Ephraim to Cover Utility Burial Costs for Property Owners

The Village of Ephraim will absorb the approximately $53,000 cost to connect each individual property’s electrical service to power lines when they are buried as part of upcoming highway reconstruction.

The cost for each individual property is approximately $2,000 and village board members felt that cost should not be passed onto the property owners, because it is a part of the village’s plan to bury utility lines and does not necessarily provide a benefit to the individual property owner.

However, individual property owners will be on the hook for any upgrades their system needs to come into compliance with the electrical code. Although there are many old cottages in the village, village administrator Brent Bristol said Wisconsin Public Service does not expect to find many systems that need to be upgraded.

Bristol said that work will likely begin in mid-October in conjunction with the utility line burial and hopefully be completed by the time the Department of Transportation begins resurfacing the highway in March 2019.