COUNTY BOARD EYES NEW COTTAGE GROVE AREA SUPERVISOR

September 05, 2018
Sharon Corrigan, County Board Chair 608.333.2285

Thursday meeting also includes flooding emergency declaration

 

The Dane County Board on Thursday will consider the appointment  of Melissa Ratcliff as the new Supervisor for District 36 representing the village of Cottage Grove and the towns of Cottage Grove and Pleasant Springs.

 

The full board meets at 7 p.m. in Room 201 of the City-County Building.

 

Currently serving as a Village of Cottage Grove trustee, Ratcliff would replace former supervisor Danielle Williams who resigned from the board last month to take a position as government lobbyist for Dane County.

 

County Board Chair Sharon Corrigan selected Ratcliff over two other candidates following a public hearing on Tuesday.  Ratcliff has worked 18 years as a paralegal and has demonstrated a commitment to her community through public service experience including serving on the Cottage Grove Plan Commission, the Monona Grove School District Community Education, Communications & Government Relations Committee and the MG School District Wellness Committee. 

 

“Melissa brings a wealth of experience and expressed an interest in working on our affordable housing efforts among other important initiatives,” said Corrigan (District 26, Middleton). “We look forward to having her on the board as we continue to focus on the issues that are important to so many residents here in Dane County.”

 

Corrigan picked Ratcliff for the District 36 seat over Sarah Valencia, the director of Population Health for Unity Point Meriter, and Kris Hampton, who has served on the Cottage Grove Board since 1992 including Town Board Chair for the last 15 years. 

 

“The fact that we had three strong candidates speaks to the vitality of the Dane County Board,” said Corrigan. “I’m proud that we can attract such a wide variety of talented people interested in serving.”

 

Also Thursday, the board will consider a “Declaration of a Local State of Emergency” from Corrigan and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi due to the record rains and severe flooding this summer.

 

The move allows Dane County to apply for emergency disaster aid from the State of Wisconsin to help repair infrastructure impacted by the flooding including roads, bridges and culverts.

 

“I’ve personally seen the damage throughout Dane County and know how much work it’s going to take over the next months,” said Corrigan. “Hopefully things will dry out soon.”

 

In addition, the board on Thursday will consider the sale of general obligation bonds to fund future capital projects including a pipeline for gas generated at the County landfill and improvements at the terminal building of the Dane County Regional Airport.

 

The full Board agenda is available at https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=572893&GUID=1AB1A66D-8C8C-4157-95F2-8B64842D2952