RIB MOUNTAIN, WI (WSAU) — The Town of Rib Mountain is inching closer to incorporation as a Village, and Administrator Gaylene Rhoden says the process is closer to the end than it is the beginning.
“I would estimate that we are probably at that 75%, almost 80% [mark] for the actual submittal,” said Rhoden, referring to the battery of paperwork required by the state for the transition from a Town to a Village.
Rhoden and others in the administration team have been working with former Weston Administrator Bill Force who helped guide that community through incorporation as Village and has since helped others do the same. She says he is currently looking over the latest version of their submittal, and should everything go to plan residents in the Town could vote on a referendum sometime next year.
The timeline also depends on the schedule of the Incorporation Review Board, who will also conduct a hearing on the application at the Town Hall sometime after they have completed the review of the Town’s submittal. That hearing will allow Administration to defend the Town’s case as to why they meet the requirements to become a Village.
“The program they give you, the guidelines they give you- it’s a lot of questions. But you also learn about your community. Knowing how many students attend the Wausau School District are Rib Mountain residents; I never would have had to ask that before,” added Rhoden.
She says the only major difference residents may notice outside of a change to the signs at the town borders is their water and sewer utility would come under the umbrella of the new village. There would be no change to the services that are currently provided on a contract basis including fire protection and law enforcement, which are provided through SAFER and the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, respectively.
She adds that the Village is also working with the County to budget for a second officer dedicated to patrolling the town, which they are going to add no matter if the incorporation process works out or not. But at this time she doesn’t have any reason to believe it won’t because she feels many in the community don’t want to risk having the town be swallowed up by the City of Wausau or Village of Rothschild.
“The feedback I have heard says people here consider themselves Rib Mountain residents. That’s the sense of community that differentiates ourselves in this process,” she said.
Other topics Rhoden discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Incorporation update
8:50- Dog park update
13:30- Other developments in the works
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