Good evening everyone for WRCO News.
I'm Todd Copernall.
The Richland Center Kiwanis Club is currently holding an event at the Richland Center Community Center that helps raise money for a good cause.
Steve Colestead is the soon-to-be outgoing president of the Kiwanis and is an organizer of the event.
We always have a fall pancake supper and we use the money that we raise for that to support our Coats for Kids program.
We've been running a Coats for Kids program in this county for 15 years and we hand out some place around 200 coats to needy kids in our community that just don't have a coat and this year's probably no difference.
but this pancake supper will start at 4.30 because some of the seniors and the senior center they kind of get in line at 4.30 and rather than have them wait till five o'clock we'll just feed them and then we'll run until seven o'clock.
It's a Goodwill offering and what I like about a Goodwill offering is that you can bring your whole family for a few bucks.
sit around the table, have as many pancakes as you want and sausages and apple sauce and warm cherry sauce and a beverage to go with it and just have the chance to catch up.
Money raised from the supper will help keep kids in need of a coat
warm
during the upcoming cold months.
The money that we raise, the donation that comes in your donation for a meal goes directly to this
coats for kids program because not all the same sizes are donated.
I kind of think about a couple of the coats that I gave out last year to young men in our community who are still in high school and you know, I'm a double X. And so some people think that I'm really kind of a big guy, but I'll tell you what, I drowned in four X coats and we had to purchase a few four X coats last year for kids who needed them.
And so that's what this money is used for.
The coats we don't have on hand from donations, that type of thing, to fit the holes that are left in the request.
And so we go out and we actually buy brand new coats for the kids that need them.
Enjoy a great meal and help support the Coats for Kids program at the Richland Center Kiwanis Club Pancake Supper from now until 7 p.m.
at the Richland Center Community Center.
The cost of the All You Can Eat meal is a goodwill donation.
ATHS Southern Wisconsin Chapter and Hill Country Classic Power CC will present the 43rd annual Wheels of Time Truck and Tractor Show Friday and Saturday from 8 to 5 and Sunday from 8 to 3 at the Richland County Fairgrounds.
This year's event will feature a classic tractor.
Paul Posh is an organizer of the event.
Plenty of things to do and plenty of things to do yet.
I mean we're getting ready to go.
We got everything pretty much in place.
Hope to have a really good show.
We got Alice Chalmers this year, and we usually have a really good turnout of trucks, many old, all the way to brand new ones, and we welcome all.
There will be a wide variety of classic trucks and tractors on display.
During the three-day event, there will be a truck drive on Friday morning at nine.
The cost to be a part of the drive is $25 per vehicle.
Saturday morning, there will be a tractor and ATV drive.
Bill Geer is also an organizer of Wheels of Time.
We have our tractor ride Saturday morning.
Mine up's around 9.
We leave the fairgrounds 9.30.
We got about a 16, 17 mile route we take.
Taking it the same route we did about five years ago.
We've been asked to go down to Pine Valley.
We can go through the parking lot where the residents can view the tractors.
We have some former members down there and they specifically asked us to come down there.
So that's the plan this year.
We'll be leaving the fairgrounds, heading into Richmond Center and heading out County
Y and up around down to the
Ash Creek area and down to Pine Valley.
Costs to be a part of the tractor and ATV drive is $10.
Also on Saturday there will be threshing at 12.30 and a parade at four o'clock.
Sunday Cowboy Church will be held at 8.30 and threshing will be at 12.30.
Saturday and Sunday there will be breakfast.
All weekend there will be food by 4-H,
a HCCP pie stand, a youth exhibit for under 16, a silent auction and more.
If you have any questions or want more information call Paul Posh at 608-647-8064 or Kelly Schaefer at 608-604-3621.
More information about the event can be found at greaterrichlandtourism.com.
At last night's Richland Center City Council meeting officials addressed major fiscal challenges regarding municipal health insurance coverage and made key decisions on grant applications.
The council faced an October 1st deadline to submit a resolution to the Department of Employee Trust Funds, or ETF, indicating any intent to change its current insurance plan, which currently covers 42 municipal employees.
In the upcoming 2027 general fund budget, wages and benefits are projected to cost the city $3.96 million, representing approximately 46% of the general fund budget and 57% of the total operating budget.
Soaring premiums have created significant budgetary pressure.
While ETF Reserve funds previously helped suppress rate increases through 2023, ETF currently offers only one Tier 1 plan in Richland County.
As a result, the city absorbs the full brunt of rate increases rather than benefiting from cost averaging across multiple plans.
Remaining on the current health plan would have triggered a $216,000 increase in total municipal costs, a 17.4% rise.
With state law capping the city's allowed levy growth at just $21,146, the general funds share of the health insurance increase alone stood at more than six times the permitted levy expansion.
while leaving ETF for the private market carried steep penalties for returning up to 40% in the first year, 30% in the second, and 20% in the third.
The city has already exhausted options like cutting services, restructuring, and sharing department resources to stay within legal limits.
Following extensive discussion, the council voted unanimously to transition to a mid-tier health insurance plan, moving away from a zero-deductible model while avoiding a high-deductible plan.
Council members Schultz and Martinick were not present for the vote.
In other business, the council considered the Connect Communities grant application alongside a request for municipal accounting and bookkeeping services to assist with the grant.
Council member Chris Jarvis noted that Southwest partners had already submitted an application for the same grant, meaning a separate municipal application would directly compete against the local effort.
Despite Mayor Teplie arguing in favor of approving the Connect Community's application, Alderperson Melanie Walters seconded a motion by Jarvis to deny it.
The council ultimately voted 5-1 to deny the application, with older person Ryan Cairns casting the sole dissenting vote.
The 2026 Canyon of Lights Parade will be held Saturday at 7 o'clock in downtown Richland Center.
The theme of this year's parade is Under the Harvest Moon.
The parade will follow the same route as last year.
All veterans of our military organizations, along with non-organization members still serving, or those who have served in good standing, are encouraged to join in leading with the colors in the Canyon of Light Parade.
Line up no later than 645 with the parade beginning at 7 o'clock.
Also, the Chapter 7 troop carrier will be at American Legion Post 13 for veterans needing a ride who cannot march in the parade.
Please arrive prior to 630 at the American Legion.
Since the troop carrier will be leaving the Legion at 630, head it up to Park Street.
The Richland School District Board of Education has officially scheduled a special board meeting for Monday, October 5th.
The meeting is set to begin at 6.30 p.m.
and will take place in the Richland School Board Conference Room.
The agenda for the evening will open with standard preliminary procedures, including the official call to order, roll call of board members, and confirmation of public notice.
Following these opening items, the board will consider a motion to transition into closed session to conduct pupil expulsion hearings and engage in deliberations pursuant to relevant Wisconsin state statutes.
Action on these matters is expected to be taken while in closed session prior to adjournment.
The Richland County Executive and Finance Standing Committee and the Richland County Campus Reconfiguration Committee will hold a joint meeting Monday, October 5th at 5 p.m.
in the Richland County boardroom at the courthouse in Richland Center.
Key agenda items include a presentation by the City of Richland Center regarding the future of the campus property.
The committees may also convene into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin statute to deliberate or negotiate the sale of the campus property before returning to open session for any potential action.
The American Red Cross urges donors to get blood or platelets now to help hospitals and transfusion centers stay prepared to help all patients.
A Red Cross blood drive will be held tomorrow from 9 30 to 2 o'clock at the Gays Mills Community Building.
Appointments may be made by calling 800 Red Cross, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, or by using the Red Cross blood donor app.
Walk-ins are always welcome.
A neighboring landowner has officially appealed Lafayette County's approval of a livestock facility license for a proposed site located at 1-4-274 Fort Defiance Road in the town of Willow Springs.
The appeal brings the decision before Wisconsin's Livestock Facility Citing Review Board for evaluation.
The challenging landowner contends that the county improperly applied setback rules, accepted an inaccurate odor score calculation and relied on incorrect estimates for manure generation and storage capacity.
Under Wisconsin law, residents and property owners located within two miles of the proposed expansion have until October 30th to submit a formal statement of position regarding the matter.
These statements will be reviewed by the board to determine whether to uphold or reverse the local decision.
Submissions must directly address the specific issues raised in the appeal, remain under 10 pages, and contain no new arguments or evidence unless specifically requested by the board.
The Livestock Facility Citing Review Board functions as an independent citizen body
tasked with reviewing local government decisions on livestock permits when appealed by eligible parties.
The board will issue a final decision within 60 days of receiving certified records from Lafayette County following internal deliberations without further public testimony.
Vital statistics right after this.