Daily News - 02/13/2016

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A4 The Daily News, Saturday, February 13, 2016

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LOCAL

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PASER helps determine Richfield road work

Cost savings seen
from oil price plunge
By JOE
VANDELAARSCHOT
Daily News
P-A-S-E-R.
Theyre just five letters
but they pull a lot of weight
when communities decide
when and what roads need
repair or reconstruction.
PASER
stands
for
Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating. It uses a
scale from 1-10 to determine the condition of
roads. Richfield, like many
other communities, uses
the system for prioritizing
road projects. Last week
Richfield Administrator
Jim Healy and Public
Works Supervisor Adam
Schmitt drove around the
village to complete a biannual road inspection.
There are 156 miles of
road in the village, said
Healy. Theres no shortage
to choose from as far as
what roads could use some
work. Its also part of
our capital improvement
program.
Schmitt said the PASER
scale is:
10-9 The road is in
excellent condition.

7-8 Theres a minimum amount of repair

work needed.
5-6 Chips and oil
should be spread on the
roads surface to extend
road life.
3-4 Some of the road
should be milled and or
resurfaced.
1-2 The road has
failed
and
is
need
of
replacement
or
reconstruction.
Traffic volume also
helps determine when a
road may see work completed. If a road has a high traffic volume, but a less traveled road has a higher
number, the road with
more traffic could move
ahead in the priority list.
We have no roads in the
village that fall in the 1-2
category, Schmitt said.
Since I came on board a
Joe VanDeLaarschot/Daily News
while ago, weve been trying to do a concentrated A vehicle travels past an intersection on Pleasant Hill Road in Richfield on Friday aftereffort on basic patching or noon. Pleasant Hill Road is slated to see reconstruction work this summer. The village
filling in cracks.
has rated this section of the road as one of the top priorities for the work.
Healy said how much
money the village has to
spend on road work also budgeted $780,000 for road farther this year because of bids for work on Scenic
plays a role in what proj- work, Healy said. This the dramatic drop in the Road from Highway Q to
year, $823,000.
price for oil.
Willow Creek Road. We didects are completed.
The money could also go
Last year we sought nt do the work. We just
Last year the village

Superdog to the rescue!

Hero pooch alerts
owners of carbon
monoxide in the house
By KATHERINE MICHALETS
Conley News Service
HARTLAND If it hadnt been for
a persistent and annoying 8-year-old
border collie and Australian shepherd
mix named Abby Lynn, Nicole Siekert
may not have been able to smile and
hold her twin 5-year-old daughters
closely as they were treated for carbon
monoxide poisoning at Waukesha
Memorial Hospital on Thursday.
The day started with a malfunctioning furnace that Siekerts husband,
Brian, believed he had fixed before
heading off to work Thursday. As
Siekert got her girls ready for school,
she was feeling out-of-sorts and soon
Charles Auer/Conley News Service
realized the twins were also acting
tired and not like their usual selves. Nicole Siekert sits with her daughShe took their temperature, but they ters Bella, left, and Grace, along with
didnt have one. When one daughter family dog, Abby, who saved her
ran to the bathroom to vomit, Siekert from carbon monoxide poisoning on
said she connected it to the girls Thursday.
recent stomach issues.
Siekert said she encouraged daugh- act strangely. Unable to deny the desire
ters Bella and Grace to stay home, but to sleep, Siekert got up to turn off the
they were adamant about going to heaters so she could go back to bed and
school. After they went there, Siekert rest. Thats when it finally dawned on
2016
Conleyworse,
Publishing
Group.
Rightsthe
Reserved.
02/13/2016
said Copyright
she kept
feeling
but
herAllthat
chirping
was actually
February
13, having
2016 5:13
pm (GMTfrom
+6:00) coming from the carbon monoxide
thought
she was
a relapse
an illness that sent her to the hospital detector in the basement.
a week before.
As Siekert checked the detector and
I was sitting there and I just could- then began to open all the windows

school to get Bella and Grace because

they were symptomatic. When they
arrived at Waukesha Memorial
Hospital, three beds were prepared for
them. On Friday, life and Abby
had largely returned to normal for the
Siekert family, but the dog was getting
extra treats and Nicole was spreading
the word about carbon monoxide
detection.
Please make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector and/or a pretty
amazing dog, she said.
This isnt the first time Abby has
watched out for her owners. Siekert is
a Type-1 diabetic and one time when
her sugar levels were getting really
high, Abby wouldnt leave her side, trying to alert her to the symptoms. Even
before I knew I was getting sick, she
knew, she said.
Abby will turn 9 years old Sunday
Valentines Day. Siekert describes
her as a calm and passive dog who will
let the twins dress her up in clothing.
Bella and Grace are now calling her
their superhero dog. The family
adopted Abby from an Illinois shelter
when she was not quite a year old.
Here they say we are rescuing
them, but ultimately they rescue you,
Siekert said. They do so much more
for you than you ever realize.
Siekerts uncle, Tim Diedrich, was
also amazed and thankful for Abbys
heroic actions.
It was like being showered with a
blessing, Diedrich said about hearing
the good news. It was way cool.
Since the ordeal, Siekert has taken
to Facebook to remind her friends

rebid the project and the

bids came in considerably
less, maybe 20 percent.
If other possible projects come in at a lessexpensive price the village
could conceivably get more
miles of road work done
this year.
We got some very favorable bids and we might be
able to add some alternative work that could be
done, Healy said.
Schmitt said he and his
employees perform regular
inspections
of
village
roads and highways. What
they find helps determine
which roads need work.
We also receive many
comments from town residents about problems on
village roads and we take
them into consideration,
too, Healy said.
Schmitt
and
Healy
agreed that a stretch of
Pleasant Hill Road between
Scenic Road and Hillside
Drive needs work this
summer.
Healy said the village
seeks bids for summer road
work much earlier in the
year than most other
municipalities. He said it
gives the village an advantage in scheduling and possibly price.
Reach reporter
Joe VanDeLaarschot at
jvan@conleynet.com.

Second man
suspected in tri-county
burglaries charged
Conley News Service
WAUKESHA The second of two men arrested following a town of Delafield
burglary last week and suspected of similar crimes in
Washington and Ozaukee
counties appeared in court
in Waukesha on Friday,
where he was ordered held
on a $25,000 cash bond.
Mack Chambliss, 42, was
charged with one count each
of arming himself during a
burglary and being a felon
in possession of a firearm,
and faces up to 35 years in
prison if convicted due to
penalty enhancers for prior
convictions.
Deputy District Attorney
Lesli Boese said Chambliss
had an extensive record
of
similar
crimes
in
Minnesota.
According to a criminal
complaint, police believe
Chambliss and Dewayne
Anderson, 25, were involved

in as many as a dozen burglaries in the metro region

since
last
August.
A
Washington County home
was burglarized Jan. 20 and
an off-duty officer spotting a
suspicious vehicle, which
led to authorities putting a
tracking device on the car.
The car was stopped on
Interstate 94 on Feb. 4, after
a town of Delafield home
was burglarized, with a
Derringer handgun among
the items taken, a criminal
complaint said.
It
added
authorities
searched their car and found
four cellphones, a Derringer
handgun, necklaces, a pendant, video game equipment, five laptop computers,
an iPad, bags of clothes, two
silver earrings and the
checkbook of a Richfield
man.
Anderson is due in court
Monday for a preliminary
hearing. Chambliss is due in
court again Wednesday.

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