WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — As one soil testing story in Wausau draws to a close, another one may soon begin.
The city’s economic development committee voted on Tuesday to hold a special meeting later this month regarding environmental concerns about the former city incubator site at 1300 Cleveland Street, which has several proposals in motion for its next life.
“We’ll be coming back at a future meeting to discuss what options there are to do that testing,” said Economic Development Director Chris Schock.
Among the proposals for the property are expanded industrial storage, housing, and a shared resource center for non-profits. Schock says all of the locations fill needs for the city, and all of them would be equally interested to know if any dangers lie in the soils.
Schock adds that two different phase 1 environmental studies have shown no “smoking gun” as far as contaminants go. Despite that, the city does support future testing at the site to make sure.
“We want to make sure the site is appropriate for whatever use is chosen. So, we are going to come back on June 18th with some understanding about what it takes to do that additional testing and what it would cost.” Schock adds that the project is challenging because they will need to determine what specifically they are going to test for, and where to test for it.
“Across a seven-acre parcel, it’s difficult to determine all the locations that you would want to address. So we are going to determine that, and how much it would cost, and then hopefully move it forward.
“All of the proposers, especially the shared community resource center, all discussed the importance of making a decision quickly in an effort to move the [decision] forward as timely as possible,” he added.
The developers of the shared resource center were in attendance for Tuesday’s meeting and during public comments encouraged the committee to make a decision quickly because of the need to centralize resources in the city, saying they are already looking at a September 2021 opening date as it is and each delay pushes that date further out.
At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, it was also announced that Schock will be retiring from his post on June 29th after six years with the city, during which he served under three different Mayors. He says he feels he has helped to lay a good foundation for the city’s future growth. “The city has an outstanding staff, and they will continue carrying the torch after I’m gone.
“I’m glad to see this progress through, and there is a strong foundation to continue that work,” he added.
Schock and his wife will be moving to their home in Costa Rica. After the meeting, he said he has no immediate plans to reenter the workforce but isn’t ruling out the possibility of another chapter.
