Wausau City Hall. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – The Wausau City Council was faced with a vote to override a mayoral veto on Tuesday and declined to do so by a vote of 7-4.
The vote came just a week after Mayor Doug Diny announced that he wouldn’t sign a resolution allowing the Community Development office to field proposals for consultants looking to help plan the future of the north riverfront area.
Alderperson Lisa Rasmussen, who voted to override the veto said the council needed to start making plans to make the land profitable saying, “The agreement that we made with the public when we made those investments was that we would redevelop those lands and return them to taxable status so that we could get returns on those investments that the public made. The longer we wait to plan for those and the longer we wait to realize those investments the more we risk creating a situation where the relevant TID district is underperforming or not performing to its maximum capability.”
During the conversation, several alder-persons including Lou Larson and Chad Henke noted that the TID program hosts too many projects that are considered more time imperative and more publicly needed and that adding another could cause issues for the city down the line.
Mayor Diny previously told WSAU that he knows a development plan for the area is needed, but he questions the timing. He says he would rather get a handle on other costs such as demolishing the former drinking water plant, cleaning up the Wausau Chemical site, and parking at Athletic Park should take priority.
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