The entrance to the Birchfield community near Onalaska is seen in this 2013 file photograph.
Onalaska’s long-vacant seat on Water-Sewer District 5 finally has an occupant, as Lewis County Commissioners selected April Toups last week from among a trio of candidates to fill the position.
The position had been open since February, when Steven Nikolich resigned from the contentious panel a few months after being elected. After the District failed to appoint a replacement within the statutory time frame, the task fell to the county.
“It was wonderful that we had three people who were interested in getting into this, because things have been at a standstill for awhile,” said Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund.
Former District 5 commissioners Jimmy Hilliard and Dennis Eros also interviewed with county commissioners Thursday for the spot. Both ran in 2017 and lost coin flips when the races ended in an 11-11 tie. Fund flipped the coins to decide the races.
Unlike the others, Toups does not have a history with the troubled district, but Fund said it was her ideas that set her apart.
“April impressed us; she talked about strategic plans,” Fund said. “She doesn’t have any history … with the other individuals. In addition to not having a history, she had some fresh ideas, and wanting to move things ahead.”
District 5 has been stalemated since Nikolich’s departure. The two remaining commissioners, Virgil Fox and Deborah Hilliard, do not have a productive working relationship. Deborah Hilliard, Jimmy Hilliard’s wife, defeated Eros in the December coin flip.
Fox owns the Birchfield subdivision that comprises the district, which has just 29 voters. Fox and the Hilliards have long contested responsibility for the struggles of the district, which carries a six-figure debt.
The Hilliards point to a state audit that found Fox exempted himself from water and sewer payments and was keeping rates artificially low to lure development. Fox says the discrepancies were honest mistakes, not corruption, and asserts Deborah Hilliard has been unwilling to work with him.
Both Fox and Deborah Hilliard have said it might be for the best if the county or state were to take over the district, though it’s unknown if either entity would be willing to take on its debt.
For now, Toups will join the pair and hope the presence of a third commissioner will break the district’s stalemate. Fund is hopeful that will be the case.
“She just stood out for us,” she said. “Maybe it’s a real fresh start.”
