By Shereen Siewert

WAUSAU — An appeals court decision handed down this morning sides with Rib Mountain in an ongoing battle over Marathon County’s uniform addressing plan.

The town of Rib Mountain challenged Marathon County’s power to make such changes in “non-rural” roads. Marathon County Circuit Judge Greg Huber in August ruled in the county’s favor, but the decision was stayed pending the town’s appeal.

A three-judge panel considered arguments from attorneys representing both sides before ultimately reversing Huber’s decision.

The argument stems from a Feb. 16, 2016 ordinance mandating a uniform addressing system throughout Marathon County. According to the ordinance, the county’s intent was to assign each location a unique address to aid emergency personnel in providing fire protection, emergency medical services and law enforcement services. The plan required all towns in Marathon County to participate, asserting that the county had jurisdiction over addressing in unincorporated areas based on Wisconsin law.

Marathon County then notified Rib Mountain that they would be required to rename 61 of the town’s 202 roads. Rib Mountain filed an instant lawsuit against the county. Rib Mountain’s argument was that the county’s authority to implement the system extended only to rural areas in towns, and that the county failed to consider whether the roads affected by the plan were truly rural. Rib Mountain also alleged that some of the roads pegged for renaming had previously been identified as roads located in urban areas by either the Marathon County Metropolitan Planning Commission or the U.S. Census Bureau, according to court filings.

In the appeals court decision, judges ruled that the county exceeded its authority by mandating the uniform addressing system without regard to whether those areas qualify as rural. The court did not, however, take a position on whether the county should use the Wausau MPO Planning Boundary map to make that determination, but stated that the county must establish clear, reasonable criteria in identifying rural areas.

Marathon is one of three Wisconsin counties that lacks a uniform address system. The village of Weston opted out of the addressing change last year.

With Rib Mountain essentially out of the mix, the entire contract will cost the county $1,120,236, County Administrator Brad Karger said Tuesday.  Rib Mountain’s share of the plan would have cost an additional $105,443.

“Congratulations to Rib Mountain, ” Karger said. “Congratulations to their attorney. Rib Mountain is still in Marathon County. We’ve been friends before, we’re still friends now.”

The court’s full decision is embedded below.2017AP002021