METRO BR BRiiEFS
by B.C. Kowalski
PFAS south Weston is the latest municipality to report high levels of PFAS A former Wausau area reporter asked a pretty good question Thursday morning during a press conference from Weston. Essentially, it was: Has the state looked at where all this PFAS is actually coming from? The village of Weston is the latest municipality to test for levels of PFAS higher than new state recommendations of 20 parts per trillion. Weston held a press conference Thursday over Zoom to inform the public about it. According to Village Administrator Keith Donner, well No. 3 tested with PFAS levels higher than the new 20 ppt recommendation from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health Services. No. 4 tested just below the 20ppt standard, but had a safety index above 1, causing concern for village and DNR officials. As a result, the village took down the treatment plant long enough to take wells Nos. 3 and 4 offline, using the village’s other three wells to supply water to the treatment plant. Weston is the latest in a string of municipalities to test above the new standard for PFAS. Wausau made headlines when it announced last month that all six of its wells had tested between 23-48 ppt for PFAS. That made it impossible to simply shut off a well or two to temporarily fix the problem. The Rib Mountain Sanitary Sewer District announced late last year the need to shut down a well because of high levels of PFAS, and Rothschild just announced its levels were under control after initially testing higher than the new standard. “Weston utilities takes its role in protecting public health very seriously,” Donner said Thursday. The village tested its wells in February and got its results back a week before making the announcement. The village also tested its wells in 2014 and 2015, and at that time did not find PFAS above the 20 ppt standard. But where is it coming from? DNR Water Quality Specialist Kyle Burton says the state hasn’t yet begun its investigation into the source of the PFAS. But that is coming, Burton says.
County Diversity Affairs Commission could be on chopping block The makeup of the Marathon County Board could look very different after the April election with 19 seats being challenged. The county’s committees could look different too — the new board will take up a proposal to eliminate the diversity affairs commission. The proposal was included in a packet earlier in March, though nothing on the agenda made that clear. Only buried in the board packet are the new version of the rules, which include the section that spells out the commission completely crossed out and the diversity and inclusion responsibilities doled out to other committees. Rules Review Committee Chair Craig McEwen told
John Marshall could be designated a historic landmark, though the process is currently on hold.
City Pages the process to review the statutory and nonstatutory (ie required and non-required) committees and commissions has been ongoing in the rules and review committee since September. McEwen says he and other supervisors have been hearing concern from residents about non-elected people on committees pushing policy to the county board. Much of that concern stemmed from the No Place for Hate and A Community For All resolutions put forth by the Diversity Affairs Commission. The proposal would be taken up by the next county board following the elections. The number of seats being challenged this time around is the most in at least two decades, with 19 contested races. There will be at least eight new members on the board, and could be many more. A Community For All came up in many candidate questionnaires City Pages sent out; both for and against. A previous board can’t compel a future board to act, McEwen says, so the new board will decide whether or not to make any of the changes once it is seated.
Council member seeking legal fee reimbursement over ethics complaint A city council member who had been the subject of an ethics investigation now wants the city to pay her legal fees. The Ethics Board in March found that City Council Member Deb Ryan hadn’t violated the city’s ethics code, but strongly condemned her actions. Ryan was accused of spreading false information about county board member and Judicare attorney William Harris, and trying to get him fired from his job. Ryan in a recent press release says she is now seeking to have her legal fees reimbursed by the city. Those could add up to $15,000 to $20,000, according to Ryan’s own calculations. The Ethics Board officially closed the case on Monday, and suggested the board itself might provide some suggestions for possible changes to the ethics policies. Ryan didn’t violate any of the city’s ordinances as currently written, board member Robyn De Vos said Monday. But the board discussed recommending potential changes to the ethics codes going forward, which ultimately would be reviewed by the city attorney’s office and then the city council. The current ordinances mostly focused on ethics concerns around finances, and the complaint against Ryan had nothing to do with finances. But, plenty of ethics matters fall outside those involving finances. City Council President Becky McElhaney told City Pages that the ethics ordinance would need to be looked at by the city council for possible amendment for a number of reasons. “The ordinance outlining the procedure was found to be cumbersome and inefficient once put into practice,” McElhaney says. “Some of the language is confusing.” The ordinance didn’t anticipate what might happen if there were recusals or resignations, for instance. Both happened during the Ryan investigation. The Ethics Board could take up recommending potential changes at its next meeting.
Historic commission sending letter to school board about John Marshall preservation
Crowds filled two rooms in the Marathon County Courthouse last year as the county’s Executive Committtee took up the latest version of the A Community for All resolution.
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The city’s Historic Preservation Commission plans to write a letter to the Wausau School Board to further pursue designating John Marshall Elementary School as a historic landmark. The letter comes after the city’s Plan Commission put a halt to the designation process for six months as the district told city leaders it needs time to develop a
facilities plan. With fewer and fewer students, it’s likely it will have to think differently about how many schools the district has. The Historic Preservation Commission earlier this year voted to start the process of designating the building as a historic landmark. Historian Gary Gisselman, who is also running for city council and county board, says there are plenty of ways to preserve the building historically without necessarily retaining the original use. Even if the school district didn’t keep it as a school, the building could be repurposed while still retaining some historic qualities, he says.
Spending low this election cycle Despite the high number of contested races this election cycle, spending on local campaigns appears to be quite low. Campaign finance filings show most candidates didn’t file campaign finance reports with city, county or school officials. According to the state of Wisconsin Ethics Commission, spending of $2,000 or less on local elections doesn’t need to be reported, as it’s considered “limited activity.” That applies to outside agencies as well. On the school board, only Jon Creisher, James Bouche and Joanna Reyes filed campaign finance reports for the current period. Reyes took in $7,810 in campaign contributions; Creisher $10,725; and Bouche $7,940. On the city council, John Kroll who is vying for District 1 against Carol Lukens took in $1,420 in contributions. Jo Ann Egelkrout in District 3 brought in $2,064. In County Board races, Kim Ungerer took in $1,536 in contributions; Bobby Niemeyer took in $1,700; Cody Nikolai took in $326; Jennifer Aarrestad took in $1,585; Randy DeBroux took in $1,267; Stacey Morache took in $989; David Baker brought in $1,903; and Johnny Fortenberry brought in $1,700. No other candidates filed finance papers by the Monday deadline.
Balloon rally hosting pro log rolling contest next year The Taste n’ Glow Balloon Rally this year will host a professional log rolling competition. Founders Nancy and Steve Woller told the city’s Room Tax Commission that the event will be filmed, is bringing in professional log rollers from around the country and will air on Fox Sports. Past shows were aired in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota and northern Illinois. The event was one of several to receive funding out of more than $90,000 from the city’s Room Tax Commission, which apportions the room tax dollars the city receives. Nancy Woller says that several hotels in the area are already booked up for that weekend, and presents a real opportunity to market the area. The show costs about $15,000 to produce, she told the committee.
Referendum on the ballot Voters Tuesday will decide on whether or not to fund $119 million to help the Wausau School District renovate its buildings. That includes security upgrades, updates, building infrastructure and maintenance.
