The Portage County Board of Supervisors had a full plate before them this week.
Along with getting an update on the jail-siting process, supervisors approved 22 resolutions ranging from setting speed limits to establishing a juvenile curfew when they met Tuesday, Oct. 12.
The County Board set a 45-mph speed limit on a six-tenths of a mile stretch of Highway Y north of Highway 66 in the Jordan Park area and set a 35 mph speed limit on Highway HH between Post Road and a point 2,440 feet east of West River Drive.
Supervisors approved a three-way stop sign at the intersection of Highway FF and 90th Street, and three-way stop signs at the two intersections of Highway FF and 110th Street. The three locations are in the town of Grant.
The county's truancy ordinance was revised to bring it up to date with a change in state law that sets missing part or all of five school days, instead of 10, as the definition of a habitual truant. "This is an immediate response and hopefully will catch their (truants) attention," said William McCauley, Health and Human Services Department.
Board members went after troubled youth from another angle when they set a juvenile nighttime curfew. Children under the age of 17 must not remain in any public place or on the premises of any establishment in the county between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., each day of the week. The ordinance makes exceptions for emergencies, being accompanied by a parent or guardian, employment, movie theaters, and attending official school, religious or civic events.
Children, plus parents and the employees of establishments permitting offenses, are subject to a $116 fine for their first offenses.
The curfew ordinance leaves a lot to the discretion of individual officers, Corporation Counsel Michael McKenna said.
Reducing vandalism in towns and villages is the main reason for the curfew, Sheriff Stan Potocki said.
The County Board also authorized the county courts and county juvenile case workers to place juveniles in a secure detention facility or in nonsecure custody for up to 72 hours while the juvenile is being investigated or as a consequence of violating a court order.
Supervisors approved a $760,000 fund balance transfer from the general fund to the self-funded health insurance fund to reverse the effects of the 1994 and 1996 health insurance rate cancellation moratorium. The county didn't charge health insurance premiums to employees and departments in January and February of those years. Transferring the $760,000 will reduce the county's self-funded health insurance deficit to about $240,000, Finance Director Bo DeDeker wrote.
The County Board voted to join other Wisconsin counties and the Wisconsin Counties Association in a lawsuit to get a share of the monetary settlement the state received from tobacco companies. The state has said it won't give counties any settlement proceeds, despite counties having incurred medical, rehabilitative and other expenses due to residents using tobacco.