The final word on Dixon Street

E. Repair. Lessee shall fully repair all damage to the street, other than ordinary wear and tear, and will provide routine maintenance, such as snowplowing, during the term hereof.

Temporary Use Agreement from the City of Chetek to The Mill, Properties Chetek LLC

Back in early September the Street Committee met at The Mill to discuss the use of Dixon Street, the street outside their front door, and address right-of-way issues. The Temporary Use Agreement with Buddy and Nancy Helms, the owners of The Mill, was nearing its renewal and some questions had been raised by both council members and the public about the use of the street by non-Mill customers.

Technically speaking, Dixon is not a street at all. It's a lien that sometime along the way was paved. But according to City Attorney Randi Osberg if it's paved like a road and maintained like a road whatever else it may be it's a road. When The Mill officially hung up their shingle this past spring I understood our agreement to be essentially that when they had an event going on they had the right to close off the street. Otherwise, Dixon was free to travel for any who needed to get from here to there. But that's not what is in the lease. In Section 5 (RESPONSIBILITIES – LESSEE), Letter E (Repair) it clearly states what is printed above – that for however long the lease continues The Mill is responsible for the maintenance of the road (including snow plowing) and therefore for all intents and purposes it is a private road. That made any further discussion about who gets to use it and when mute.

Unless you are attending an event at The Mill best not go down this road

I have lived in the neighborhood where The Mill stands all but ten months of our twenty-six years of residence in Chetek. For most of that time I always thought that what is now referred to as “Dixon” was actually Eighth Street but I drove it multiple times a day EVERY DAY to and from Refuge or to and from school. The guys at ABC used it as a quick egress to and from work. School buses as well as parents who have kids at Roselawn and at the HS/MS traveled it daily being the artery that it is. But when the concrete barriers at Center and at Stout went in this past May all of that changed. Now traffic is rerouted onto Sixth Street which everyone knows can be a pretty tight squeeze for trucks and buses. But, as we are wont to say these days, now “it is what it is.”

Speaking only about the road, the immediate neighbors who live just east of The Mill on Banks Street are satisfied with the change. It was not uncommon for traffic to zip along Dixon at a high rate of speed and as parents of small children, like many of them are, they were very concerned for the safety of their kids. Now that the road is essentially closed to thru traffic their concerns have been alleviated. (The Mill, of course, generates other neighborhood issues but they are an entirely different matter.)

For my part, I apologize for unintentionally adding to the confusion by suggesting that Dixon could be traversed when The Mill was not in operation. My signature is at the bottom of that document which presumes that I am fully aware of what's contained within. Obviously, I didn't read the lease thoroughly enough. It wasn't even in the "fine" print.

Change is difficult for everyone regardless of our age or disposition. I used to be able to get home from Refuge in about a minute. Now that same trip via Center and Sixth probably takes me a minute and a half. I know, how inconvenient, right? Things could be worse. I could live in a city that actually has a stop-and-go light. Now that would be something, wouldn't it?