Damakant Jayshi
Wausau will seek a consultant to prepare a plan for developing the city’s north riverfront, after a vote Tuesday by the Wausau City Council.
The Council voted 7-4 to authorize a request for proposals with an estimated budget of $100,000. Alders Carol Lukens, Michael Martens, Tom Neal, Gary Gisselman, Lisa Rasmussen, Sarah Watson and Chad Henke voted in favor and Alders Terry Kilian, Becky McElhaney, Victoria Tierney and Lou Larson opposed it.
The proposal had failed in a tie vote by members of the Economic Development Committee on May 9, but remained subject to full council consideration.
Assistant City Planner Andrew Lynch said a consultant could help the city give a better idea about potential development opportunities in the area before proceeding with any plan and could create efficiencies by identifying priorities.
The area marked for redevelopment is flanked by Bridge Street in the south and 6th Sttreet to the east, with the Wisconsin river as boundary to the west. That includes the former Wausau Chemical, Great Lakes Cheese and County Materials storage properties.
Two newly-elected alders, Kilian and Tierney, at the May 9 committee meeting opposed hiring a consultant and said the city should wait until more is known about remediation requirements for the former Wausau Chemical parcel. The city’s staff have said that their engineering team is in touch with the Wisconsin Department for Natural Resources about the cleanup for the site, a process that could take between eight and 10 years.
The former Wausau Chemical site, located on the east bank of the Wisconsin River, is among three entities that contributed to significant contamination of groundwater in the area, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has placed the Superfund site, Wausau Groundwater Contamination, under its National Priorities List.
Neal said that site is a prime footprint for the city and they cannot let it sit there forever and rot. Having intelligence and information about the potential development opportunities for the area is prudent, he said.
Rasmussen said that the call for a master plan addresses economic development, one of the three priorities that alders identified during a recent retreat. She also said adding those parcels to the city’s tax base would be a welcome development, and the money for the consultant has already been budgeted. Issuing an RFP won’t bear a cost to taxpayers, she said, as the council can make a decision on whether or not to move forward once responses are received.
But Kilian also said that during the same retreat that alders agreed that city spending is an issue for residents and is also one of the three urgent priorities identified.
She pointed out that the most urgent needs of the residents are water bills and taxes. Though the money has already been budgeted, that money could go back into the general fund. Finance Director Maryanne Groat said unspent money could indeed be reallocated for other eligible projects.
Larson asked Lynch the reason behind outsourcing the planning instead of developing it in-house. The assistant city planner said city staff is already busy with their existing responsibilities, in addition to attending various committees’ meetings. Lynch also acknowledged that he does not have the specific expertise to develop such complex redevelopment plan, and if the cost exceeds $100,000 the council can reject it once proposals come in.
