Doug Diny
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau Mayor Doug Diny has issued the first veto of his administration.
In a press release to Wausau Pilot and Review and shared with WSAU News, Diny says he’s striking down a plan to solicit consultant proposals to help shape the city’s vision for the North Riverfront area. Land that encompasses areas such as the former Great Lakes Cheese facility and the old drinking water treatment plant.
The Mayor’s release cited four areas of concern with the proposal, including:
- SPENDING: The city needs to be more careful about spending. The state compliance citywide revaluation will mean double-digit property fax increase for many residents; city government should focus on doing all that it can to reign-in spending and mitigate those increases. Spending up to $100,000.00 on planning consultants for the east riverfront north of Bridge Street does not merit an urgent mid-year spend.
- PRIORITIES: In 2011, the city purchased 16 acres along the east riverfront from MCDEVCO. Only about half of that land has been developed. The Foundry on 3rd project only develops half of the site of the former downtown mall. We have no shortage of clean-and-green land. Filling those spaces with taxpaying development should be our priority. The city needs to prioritize spending; do we need to do this now?
- BUDGET: TID 3 (North Riverfront) has approximately 7 years of life left, and if healthy, we can look at it again in 2025. We’re bringing cost analysis discussion to the Water Commission for security and demolition of the old water treatment plant and other costs on the horizon in this district. Getting that data in hand first should be a priority.
- COMMITMENTS: The city committed to address parking for Athletic Park and the Wausau Woodchucks (North Riverfront District). Woodchucks’ ownership invested over $12 million ($20 million in today’s $) and has plans to bring women’s college softball to town, one of the fastest growing and highly attended college sports. This is a premier ballpark in the Midwest, yet travelers to Wausau still endure suboptimal parking.
RELATED: Wausau Council Approves North Riverfront Planning RFP
Alder Lisa Rasmussen noted that the money had already been budgeted and would help the city create a plan to pitch to developers, releasing the following statement to Wausau Pilot and Review:
The RFP does not have a cost, and for someone whose stated goal is to grow Wausau, it makes little sense to veto quotations, when the selection of any planning firm would be a future choice, and one which has been budgeted for. Any growth should begin with professional planning to avoid mistakes and to be able to plan for supportive infrastructure that operates on a 5-7 year plan to get locations identified for things so they can be worked into future plans and staff work.
The matter went to the council on a failed recommendation from the Economic Development Committee. The vote was 2-2, though the committee agreed to send it to the full council for consideration.
The City Council does have the option to override the veto with a super-majority vote. Their next scheduled meeting is June 11th.
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