Lafayette County supervisors will wait until next month to consider a resolution to fund the construction of a proposed $50 million hospital to replace Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County in Darlington. The new hospital would be constructed on a 36-acre site south of the city off Wisconsin 23 and along County Highway K. It would span 75,000 to 80,000 square feet — about double the current hospital’s 38,000 square feet. The supervisors meeting this week was supposed to include the second reading of a resolution to fund the hospital building. But late last week, the agenda for this week’s meeting was changed so that the reading this week would be the “first reading.” The action was taken on the advice of County Corporation Counsel Nathan Russell. County Board Rule 5 prompted the advice from Russell. That rule states that every committee introducing a written resolution shall endorse the same with the names of all the committee members. Any resolution that is to be taken up before the County Board shall be provided to the county clerk’s office no later than three business days preceding the meeting. Supervisor Bob Boyle said Russell thought the board could have voted on the resolution this week, but he wanted to rule out any potential lawsuits concerning Rule 5. That’s why the second reading was delayed.
