Lead leaders | The Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of Feb. 15, 2024

Feb 15, 2024

City leaders on Tuesday approved a potentially $80 million program that would replace lead service lines running into people’s homes over a five-year period.

But that program is still confusing for many. Some city leaders say they don’t understand the program, and that many residents don’t either. And questions remain about the company the city is contracting with, Community Infrastructure Partners.

Mayor Katie Rosenberg laid it out Tuesday. The program aims over five years to replace 8,000 lead service lines, which go from the curb to the resident’s water meter. The city received a $5.8 million grant from the Department of Natural Resources to complete roughly 500 lines the first year. CIP would train local contractors (defined as “throughout the state”) to do the work. (The Wausonian received information late Wednesday suggests only 75% of that loan is forgivable and city leaders may need to find another source for the remaining money. The Wausonian plans to dig further into those claims.)

But others said they didn’t trust CIP. Council members pointed to most of their employees coming from company called Corvias, which stands accused of providing rat-infested housing to military families and college students. And, they point to financial troubles its parent company went though in 2018.

This week The Wausonian featured a write-up of the candidates for Kronenwetter village board; and an explanation of what is going on with the county board seat:

Kronenwetter has nine candidates aiming for three village board seats

B.C. Kowalski

Feb 13

Kronenwetter has nine candidates aiming for three village board seats

This year, Kronenwetter is seeing an historical election — the most candidates ever to run for village board since the village has been in existence. Nine candidates filed to run for only three seats. That sparked a primary election Feb. 20 in which voters will select six of those candidates to move on to the April 2 election.

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What else in Wausau?

Homeless help: The city council heard a proposal Tuesday that would create a new $600,000 per year program to help homeless women get into housing and provide case management, something City Outreach Coordinator Tracy Rieger said is a major gap in Wausau. But city leaders balked at the price tag. Police Chief Matt Barnes said they plan to reach out to other partners and look for grants, and don’t expect it to be funded by taxpayer dollars. And THAT led to city leaders calling out Marathon County and NCHC for not doing enough in the way of case management. NCHC responded back saying they’ve done a lot for case management for individuals that fall within their jurisdiction but aren’t statutorily allowed to provide case management specifically to the unhoused. There’s a lot more to write about this, so stay tuned.

Another RiverLife failure: S.C. Swiderski last week told the city it wouldn’t build a 200-unit apartment complex in the city’s flagship development area after all. That adds to the string of failures on the site, which has seen one project completed in at least nine years with no further prospects in site. The Wausonian wrote much more about the S.C. Swiderski RiverLife situation last week.

Around the metro

Juvenile Justice is back: Marathon County closed its Juvenile Facility in 2022 because it didn’t have enough staff to man that facility and the jail at the same time. That’s changed now, Sheriff’s Office officials say. While typically making around $200,000 in revenue with a handful of counties using it, the facility now contracts with 43 counties and pulled in more than $1 million in 2023. And, if everyone currently being vetted is hired, the corrections division will finally be fully staffed.

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Business

Whitewater for sale?: The building housing Whitewater Music Hall is for sale, according to a listing on Karen Hocking Real Estate. The building is selling for $1.5 million.

Jimmy John’s opening downtown this week: A new Jimmy John’s, planning to operate in what was the upstairs dining area of Jalapenos in the Third Street Lifestyle Center, is slated to open this week according to Compass Property Manager Mark Craig. Jalepenos will continue to operate in the basement of the building.

Jersey Mike’s opening this month in Rib Mountain: Jersey Mike’s, a sub sandwich shop new to the Wausau area, is slated to open Feb. 21, according to the company. The location near Texas Roadhouse will be the company’s 35th store in Wisconsin.

Entertainment

Thurs-Sat, Feb. 15-17: According to WCT, that story is “the tale of a pampered Broadway starlet who wants to give up show business to get married, her producer who sets out to sabotage the nuptials, her chaperone, the debonair groom, the dizzy chorine, the Latin lover and a pair of gangsters who double as pastry chefs.” With WCT now holding more shows in smaller venues such as the James Veninga Theater at UW-Stevens Point Wausau, this is a great opportunity to support local theatre. $25, $21 senior, college and military, $17 youth. 6:30 pm Thursday, 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, 2:30 pm Saturday. Check out the event page for more.

Thursday, Feb. 15: This is definitely not your grandma’s night at the quartet. The Dallas String Quartet plays music like Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses, and for this show will be taking on music from the hit Netflix show Bridgerton, including pieces by Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Katy Perry and more. They’ve played for U.S. presidents, sold out shows around the country and are doing their best to make classic instruments and quartets cool again. 7:30 pm. Check out the event page for more.

Saturday, Feb. 17: Do you miss that late 90s fad when swing music was once again all the rage for a hot minute? Whitewater Music Hall has you covered this Saturday with their Valentine’s Swing Dance Night. First spend an hour learning how to actually swing dance then jump and jive the night away with an evening of swing dancing and music. Singles, couples are all welcome so feel free to come down and have some fun. 7 pm. See the event page for more information.

Looking for kids/family events? Check out the family-oriented listing from The Wausonian’s partner Wausau Mama, who puts together a weekly listing of children/family activities.

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Sports

Boys basketball: Wausau East has worked its way squarely into second place in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Lumberjacks defeated crosstown rival Wausau West 62-47 Tuesday. But with Marshfield holding a perfect 10-0 record, and 8-3 Wausau East with only one game left to play, that means East can only at best finish the season in second heading into the playoffs.

Girls basketball: Wausau West will host first place Marshfield Thursday in a bid to hang on to third place. Marshfield and SPASH are both tied for first place at 10-1, and with Thursday closing out the conference season, the Warriors at best can hold third place behind the two.

Boys hockey: Wausau West won its first games of the WIAA playoffs Tuesday, defeating Merrill coop 8-0. The Warriors travel to Hudson today (Thursday) for the next round. If West wins they’ll likely take on undefeated SPASH (unless SPASH loses to Wisconsin Rapids) in the third round. D.C. Everest also won its first game, defeating Eau Claire North 3-2.

Girls hockey: The Central Wisconsin Storm gets a bye in the first round of the WIAA playoffs. The Storm will host the winner of Hayward and Medford/Rib Lake Tuesday. The Storm finished the regular season 17-4-1.

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