Supervisors asked to end delaying tactics re. MHC Brown County Mental Health Center (photo by H. Marc Larson). Nusbaum, Schadewald, Fewell implore construction of the $32 million MHC plan By Christopher Clough News-Chronicle Accusing supervisors who are against a $32 million plan for a new Brown County Mental Health Center of delay tactics, County Executive Nancy Nusbaum and Sups. Rick Schadewald and Steve Fewell said the time is now to take action on building the MHC. "Our appeal (is), call your supervisors," Nusbaum said. "We need and desire debate on this vote." Schadewald said with Bellin Health Inc. saying Wednesday night a MHC is necessary to maintain the county's human services efforts, there is no reason to wait on a decision. He spoke Friday afternoon at a press conference at the current MHC. "Last summer, supervisors voted to table a resolution (to build the MHC) until a decision was made on the Bellin proposal," he said. "That decision was made by Bellin itself, when it decided to drop the option of privatizing." Schadewald said during Wednesday's County Board meeting he would request a special board meeting for Monday or Wednesday of this week to make a decision. That is not likely to happen now, as he was unable as of Friday to get 14 of the 26 supervisors to agree to the meeting. Twelve have signed the request. But he said he would aim for a special meeting for informational purposes to be scheduled in early April, after a new executive has been voted into office. He said the design and costs of the new MHC have been studied for six years, and the current building is costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in repairs of code violations. Families and guardians of MHC patients and residents need to get a commitment from the county, he added. "Some supervisors seek delays, have more questions," Schadewald said. "We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars because we've delayed this. And I think this should stop. "Because I care, I'm willing to stand here and say we need to move forward. And to the naysayers, I say, ÔStop being French.'" Schadewald requested a vote on the project for Wednesday's meeting, but board chairman Ken Simons said he did not place it on the agenda because he wanted to wait for a decision on the Bellin proposal. A subsequent written opinion from county attorney John Jacques said Simons exceeded his authority by not placing Schadewald's request on the agenda. Nusbaum accused Simons of "deliberately disregarding the request ... engaging in subsequent steps to block the issue from debate or vote." She said Simons is the only supervisor who has voted against the proposal every time it has come before the board. "He has improperly used his position to prevent the board from voting on the issue," she said. She pointed a finger at supervisors quoted in the past as saying they would support a new MHC if the privatization option proved unviable, naming Patrick Moynihan and Jim Schmitt as two who said that and did not sign Schadewald's special meeting request. "There's a term for refusing to vote on an issue - abstain," Nusbaum said. "I think supervisors are saying, ÔWe abstain from making tough decisions.' "I'm here to make it very clear that after all the mumbo-jumbo is over, this is all about the folks behind me (indicating guardians of MHC patients) and the people they care for." Nusbaum added that interest rates for bonding the project are the lowest they've been since the project came into focus and are likely to rise in the near future. She said bonding the project now will save millions of dollars in interest payments in the future.