Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Shane Blaser
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — Residents will soon be able to give their input on what projects they want to see completed in City parks in Wisconsin Rapids.
Wisconsin Rapids’ Comprehensive Outdoor Plan done by civil engineering firm Ayres Associates is getting closer to its final draft. This means City leaders are currently going over recommendations from the plan before a final version is put out to the public for further input.
Mayor Shane Blaser says Ayres has been working on the plan since February after they were selected for the job at the beginning of 2021. Recently Ayers gave the City a draft copy of the comprehensive plan. “So they’ve kind of reviewed our parks and they reviewed equipment in the parks.
“And it kind of goes through each park and the recommendations and how we can make improvements. Whether it’s simply ADA type things or maybe we need new updated playgrounds or some cosmetic changes.”
Of the recommendations currently included in the draft plan, Blaser says a passion project of his has made the list. “I’ve kind of been an outspoken proponent of a dog park somewhere in our community here. And so as we saw in our plan that we found the community would also like to see a dog park. And so hopefully that will be something that we can put together and make happen in the community.”
The Comprehensive Plan will be used for the next several years to slowly improve Wisconsin Rapids City parks over time. Blaser explains the City and Parks Commission will be able to implement three projects in the next year as Ayres will design them as part of their contract.
“The dog park has been one of them. We have Robinson Park in the community which is a huge park. It’s got two baseball diamonds, a bandshell. And so we’re talking about having that maybe be another possible area that they can kind of design out. It also has a disc golf course so it’s 9-holes right now.
“Our Parks and Rec on Monday just approved adding additional concrete spots for 9 more holes. So it’ll be an 18-hole disc golf course which will be nice for our local discers. They can hold tournaments and hopefully attract some other people here to participate and use that disc golf course. Because it is pretty amazing and really nice in the community.”
The current Comprehensive Outdoor Plan is just in the draft and review stage. Blaser says the City hopes to have a final version of the plan in the next few months in time for budget season later this fall.
Other topics Mayor Blaser discussed with WSAU’s Liz Holbrook include:
Start of Video – Honor Walk
1:55 – FOCUS (Feeding Our Communities with United Services) Fundraising Drive
2:54 – Comprehensive Outdoor Plan
5:55 – Discussions about COVID-19 protocols and procedures
6:57 – Latest Verso Update
Comments