3-19-14 fdl county board approves hiring developer for uw fdl student housing

A proposed student housing project at UW Fond du lac is moving forward.  The Fond du Lac County board has approved a resolution authorizing the county to enter into an agreement with a developer to build the 84 bed facility on the UW Fond du Lac campus…adjacent to the physical education building.  UW Fond du Lac Dean Dr. John Short says the student housing concept is a unique public-private partnership where the developer gets the financing, designs the complex and hiring resident assistants and a live in manager to operate the facility.  A proposed amendment to require the developer to pay a thousand dollars an acre instead of a dollar an acre was defeated by a vote of 13 to 10.  The vote on the original resolution was appproved with board members Zorn, Stenz and Wetzel voting against.  Dr. Short says the idea for student housing came out of a survey that showed a need for additional student housing.  Short says he believes the campus has lost students to other schools in the past because of a lack of student housing.   The Fond du Lac County board is expected to take a final vote at their April meeting.  Dr. Short says the plan is to have the student housing complex open for the 2015 school year.