Gibraltar Area Schools Budget Approved

• At its July 8 meeting, the Gibraltar School Board approved a preliminary budget of $9.721 million for the 2013-14 school year, with projected expenditures of $9,524,592 million. That would leave a $370,678.99 surplus, which Superintendent Tina Van Meer suggested could be used to replace the aging school bus fleet. “Bus 6 bothers me. I worry about it every day,” she said. Van Meer also mentioned using the surplus for technology upgrades or for school maintenance that has been put off, such as replacing carpeting. Board member Martha Luber Pelrine suggested the excess be set aside to “keep the fund balance semi-healthy” and offset any future referendum issue. Final budget figures are dependent on several grants, how the final state biennial budget shakes out, and the school’s student count taken after the third Friday in September. A final budget will be approved by the board at its October meeting. Approval of the preliminary budget was necessary to begin preparation for the fast-approaching new school year.

• There were 169 people who dropped off appliances and shredding materials at the 2013 Sister Bay and Liberty Grove Shredding Day. Another shredding and appliance recycling day is scheduled for Sept. 28 from 9 am – 1 pm. For more information on appliance recycling, read the Pulse story “Finding a Home for E-Waste in Door County,” by Carol Thompson from volume 19, issue 12 (available on ppulse.com).

• A crowd turned out to the Town of Gibraltar board meeting on July 3 to discuss the town’s road brushing practices. Road brushing is the practice of cutting brush on either side of the road, 21 feet from the road’s centerline, to promote visibility and bring town roads to state recommended standards. Opponents of brushing say it needlessly “clear cuts” trees and shrubs and takes away from the beauty of town roads. Road brushing is happening on Gibraltar Bluff Road.

• One of the Sister Bay goats has gone missing. The goat, part of the village’s public art project, was last spotted outside Bhirdo’s gas station sometime between 11 pm on Monday, July 8, and 6 am Tuesday, July 9. Fourteen local artists decorated life-size goat cutouts for Sister Bay’s Year of the Goat celebrations, and 13 of them are on display in the village. For more information on the art project, look in Section 2 of the Peninsula Pulse.