SALEM LAKES, Wis. — A regional partnership between three local municipalities is expected to save taxpayers money and improve road maintenance after the State of Wisconsin approved a major Innovation Grant for a new Regional Road Maintenance and Public Works Consortium.
The partnership between the Villages of Salem Lakes, Paddock Lake, and Walworth was recently approved by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The grant will provide a total of $776,949 annually, with Salem Lakes receiving $435,091.44, Paddock Lake receiving $163,159.29, and Walworth receiving $178,698.27 each year.
While many officials played a role in getting the agreement approved, Salem Lakes businessman and Economic Development Committee member Brian Filiatreault was one of the earliest advocates of the concept. Filiatreault, who owns several businesses in Salem Lakes, began pushing the idea of municipalities working together to reduce costs and improve efficiency long before the grant approval.
Salem Lakes Trustee Pete Poli also helped advance the idea in the early stages as officials explored whether a regional approach could save taxpayers money. The Salem Lakes Economic Development Committee worked on researching the concept and the benefits of shared services. Paddock Lake Village Administrator Tim Popanda said he and Filiatreault had conversations about municipal cost-saving ideas even before the state Innovation Grant became available.
“Brian and I discussed the possibility of creating a municipal cost saving project such as shared emergency services long before the innovative grant became available,” Popanda said. “Recognizing the greatest challenges for any municipality is the ever-rising cost of infrastructure, it seemed to be a natural solution to group like sized municipalities together to reduce costs through economy of scale.”
Popanda credited Filiatreault for helping bring the three communities together. “Brian was very instrumental in championing this forward,” Popanda said. “Brian was the go between for communication between Salem, Paddock Lake, and Walworth.”
Filiatreault said Popanda’s positive relationships with other government agencies and local leaders helped take the idea and turn it into a successful regional partnership. Filiatreault also credited Salem Lakes Village Administrator Mike Kostiuk with being instrumental in getting the agreement finalized and across the finish line.
Kostiuk also credited Filiatreault, Popanda, and Poli for their efforts. “Tim Popanda, Brian Filiatreault, and Pete Poli were instrumental in getting this accomplished and would be able to add valuable insight as well,” Kostiuk said. Kostiuk said the partnership is about more than just the grant money. “The cost-savings from this endeavor will extend beyond the grant life and allow Salem Lakes to benefit from economy of scales purchasing power,” Kostiuk said. “This collaboration is a sign that Salem Lakes places high priority on partnerships to accomplish shared goals.”
Kostiuk said Salem Lakes residents will benefit immediately from millions in grant funding over the life of the program, but the relationships created between communities could provide even more savings in the future. “I expect that this is just the first step in many cost-saving possibilities Salem Lakes will benefit from,” Kostiuk said. “If we are able to succeed in these future collaborative efforts citizens can expect to continue to see these benefits multiply.”
The proposal was not without opposition. Salem Lakes Trustee Amanda Procknow voted against pursuing the consortium. Former Salem Lakes Trustees Ron Gandt and Bill Hopkins, who had previously questioned the value of the Economic Development Committee, did not attend the special meeting where the board voted on whether to move forward with the consortium. Supporters of the project also said Salem Lakes Village President Rita Bucur, former Salem Lakes Administrator Cassandra Hiller, Village Clerk Sara Spencer, and Public Works Director Brad Zautcke appeared skeptical of the proposal and questioned whether the village could qualify for the grant.
Supporters say the approval proved the concept was possible and demonstrated the benefits of looking beyond traditional government boundaries. The Salem Lakes Economic Development Committee, including Brian Filiatreault, Pete Poli, Jeff Albrecht, and Ross Schwarz, helped research and advance the proposal that eventually became a multi-community partnership expected to save taxpayers money.
Walworth Clerk/Treasurer Kellie Thelen said joining the consortium gives her community an opportunity to work with neighboring municipalities on similar projects. “By working together, communities can potentially achieve cost savings through shared bidding and project coordination, helping maximize the value of taxpayer dollars,” Thelen said.
Thelen said the grant funding will help Walworth address road improvements sooner than otherwise possible while reducing the burden on taxpayers. Paddock Lake plans to use its grant funding for pavement improvements. Popanda said the first year’s proceeds will be used for preventative maintenance, including crack sealing newly paved roads.
The newly created Regional Paving and Road Maintenance Consortium board is expected to hold its first meeting on July 9, 2026. Representatives appointed by the three municipalities will begin organizing the board and planning future projects.
Popanda said he believes this partnership could be the beginning of additional cooperation between communities. “After years of operating on an island, this collective intergovernmental agreement is a road map for exploring other collaborations with neighboring communities,” Popanda said.
Popanda said he, Filiatreault, and Kostiuk are already planning to discuss other potential partnerships, including solid waste disposal and additional ways to save taxpayers money. Filiatreault said the project was a team effort and credited others on the Salem Lakes Economic Development Committee, including Pete Poli, Jeff Albrecht, and Ross Schwarz, for contributing to the work that helped move the proposal forward.
Supporters say the project shows that cooperation between communities can reduce costs while improving services and that this partnership could serve as a model for future cooperation among neighboring municipalities.
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6 Responses
Wow, something good happened in Salem Lakes. The new administrator must be doing something right. It’s interesting that the old admin said it couldn’t be done, but the new one helped made it happen. Wetland Mama Hiller wasn’t so smart after all.
This was happening LONG before Mike showed up !
Brian has been working on this a very long time as mentioned in the story about Cassandra not being on board. That goes back into early last year at least.
Does Salems New administrator Mike Kustiuk deserve some credit here ? Yes. But mostly because unlike others, he worked to advance it not to worked against it.
As for the other Salem Officials who spoke out against it, why did they do that ?
Think about that for a moment.
Here you have a private individual working on his own time and at some expenses to not only create a outline for local communities to collaborate on initially just road paving but he has created an outline that can then expand to other responsibilities that every community has.
It doesn’t matter what the name of your community is, they all have the same responsibilities to its citizens. Keep the roads plowed and in good shape.
Keep the sewers flowing and the taxes as low as possible. Provide Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services. (EMS) and Police coverage. Everything you want from your local government is rinsed and repeated at every community next to you and then next to them.
Do you know how many miles and communities are between Salem and Walworth ?
How many other communities that were approached and declined to join in this initial offering ? By my understanding at least 6. Might be a few more. Why did they turn it down ?
Too much “extra” work ?
Or possibly some of their employees might think their jobs might be in jeopardy ?
None of that is true. This is to get more done on the same or even less local tax money !!
This is the way of the future !
The work involved in Collaboration between communities is getting easier every day.
The technological tools available to small government is only limited by the people in government who are not willing to embrace them.
Is AI involved ? Yes. AI is how boilerplate government work can get done faster and sometimes better.
Is AI just going to take everyone’s jobs ?
No. Not in most of our lifetimes. There still needs to be humans at each desk. At each counter at each village and town hall. Nobody is going to loose their jobs today.
Once people retire or move on will they be replaced ? Maybe. Or maybe not. But I don’t see anyone that’s looking to finish out their careers loosing their jobs because someone figured out how to do more with less ! Or do even more with the same money. The same taxes. The same amounts of funds that are available.
We all need to understand that the cost of goods have gone up and will always continue to go up.
If creating consortiums like this help get total cost down so that our taxes go up slower, then what’s wrong with that ?
Brian Filiatreault needs to be congratulated on his ground breaking work here to start the next chapter in how local governments work. And how they can work together while still maintaining their individual identities.
This is not rocket science. This is a “group buying club” on steroids ! Buy blacktop and paving in bulk.
Each community spends what they can on their own projects. Their collaboration in bidding is where they save money. Each community keeps their own money. And because of this consortium they now have a little more.
One point that needs to be emphasized. The consortium is ongoing for as long as each community wants to stay in it. Could be forever.
But the state grant money is only available for a few years. Currently 4 or 5 as I understand it.
It might be extended in Madison but those amounts of money was only available if an effort was made to go get it. Brian did !
Brian not only created the consortium but also worked on the application for that grant money.
Two separate programs.
State money is not forever. But saving dollars each year with bulk purchases of services is !
Great Job Brian !!
Great to see positive things in the Village, Nice article Kevin
Meanwhile in Kenosha, long overdue road repairs are patched over with tar and pensions.
“$776,949 annually”. Into Salems coffers !!!
!! THANK YOU Brian !!
Next time any of you see Brian, walk up and shake the hand of the man who literally is responsible for bringing in $$$. millions of dollars $$$ into our community !!
If you don’t know who he is, just ask the person sitting next to you at any Economic Development Commission meeting.
Brian shows up at Regular Village Board meetings too !
Come see your government at work !
Come to the meetings. As many as you can.
That is how things get done. By showing up and voicing your opinions and concerns. Get involved.
And most importantly, VOTE !! At every election !
Every primaries in Spring and Fall. You can’t complain on your government representatives if you don’t vote for or against them. Don’t ever say your one vote doesn’t count.
At small local communities like this just a change of 5 or 10 votes can change the final results.
Just look at the results. They’re there
I’m sure the libtards on the VoSL Board will find a way to screw it up or mismanage the funds.