​Mayor Shane Blaser has made a proclamation recognizing April 30th, 2022, as Arbor Day.

Arbor Day commemorates the planting, maintenance, and preservation of trees. Arbor Day was first proclaimed in 1874 by Nebraska Governor Robert W. Furnas.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The City of Wisconsin Rapids Parks and Recreation Department is moving to the Lowell Center at 220 3rd Ave S #3, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495.

Currently located at City Hall, the Parks and Recreation Department will open in its new location on Wednesday, April 27. Services and office hours will not be impacted by this move.

Learn more about the Parks and Recreation Department, including programs and parks, at: https://www.wirapids.org/parks-recreation

Any questions can be directed to the Parks and Recreation Department at 715-421-8240.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The City of Wisconsin Rapids Common Council approved the transportation utility to fund $500,000 of operating and maintenance expenses for streets and sidewalks, and eliminate special assessments. The transportation utility would replace revenues from special assessments at $350,000 and increase road surfacing efforts at $150,000.

Transportation utility fees will be charged through the Water Works and Lighting Commission utility bills. Billing may start as soon as July 2022. Properties with pending special assessments will not be charged the proposed Special Assessment charge. In the coming weeks, a formal letter will be sent to each of the properties that were noticed of pending special assessment charges.

The transportation utility is a mechanism to raise revenue, similar to other utilities, and is based on a customer’s relative use of the road system (or the property’s “trip generation”). Trip generation for each property within the City is determined using the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Trip Generation Manual. The trip generation manual is derived from hundreds or thousands of studies across the nation for many different land uses. The data is analyzed and characterized in a way that can be compared across similar land uses with similar characteristics.

The utility revenue of $500,000 is divided by the annual trips generated within the city to determine a cost per trip. The cost per trip is applied to the trips generated at each property within the city.

• Single Family Residential ~$20/year (per dwelling unit)
• Duplex and triplexes ~$17/year (per dwelling unit)
• Multi-family with 4 or more units ~$16/year (per dwelling unit)
• Commercial, institutional, industrial properties generate trips based on the type of business/use and certain characteristics, such as square foot of floor space, so each business has a unique charge.

There have been growing concerns about special assessments regarding assessment procedures and the amount of assessments to property owners. In 2020, City Council instructed staff to perform a review of the special assessment process and identify available funding options as a substitute for special assessments.

The City has analyzed public survey data, and the pros and cons for several special assessment alternatives to select the transportation utility model as the most equitable alternative for further exploration.

​Learn more about the transportation utility here: www.wirapids.org/transportation-utility Questions can be directed to: Joe Eichsteadt City Engineer 715-421-8251 jeichsteadt@wirapids.org

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – On April 10, 2022, at approximately 8:00 a.m., a sanitary sewer force main cracked and overflowed onto the street and into the storm sewer at the intersection of 1st Street South and Pepper Avenue in Wisconsin Rapids.

Wastewater Treatment Plant staff immediately undertook efforts to redirect the force main flow and the overflow was stopped at 8:30 a.m. Approximately 1,500 gallons of sanitary sewer flowed into the storm sewer. The storm sewer runs to One Mile Creek.

On April 11, 2022, the intersection was excavated, the pipe was repaired, and normal operations resumed at approximately 10:00 a.m.

For additional information regarding this matter, please contact:
Derek Budsberg
Superintendent
Wisconsin Rapids Wastewater Treatment Plant
2540 1st Street South
Wisconsin Rapids, WI. 54494
Office: 715.421.8237
dbudsberg@wirapids.org

Presidential Proclamation 6667, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW), was signed into law by President William J. Clinton on April 12, 1994. He declared every second week of April as NPSTW.

Residents can use this week to celebrate and honor telecommunications personnel across the Nation who serve our communities, citizens, and public safety personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.