Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council has officially given the McClellan Street Parking Ramp its last rights with an 11-0 vote in favor of closing the structure on Tuesday.
Public Works Director Eric Lindman says that will allow staff to send out formal notices to those that park in the structure, who have known that this decision was coming. “We’ve been in contact with those who use the ramp, so most of the tenants are aware of this,” said Lindman after Tuesday’s vote. “People already have other locations to park, and we have plenty of parking downtown including suface lots and the Jefferson Street ramps. This is really just the official closure of the ramp.”
The issue was scheduled to be considered during a council meeting in late April after it was approved by the Finance Committee. But some on the council called foul, noting that the Capital Improvements and Street Maintenance Committee wasn’t given a chance to consider the move. They approved the proposal on May 1st, sending it on to Tuesday’s meeting.
Lindman says his department will recommend that the city include the demolition of the ramp in the 2024 budget. Managers of the Dudley Tower have requested that the city turn the area into a surface lot following its demolition.
SCOTT STREET FENCING APPROVED
The council also approved spending $40,000 to install fencing under the Scott Street Bridge due to safety concerns regarding the city’s homeless population.
The proposal, which goes back several months, has often been met with resistance. But alder Lisa Rasmussen noted that the city has more options now for housing the homeless population, and some have noted that since the area was evacuated due to the threat of flooding on the Wisconsin River there have been signs that more homeless people are finding motivation to get themselves on a better path. “Our shelters have told us that they [can] and are willing to scale up capacity. A couple have scaled up permanently and can go further if there is an emergency like heat or cold.
“We can do better than leaving people under a bridge, and I think that we have shown that,” added Rasmussen.
Alders Gary Gisselman, Doug Diny, and Tom Killian provided the no votes in the 8-3 decision. Gisselman said he doesn’t think that this is how the city should be treating its people. “[It is very] unfortunate, fencing them off. I think we can do better. Instead of putting up fences, let’s get people on the street helping the people that need help so they can find their right direction.”
The city will partner with Wisconsin Public Service on the project, which comes at a cost of about $87,230.
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