reasonable to assume that the extra cost for the larger capacity above what was needed for the 126 homes, would be paid by the Village Sewer entity. I don't know what the hang up was there, but nothing about the infrastructure issue was ever brought to Plan Commission or Village Board for discussion.

   Green Tree came up with this current plan to have larger 1 acre lots, each with its own water well and septic system. Larger lots are fine, but this was only intended to avoid the cost of water and sewer infrastructure for the developer. The one-acre lots are a minimum for private sewer/water systems, but do not necessarily indicate larger houses will be built.

   Aside from apparently being ILLEGAL, the private septic system plan creates potential costly problems for the Village down the road.

   This current plan also includes 6 lots that open to that short stretch of Pleasant Road between Pine and Hwy X, which appears to create a potential traffic hazard.

   That new plan is on page 103 here.

   The storm water plans also look questionable. The previous plan called for a retention pond, and that dirt being used to elevate the building sites of houses to avoid basement water issues that were a problem in the subdivision immediately to the west of this area.

Board-approved Illegality

   Development is fine, but not at the expense of current taxpayers. Before we get to other issues with the now-approved plan, Here is the bigger issue that no one mentioned at the meeting.

   The claim that "municipal sewer and water service is not available at the site." is misleading at best, and in my opinion is an effort to ignore current law simply because it is inconvenient. Not to circumvent it, but just plain violate it as if it does not exist.

   The whole Green Tree development area is within the Village Water and Sewer district, and by law (Village Ordinance) they cannot have private wells or sewer systems there.

Kronenwetter Ordinance 508.37 states:

“The maintenance and use of septic tanks and other private sewage disposal systems within the boundaries of the village and serviced by its sewer system are hereby declared to be a public nuisance and a health hazard. From and after December 31, 1997, the use of septic tanks or any private sewage disposal system within the boundaries of the village serviced by the sewer system shall be prohibited”

   The language there is plain, and very strong. The proposed subdivision is within the boundaries of the W&S district. If someone wants to build houses there, then someone needs to put the infrastructure there to accommodate those dwellings. This is not a difficult concept to understand, and the "unattainable" label used in the narrative is a complete fallacy.

   It appears that Davel/Joling and the Board were desperate to obtain some kind of development as an "achievement" after an 11-month string of disasters. They were apparently willing, once again, to "give away the store" of Village best interests to get that development. There was apparently no one on the Village side of the deal having the will or the business sense to even try to work with the developers responsibly, and to represent Village interests..

   "Beggars can't be choosers", and it seems that under Mr. Davel's guidance the Village assumed the position of "beggar", when they did not need to. This suspiciously does not make logical sense.

   The "new village culture" seems to entail an apparent disregard for law whenever it is convenient. This seems to mirror Davel's activities at Shawano which apparently caused that county so much trouble.

   The developer's plan as presented by Davel and Sandwick to the Plan Commission and to the Village Board, appears to be illegal on its face. Yet not a peep about it from anyone at the Village. The entire Board has been told, and knows of this fact, but apparently they could not care less about it, since it was not mentioned even once at the meeting, other than by public input.

   This gets back to high levels of public suspicion of dishonest government. Why exactly would the Board blatantly ignore Village Ordinance like this for no reason and without even an excuse? Why would prez Dan Joling yet again ignore his statutory duty to enforce village ordinances (Wisc 61.24) in such a blatant "middle finger to the residents" manner?

   To paraphrase FDR - "Nothing in government happens by accident or without a reason".

   If they were so desperate to land this development, why did they not first change the ordinance and thus allow themselves to approve the plan legally? Again, the familiar answer seems to again come up - "They don't care." There is no consistency of enforcement or standards; no set principles. How you are treated depends on who you are, and the gatekeeper's approval, I guess.

Due Diligence

The Sept 28 Wausau Pilot article says: "Lots would be 1 acre or larger and served by private wells and septic systems, because municipal sewer and water service is not available at the site."

    This statement is not exactly true. It is true that of course there is no service there now, because it is all fields and trees, but there is no reason to believe that the service will not or cannot be available as the roads are built and by the time houses are started.

  That report appears to be based on Village staff Nathan Sandwick's packet report that states: "Prior subdivision concept plans that had called for long-range planned municipal water and sewer service at this site could not advance through the approval process due in part to unavailability of those services with no definite commitments to expansion to date."

   This report is misleading at best, and I would call it unnecessarily untrue, and that the sentence actually doesn't even make sense, Both of the above statements appear to be based primarily on the developer's narrative which states "with public sewer and water that became unattainable even with Village participation."

   Again untrue - What do they mean "unattainable"? What does Sandwick mean "could not advance..." ? or "unavailability of those services"? What do they base these statements on? I suspect that the false premise comes from Davel himself. Someone had to tell Green Tree this false premise. I mean, how can anyone be in the "village" business and looking for development, while being "unable" to provide the infrastructure that you are in the business of providing? The whole idea is absurd, but unfortunately the current administration seems to specialize in absurdities.

   Admin Davel's comment at the Sept 28 meeting that Denyon "was turned down 9 times" on this issue appears to be yet another prevarication to push this development through as-is, without advocating village interests or legal requirements. Can anyone provide when or where these alleged "9 times" actually took place?

    I was on the Village Board and on Plan Commission until last April and neither body heard anything about any claim that water and sewer were "unavailable to this area", or about cost-division issues. Administrator James Davel never brought any issue of Water & Sewer infrastructure to the Plan Commission or to the Village Board for any kind of discussion or decision whatsoever. Why not? Why is he now making seemingly false claims about it, unless he himself told the developer this false information?

   I don't see where anyone at the Village ever really put in any serious effort to work out a legitimate W&S plan with either Denyon ot Green Tree. Who exactly was it that supposedly was involved in "not attaining" W&S service, or making it "unattainable"? We don't know because all we have is generalized rhetoric coming from Davel. Where are the facts?

   This raises red flags, because it all looks like a false cover story to avoid any real discussion, and to save the developer the cost of infrastructure and a lift station at the expense of W&S customers. A cost which in turn gets dumped on the general property taxpayers.

   These circumstances lead me to the inescapable conclusion that someone preferred not to pay for W&S infrastructure as required by Village Ordinance, and that due to lack of business  ability or effort, the Village rolled over under Davel's direction and accepted the plan basically as presented, while completely ignoring Village ordinances and detrimental effects on future development prospects.

    This "accept the plan or lose the deal" attitude appears to be a completely manufactured, false limited choice. This is apparently what happens when incompetent board members knowingly hire other inexperienced or incompetent department heads due to expediency, and without regard for longer term taxpayer/resident best interests. With Wegner gone, I don't see a single person there who can sit down and intelligently discuss an honest business deal.

   In my opinion, this whole scenario indicates evidence of a huge scam on the W&S ratepayers and Village taxpayers that would not be possible without Village officials making some kind of back room deals that require BS-ing the Board and/or public with untenable cover stories like "no service available".

What the Village Lost on this Deal

   The way Wisconsin laws are set up, growth is necessary for a municipality to thrive. Residential growth seems to be the most likely to play the biggest part, and logically, it will likely extend to the east of Pleasant Road, near this Green Tree project.

   The W&S system relies on expansion to split the cost of infrastructure between a greater number of customers. A lift station will be needed sooner or later in this area to accommodate that eastward growth, and as mentioned above, Denyon was reportedly willing to pay their share of a lift station and infrastructure through the Glacier Meadow (now Green Tree) development. That would have been a fair deal all around, and would have left the Village one step ahead  for the future. Whenever the next developer had an interest in that area, the lift station would be ready to hook up to and there would be no delays or wrangling about it

   The developer would pay their share based on the size of their development. This money would reimburse the Village's initial cost, and on it would go with other developers until the capacity of the lift station was reached. In case anyone might miss the point, let me explain that it is much more financially advantageous to pay for half of an oversized lift station now, than it would be to pay for all of a smaller one in the future. It would also generate 60 new W&S customers.

   Instead of that common sense progression, Davel and the gang undercut it and basically threw a wrench into any future development, by giving Green Tree a free pass on its obligation to connect to the W&S system.There does not appear to be a provision in law for municipalities to simply ignore their own ordinances.

   Instead of a reasonable, beneficial business deal for all involved, we now have a lop-sided. allegedly illegal project which is not good for W&S current customers, not good for those new home owners (cost to build and maintain private systems), and not good for future growth potential, but financially it looks great for Green Tree, who I would think was not expecting the Village to jump at their first offer like this.

Icing on the Cake

   Let me ask you this: If you bought a house in this development thinking everything was legal, inspected, etc. then found out that your kids were sick because your well water was contaminated by Cryptosporidium or other contaminants from a neighbor's septic system; who would you expect to pay for the problem if you knew that the Village Board knowingly approved this plan to create a "PUBLIC NUISANCE AND HEALTH HAZARD" in conflict with its own ordinances?

 Realistically, if you were on the jury in such a case, who would you find at fault?

   Those on the Village Board apparently don't seem to have the sense to see beyond their next meal what the potential consequences of their actions might be. It might happen, it might not, but why take the chance when it was not necessary? The Board won't be the ones paying for their own stupidity if something unfortunate happens. Instead, it will as always be you; the village taxpayer.

     In my opinion, the approval of this plan was penny wise and pound foolish, showing zero foresight, leaving the village with the short end of the deal, and the taxpayers holding the bag for potential liabilities for this apparently illegal act.

 Small minded, unwarranted desperation, and embarrassingly weak "leadership" - How much more could the current administrator and Board have botched this up?