WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Finance Committee has approved a $200,000 budget transfer from this year’s snow removal plan to summer road work.
Public Works Director Eric Lindman told the Committee the transfer was made possible by a lack of snow emergencies in the first six months of the year. “We could potentially put that towards hot mix for additional maintenance. That work would be done in-house,” said Lindman. “We would have to contract out for milling, but the majority would be done in-house with our new equipment.”
Mill and overlay involves removing the top portion of the street surface (milling) and replacing it with new asphalt (overlay).
The $200,000 does not represent all of the city’s snow removal and winter maintenance budget for the year. Lindman consulted with City Finance Director MaryAnne Groat to come up with the number, and both of them feel they’ve left enough money to get the city through whatever may come in November and December.
“We were both comfortable with that [number,]” said Lindman.
Lindman did not specify how much extra mill and overlay work would get done thanks to the transfer.
CITY HALL VEHICLE REPURPOSED FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT
In what many may consider a rare turn of events for a government agency, the committee took no action on a proposal to purchase a new vehicle for the Fire department’s management team after an alternative emerged from Cithy Fleet manager Solomon King.
“We have a vehicle shared among multiple departments at City Hall,” said King. “The Mayor asked me a few weeks ago what the future of that vehicle looks like, [saying] he doesn’t have too much of a use for it.”
King said they ran the numbers and found that the vehicle’s usage had declined, so he suggested moving it from City Hall to the Fire Department.
Fire Cheif Jeremy Kopp noted that the GMC Terrain would satisfy the department’s needs and could be available for other city departments if they need to borrow it for a day. He said its primary use would be transporting equipment and people between training sites.
“Whenever [a city employee] needs a vehicle I’d be more than happy to lend a hand. Missing a vehicle for a short time isn’t a challenge we can’t overcome. It’s the everyday in and out that has been putting us behind,” said Kopp
Groat said the vehicle was mostly used by staff at City Hall to attend conferences, but since many events are now held over remote applications it’s gotten less use. “We’re seeing a decline in [people] actually going to conferences. That’s reduced the usage.”
She says others prefer using their vehicle instead of the “pool” vehicle.
The Committee took no action on the item. Chair Michael Martens instructed King and Kopp to take the necessary steps to transfer the vehicle to the Fire Department, and they can revisit the idea in the future if they find the plan didn’t work as designed.
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