Wausau Avenue project goes back to the drawing board | The Weekly Wausonian
Wausau news for the week of Sept. 11, 2025
A project to reconstruct Wausau Avenue will be going back to the drawing board following controversies over its design.
The city council after an hour and a half of discussion voted 6-5 with Mayor Doug Diny breaking the tie to shut down a design for the project. The decision came as part of what turned into a nearly four-hour city council meeting.
The design became controversial because some city council members said residents hadn’t been listened to on the project and that suggestions from the city’s bike/ped committee about including a multi-use path the entire length of the project — from 6th Street to 18th Street — were also ignored.
The city is working with the Department of Transportation to fix the street because it needs repair and that numerous crashes occur there, particularly rear-end collisions by young, inattentive drivers, officials say. The street is a state highway, so any designs must comply with state requirements.
Where that leaves the project is currently unclear. Many of the alternatives suggested wouldn’t work because of state requirements, a consultant for the DOT told the city council Tuesday.
Subscribers this week read about a new planned county position to help coordinate resources for the homeless population — but it will need to survive the upcoming budget process.
Marathon County is looking to hire its own homelessness coordinator
Marathon County is hoping to create a new position: A public health coordinator whose main role will be to help address homelessness in Marathon County.
And this week we look at the new board game cafe Benevolent Badger - and there is much more than meets the eye with this business:
Benevolent Badger is the board game cafe you didn't know you needed
When Jordan Simm, Melissa Wieland and Lacy Masters started Benevolent Badger, they had an idea for the kind of place that otherwise doesn’t exist.
What else in Wausau?
Lee named new United Way director: The United Way has named a new director. Ben Lee, currently the Community Impact Director, will take over the role when current director Jeff Sargent retires. Lee was instrumental in putting together new committees that started to tackle the city’s issues with homelessness and providing resources to start move people into housing.
Council notebook
The city council Tuesday approved appointing Michael Martens to the late Gary Gisselman’s seat on the Historic Preservation Committee and former mayor Katie Rosenberg to the city’s Police and Fire Commission — but balked once again at an Ethics Board appointment. Council members said they didn’t feel it was right for the mayor to appoint someone to the board while the board is handling a complaint against the mayor himself. They voted against Deb Hadley’s appointment to the board to fill the seat left by Brian Mason, who left after his term ended earlier in the year.
Debate became heated after the city council approved a series of rule changes that included moving the mayor’s comments to the end of the meeting. Some council members suggested the mayor was being deliberately targeted with the rule change, but others said Diny inappropriately used the comment to make political points in what had traditionally been an agenda item for benign announcements and proclamations. One council member said that item had caused the council to become a circus at times and that the rule change will at least let the city finish its business first. Below is Diny’s speech from the podium and Council President Lisa Rasmussen’s response.
The council voted 7-3 to select applications for the District 5 seat left open by the death of Gary Gisselman. Council member Terry Kilian said she thought a special election should be held so it reflected the voice of the people and council member Becky McElhaney said she felt Gisselman would have wanted an election since he had advised her similarly when she had been considering resigning six months ago, but council member Tom Neal said the seat being left open for a length of time means District 5 won’t being represented and that with an even number on the council, the mayor has needed to break several tied votes already.
Following the closed session, the city council voted 10-0 to approve further funding through CVMIC for city staff legal representation until the conclusion of the complaint against Mayor Doug Diny. The hearing was supposed to have been held Sept. 5, but Diny’s attorney asked for an adjournment after their attempts to conduct depositions with the city clerk and city attorney were not responded to. The council also extended its membership for 2026 but held off on the next two years, in hopes of requesting proposals for those years instead.
Around the metro
Splash pad construction expected to completed this year: Alert readers let The Wausonian know that the splash pad at Marathon Park still appears to be under construction, as the season for work begins to wane. Parks Director Jamie Polley told The Wausonian that work began on the pad earlier this summer and that work is still expected to be completed by the end of the year. A grand opening will be held in spring. Polley says the contractors as of Monday were waiting for items for the construction that are expected to arrive this week.
Mosinee Fire Commission holds closed session on Fire Chief: The Mosinee Fire Commission held a closed session regarding the fire chief on Wednesday, after The Wausonian’s cutoff time. The commission announced earlier that it is investigating Mosinee Fire Chief Adam Grahn. No reason for the investigation has yet been given. The Wausonian will be following up on this story.
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City buys more property: The city bought a property at 921 S 19th Street, according to online real estate records. Wausau bought the empty lot for $12,000, records show.
Entertainment
Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out all the great events coming up in our regular entertainment guide, Your Wausome Weekend Guide:
Sports
Football: D.C. Everest and Wausau West got off to a great start Friday, both winning the first conference matchups of the season. D.C. Everest defeated Wisconsin Rapids 41-6 and the Warriors defeated Eau Claire North 35-21. D.C. Everest will host Wausau West to break the tie Friday.
Volleyball: Wausau West notched its first conference win of the season, now 1-0 after defeating Wisconsin Rapids in four games. D.C. Everest heads over to the Warriors’ home turf today (Thursday) for its first game of the season. Wausau East, which lost its first game last week, heads to SPASH today (Thursday).
Boys soccer: D.C. Everest has not allowed a goal yet this season as it improved to 2-0 with a win over crosstown rival Wausau West. The Evergreens notched six in their shutout win over the Warriors Tuesday. The Evergreens will host 0-2 Marshfield Tuesday.
Girls tennis: Wausau West is off to a winning start with a 6-1 win against Wisconsin Rapids Thursday. The 1-0 Warriors will host D.C. Everest Thursday.
Email me at brian@thewausonian.com. And as always, thanks for subscribing to The Wausonian! If you haven’t subscribed yet, check out the free and paid options below to help support local journalism:
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