Best of Patch: October

As 2011 comes to a close, Sussex Patch looks back at the top stories of the year, month by month. Here’s a recap of the news that made headlines in Sussex.

• Read the entire Sussex Year in Review series

After months of deliberation, the village board finally passed a sexual predator ordinance filled with restrictions for those on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry. Although the board passed the ordinance, it was not a unanimous vote. Village trustees Pat Tetzlaff and Tim Dietrich both expressed concerns during discussion and eventually voted against the village regulation.

One Sussex resident took it upon herself to research and propose a pool to Sussex officials, however, it didn't go over to well. With a massive renovation planned for Sussex Village Park, Ann Moore thinks it's high time for a pool, but it came against mixed reviews from both residents and village officials. 

More than 300 Sussex-area residents visited the Lions Open Air pavilion at Village Park to celebrate Halloween at Spooky Sussex. The event offered attendees food, cookie decorating, a haunted trail, wagon rides and pumpkin decorating. Sussex Patch's "Pumpkin Patch" was also a huge success. We went through nearly all of our decorating supplies and balloons by the end of the night, and the little artists loved putting funny faces on their pumpkins.

Residents got their first chance at telling officials what they'd like to see when Main Street is completely redesigned in the upcoming years. The projecte developers visited the library for an open meeting and presentation on what they plan to do during construction. Then residents commented on what they would like to see. 

After eight months of meetings, deliberation and planning, a village committee is recommending that the Sussex Village Board build an entirely new Village Hall. The study group's proposal recommends building a roughly 20,000-square-foot facility somehow connected to the Pauline Haass Public Library in an effort to create a “civic campus.” The project would be done in conjunction with the Main Street reconstruction process, which is slated to start in 2015.

Citing a desire to simplify bookkeeping, the Village Board gave support to a new, salaried pay scale that would slightly increase trustees' compensation next year. Trustees earned $3,758 each in 2010 while the Village President took in $5,550 and they are paid on a per-meeting structure. In the new salaried system, village trustees would be paid $4,000 and the village president would be paid $6,600.

The Hamilton High School football team did something nobody else had done this season: They beat powerhouse Manitowoc Lincoln in a thrilling game in which both teams scored in overtime. The 27-24 upset victory in the second round game of the Division 1 WIAA playoffs puts the Chargers one step closer to the state tournament in Madison. The Charges lost the following game, but it was an incredibly close ride.