Lisbon Residents Shut Down Merger; Did They Make the Right Choice?
After Lisbon overwhelmingly voted against a merger with Sussex, Patch readers are commenting on whether it was the right choice. What do you think?
Merger
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Saturday, August 18, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
SHUT DOWN: Lisbon Residents Overwhelmingly Vote Against Merger
As far as Lisbon residents are concerned, merger with Sussex isn't going to happen any time soon.
The Town of Lisbon has spoken, and there will not be a merger with the Village of Sussex any time soon. During Tuesday’s primary election, Lisbon residents had a special question on the back of their ballots reading, "If the terms of the consolidation were reasonable, would you be 'for' or 'against' the consolidation of Lisbon and Sussex into a new municipality?" Lisbon spoke loud and clear, and the answer is, “against.” Almost 80 percent of residents who made it to the polls voted against the consolidation, totaling just less than 2,300 votes. About 600 residents voted in favor of the merger. Although this is a nonbinding referendum, the Lisbon Town Board is taking the vote seriously. Now that residents have overwhelmingly spoken out …
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Monday, August 13, 2012
Lisbon Votes on Merger with Sussex Tuesday
The long-awaited vote to merge will be on the back of Lisbon’s primary election ballot on Tuesday.
After months of public forums and opposition from both Lisbon residents and members on the Town Board, the decision to potentially consolidate Lisbon with the Village of Sussex will be on the back of Tuesday’s primary ballot. According to the Sussex Sun, the back of the ballot will read, "If the terms of the consolidation were reasonable, would you be 'for' or 'against' the consolidation of Lisbon and Sussex into a new municipality?" However, the referendum will only be on Lisbon residents’ ballots to gauge how interested locals are in the potential merger. The vote is also nonbinding, meaning it’s just to give the Town Board direction on whether or not to proceed. During the latest public forum at the Hamilton Fine Arts Center, Waukesha …
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Sarah
5:08 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
People definintely need to take note of the question. This is NOT becoming part of Sussex. This is to move forward WITH Sussex to decide if we should become a brand new municipality. Think it through, folks. more ›
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Sussex-Lisbon Merger: ‘Sussex is Not Evil’
Sussex and Lisbon residents are weighing in on Patch regarding the controversial proposal after Tuesday's meeting. What's your take on a merger?
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sussex-Lisbon Merger: ‘Sussex is Not Evil’
Town residents remain unwavering, laughing at a Lisbon officials’ attempts to justify a merger by saying Sussex ‘is a good community.’
Unwavering, angry Town of Lisbon residents once again packed the Hamilton Fine Arts Center Tuesday night, insisting the potential merger with Sussex should immediately be removed from the table. This is Lisbon’s third public forum regarding the consolidation effort, but for most of those in attendance, it was their first such meeting. One solitary Sussex resident, Village Trustee Pat Tetzlaff, attended the meeting among a sea of Lisbon residents, so when Town Supervisor Joe Osterman tried defending Sussex, nothing but scoffing and laughter was heard from attendees. “My feeling on this: If I vote today on whether or not I want to look into a merger, I’d vote yes,” Osterman said. “That’s just to look into it. If I were to vote on the actual …
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Gary
4:57 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
@Laurie. The Town has Sewer capacity that will be used in different areas of Lisbon that were agreed to in the border agreement. If your outside that area then you can't get it at this time even if you needed it. more ›
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sussex-Lisbon Merger Predicted to Fail by Town Official
The Lisbon Town Supervisor says he thinks voters will shut down the consolidation idea during next month's referendum.
Lisbon Town Supervisor Dan Heier says he thinks voters will strike down the idea to combine the Village of Sussex and Lisbon during the August 14 referendum, according to the Sussex Sun. The group of officials discussed the merger during Monday night’s Town Board Meeting in Lisbon, and even Town Chairman Matt Gehrke agreed that there would have to be an overwhelming backing from voters for the Town Board to continue backing the idea. "There is going to have to be a strong indication of support for the board to proceed, Ryan and I might have a slight difference in how you define strong," said Gehrke. Ryan Lippert, a town supervisor, mentioned he wouldn’t support the consolidation with Sussex even if Lisbon residents support it by a small …
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Mike B
2:26 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The development deal died a few days ago and officially died last night. No one in Sussex wanted that either. I think there's going to be a big change during the next election... more ›
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Town of Lisbon Residents Voice Opposition To Merger With Sussex
Town leaders attempt to make case for consolidation with Sussex during informational meeting Tuesday.
More than 100 Town of Lisbon residents voiced their concerns Tuesday regarding a possible consolidation with the Village of Sussex during an informational meeting held by town leader. After Town Chairman Matt Gehrke made a 90-minute presentation that made a case for moving forward with exploring a possible merger, several residents indicated their opposition to the plan. "When you look at (consolidation) with Sussex, the tax base goes up, their taxes go down; my taxes go up. It doesn't compute," said town resident Dennis Manthy. "I've lived here for 35 years and the Town of Lisbon is the Town of Lisbon." Gehrke noted the current the property tax rate in Lisbon is $3.09 per $1,000 of assessed value. It would increase to about $3.50 per $1,…
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Lois Liebau-Templin
9:25 pm on Thursday, June 28, 2012
May I say that we appreciate all the views on the Sussex-Lisbon merger. We moved out to the Town of Lisbon almost three years ago. There is so much that we do not know about, and after going to the meeting, last night, we are more informed about the merger. No one notified us of the first meeting, so we thank the Menomonee Falls Patch for posting an article about the meeting. Then, we knew what … more ›
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Lisbon Waits to Endorse a Sussex Merger, Public Forum Scheduled
The Lisbon Town Board says it wants to wait until after Wednesday night's public forum to endorse the Sussex-Lisbon merger.
The Lisbon Town Board members postponed a vote on whether or not they endorse a potential merger with Sussex, saying they would prefer to vote after Lisbon’s public forum on Wednesday, according to the Sussex Sun. The Hamilton Fine Arts Center will host the public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, open to anyone interested in learning more about the potential merger. During Monday night’s meeting in Lisbon, Town Chairman Matt Gehrke outlined various reasons why the town should negotiate with Sussex officials about a merger. However, Gehrke said he and the other Lisbon Town Board members would drop the idea of a consolidation if voters struck down the merger during the upcoming August 14 referendum. The entire reasoning behind the potential …
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Mike B
8:19 am on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
I also think the merger is interesting but I believe the name should just stay as Sussex. We don't need some hyphenated name like someone getting married. more ›
Friday, May 18, 2012
Lisbon Gearing Up for Possible Sussex-Lisbon Merger
The town government in Lisbon is prepping for a possible merger, first by not renewing full, three-year contracts with employees until results of the referendum arrive in August.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Sussex Opposes Town of Brookfield's Attempt to Become a Village
A six-month deadline for the state to act on the Town of Brookfield's incorporation request would be waived while the town and neighboring municipalities participate in mediation with a retired judge.
A state agency ruling on whether the Town of Brookfield can seek voter approval to become a village would be delayed to give the town time to enter mediation talks with the cities of Brookfield and Waukesha and Village of Sussex. Unlike Sussex's current talks with the Town of Lisbon to facilitate a merger, village officials oppose the Town of Brookfield's attempt to become a village. Doing so would protect the town from annexation by neighboring communities like Sussex. The four municipalities have signed and filed a stipulation, asking Waukesha County Circuit Judge Donald Hassin Jr. to lift a required 180-day deadline for the state to rule on the incorporation case. Also signing was Jay Walt, a Town of Brookfield resident who originally …
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Arnold Jung
11:25 am on Monday, August 20, 2012
You are correct that there are a lot of misinformed individuals in town and you are right that if a consolidation could have happened Sussex and Lisbon in their current forms would cease to exist. As far as the debt, our town board could have required a separate management structure in a combined budget to ensure there was equity between the communities in the paying of past debt. There could … more ›