Rib Mountain too? | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of Aug. 14, 2025

Many earlier this week read our piece about the fire fee proposal in Weston. But questions linger as more comes out about the fire fee.

To recap, Weston wants to impose a fire fee on residents and businesses to help cover shortfalls and to fund more firefighters (partially paid for through a grant).

One thing that didn’t make it into our report before it was first published is Rib Mountain. Weston leaders at the meeting told the public Rib Mountain had the capacity to fund its portion of the SAFER fire district through levy capacity, so it wouldn’t need a fire fee.

That’s true for next year’s budget, but The Wausonian learned from Gaylene Rhoden after our story published that the Village of Rib Mountain hired Ehlers, a financial consulting firm that often works with municipalities, to study a potential fire fee.

Again, that wouldn’t happen in 2026, but it’s not outside of the realm of possibilities in future years.

And, the Wausonian recently confirmed, the village of Weston approved language for a referendum on raising levy limits to fund fire services back in July 2024. That referendum was supposed to come back to the board in August for approval with final numbers.

Residents at the meeting asked why that never happened, and so The Wausonian asked village staff. According to information provided by the village, the village board in February elected to explore a fire fee instead of the referendum.

But that doesn’t explain why the referendum question never re-appeared in front of the board as it was supposed to have - and it likely would have needed to have been submitted to the state before February. The Wausonian asked further questions and did not receive a response in time for publication.

The city’s ethics board following a closed session voted to allow Mayor Doug Diny’s attorneys to depose the city clerk and city attorney ahead of a hearing early next month to determine whether Diny’s removal of a ballot box violated the city’s ethics code. The Wausonian had the story first:

What’s going on in Marathon County Civil Court? Find out the latest in our monthly subscriber feature, Full Court Press:

What else in Wausau?

City council member died Saturday: City council member Gary Gisselman died Saturday, city officials are reporting, and services will be held this Saturday. Gisselman served many years on the Wausau City Council and on the Marathon County Board, and volunteered as a historian with the Marathon County Historical Society. Mayor Doug Diny in a tribute called Gisselman’s contributions to the city “unmatched.”

Wausau man accused in Ponzi scheme officially indicted: A Wausau investment advisor accused of running a Ponzi scheme (taking investments and not actually making investments, instead using new investor money to pay returns for older investors) has been officially indicted. Stanley Pophal allegedly ran the scheme to fund his lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of 300 snowmobiles. Pophal was first charged back in June. He faces 20 years in prison for each count of fraud.

City to get new buses - but doesn’t yet know cost: The city’s Finance Committee held off on action to approve the city getting 10 new buses for one reason - they still don’t know how much they are going to cost. The buses are expected to be paid for by a grant from the federal settlement with VW over allegations that they knowingly violated the Clean Air Act via cheat devices on vehicles that allowed them to violate emission standards. The city has up to $640,000 to spend on each bus, but still hasn’t gotten a price from the vendor. Finance Director Maryanne Groat told the committee that if the busses came in more expensive than the $640,000, the city would be responsible to cover the difference.

Around the metro

Cost to raze the old dorms - $1 million: The county is currently collecting proposals for potential new uses of the old UW-Marathon dorms, but committee leaders also asked about what it would cost to raze the building. It turns out… a lot. County staff members told the Education, Extension and Economic Development Committee that rough estimates to clear the building came to $1 million. Committee Member Randy Fifrick said tearing down the McClellan ramp last year cost the city roughly $800k, so that sounded about right. That cost makes it likely the county would raze the dorms rather than grant approval to a new use case that might emerge from the request for proposals.

Gravel biking grant?: Marathon County leaders are likely to put their support behind a grant that would help the Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership mark gravel trails for gravel biking. The county’s Extension, Education and Economic Development Committee last week approved a letter that would support the initiative. That sends it to the Marathon County Board. The letter supports an application for a grant to create gravel biking routes and install signage for those routes in the growing bicycle sport.

Former Town Clerk pleads guilty to theft, forgery: A former Town of Bergen Clerk pleaded guilty last week to several counts of theft and forgery from the township where she worked. Gloriann Doyle is scheduled to appear for sentencing Oct. 27 after pleading to theft of more than $100,000 plus lesser theft and forgery charges. She faces up to 12 1/2 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000 on the highest charge (the sentence could be more if the judge assigns the sentences for each charge consecutively but that’s more rare). Doyle was arrested after stealing from the town of Bergen, and that appeared to be in service of paying back money she had stolen from the non-profit where she had worked.

Business

Central Wisconsin finally gets an Indian restaurant: If you conducted a survey (we have) about what food type was most missing in the central Wisconsin area, the number one choice would always be Indian. That gap has finally closed as Zaika Gourmet India opened its doors in Rib Mountain. The restaurant moved in across the street from Era Pancakes, in the spot left by El Tequila Salsa when it moved further west on Highway NN. So far the early reviews look promising.

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Entertainment

If you’re a whitewater kayaker, this weekend is your Super Bowl. All about the Midwest Freestyle Championships, plus the last Jazz on the River, the Athens “World’s Fair,” a local blues band poised for explosion and more in your latest Wausome Weekend Guide:

Sports

College baseball: The Wausau Woodchucks finished the regular season strong, defeating the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters Friday and Saturday to close out the second half of the season with a 25-9 record to top the standings. That gave the Chucks a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, it was two and done as the Chucks fell to the Green Bay Rockers 8-4 and 6-4 Sunday and Monday to close out the season.

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