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More mall contamination

New Department of Natural Resources reports show another plume of contamination on the former Wausau Center site

City officials are reacting to a new report of toxic contamination found at the former Wausau Center mall site earlier this year.

A report submitted to the DNR in late April shows elevated levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and tetrachloroethene found on the site. The contamination is found in an area between the former JC Penney area and the current HOM Furniture building.

The report was submitted to the DNR in late April but the actual investigation was conducted in early March, according to the report. The report was submitted by environmental engineering firm REI, as part of a Phase II assessment. Phase I assessments involve collecting all available tests and documentation from a site; phase II assessments involves doing additional testing.

The city of Wausau is listed in the report as the responsible party for the site, with Public Works Director Eric Lindman as the contact. Lindman did not respond to City Pages’ request for comment.

The area is currently being developed by Wausau Opportunity Zone, a forprofit entity formed by area non-profits to transform the mall site into new residential and commercial space after the collapse of Wausau Center.

A special meeting of the Economic Development Committee on the next phase of the mall redevelopment is expected to be scheduled soon. No meeting has yet been scheduled as of press time.

Alderperson Tom Kilian, who has been critical of the project and whose district the project is in, said he was disappointed the council didn’t get an update on the contamination since a new amendment to the development agreement came before the city council just last week. “I hope that, moving forward, this type of information is provided to the council in a more timely way — or provided at all, for that matter,” Kilian said in a statement to City Pages. “Had it not been for private research, I would not have even known about this issue and the new open ERP site.”

City Environmental Engineer Kevin Fabel says the contamination isn’t “new” per se, because the area is considered separate from the former mall property. It will follow the same procedures for closure as the previous contamination sites.

Chief announces potential homelessness solutions following sobering video

Wausau Police Chief Ben Bliven has a series of recommendations about how to start working on the homelessness problem downtown.

Those recommendations came after Bliven showed a 30-minute video of various calls police responded to downtown involving homeless individuals.

The video began with a man in the Jefferson Street ramp banging on the walls with a hammer and screaming obscenities. As police calmly ask him to stop, he continues hammering and screaming until finally stopping, putting the hammer down and allowing them to arrest him. The video continues, depicting homeless people drinking on the 400 Block stage, sleeping, drinking and having sex in the ramps, as well as numerous fights and assaults at the gazebo last summer.

Following the video, the chief recommended five items that can help improve the situation. They include hiring a civilian community outreach specialist, hiring additional CSOs, designating a specific park for the homeless to sleep in, eliminating drinking in parks or some parks, and imposing a littering ordinance. The community outreach specialist has been approved by the city’s Human Resources Committee and will need to make its way through Finance and the city council.

Compass Properties, which owns the Washington Square/Third Street Lifestyle Center where many issues with homeless individuals occur, have offered to help pay for the CSOs, Bliven told the committee. And, Bliven says, the city attorney is working on drafting a littering ordinance.

From the Attorney’s Desk

by Jason Krautkramer, J.D.

ECKERT & KRAUTKRAMER, LLC

325 N. 1st Ave., Suite 1 • Wausau,630 N. 4th St., Wausau, WI 54403 WI 715-842-0907 • jason@eckertlawllc.com

What Is Self-Dealing in Trust Administration?

A trustee usually has quite a bit of discretion in their management of a trust’s accounts, money, and property (known as assets). At the same time, as a fiduciary, a trustee also owes the trust’s beneficiaries a duty of loyalty, which prohibits the trustee from self-dealing.

Self-dealing happens when a trustee uses the trust’s assets for their own benefit instead of for the beneficiaries’ benefit. Self-dealing can be hard to identify in practice and is often done in ignorance, particularly when there are complicating factors such as the trustee also being a trust beneficiary.

Examples include a trustee making gifts to themselves from the trust, borrowing money from the trust, investing the trust’s assets in their own business, and selling property to or buying property from the trust.

If you are or will be a trustee and have questions about how to fulfill your trustee duties, contact us.

County already looking to replace vacated board seat

With the election only about one month prior, the county is already looking to fill a vacant county board seat.

The county’s executive committee Thursday voted to advertise for a replacement for District 24. Peter Hansen was elected to the seat on the April election — he was the only candidate to run for the position. Recently Hansen has already submitted his letter of resignation, leading the board to seek another candidate.

Although each one is discussed individually, the Executive Committee typically solicits new potential candidates for open seats, who then interview with the county board chair and vice chair.

But because the vacancy came up so suddenly, some members of the executive committee suggested putting the seat on the November partisan ballot (county board positions are non-partisan).

That could prove complicated, however. County Clerk Kim Trueblood said there are a number of questions her office still has into the state elections commission that have not yet been answered. For instance, the nomination period has already begun for races on the November ballot - would candidates for the open board seat be able to get a special nomination period if an election were held?

The committee ultimately chose to undertake the appointment process.

Weston parks experience rash of vandalism

Two parks in the Weston area have experienced vandalism, Everest Metro Police Department officials report.

A number of parks needed parks staff to clean up graffiti left by vandals in those parks, police say. Police on Facebook said they couldn’t share images of the vandalism because they’re littered with profanity.

The parks in question were Kellyland Park, including dog park, and Machmueller Park, both in Weston, police told City Pages. The graffiti incidents occurred on May 8 and May 9, police officials say.

Residents see master plan for Marathon Park, surrounding area

Marathon County residents got their first look at potential plans for updating the Marathon Park area Tuesday.

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Raine Gardner, lead engineer with consulting firm MSA, detailed concepts for Marathon Park Tuesday.

Th e westside master plan covers Marathon Park, the UWSP-Wausau campus and some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

Th e master plan includes four concepts, many of which could drastically change the park. Th ey include concepts such as moving ice rinks, making better use of the area south of the park, including more green space, reconfi guring the roadways in the park, reconfi guring entry points, and the potential inclusion of new amenities such as mountain bike parks, zip lines, expanding the mini-train, new playgrounds, and far too many items to mention here.

Th e plan also addresses Marathon Hall, the dorm UWSP has said it will no longer use. Th e most likely use for the dorm is to tear it down and see it rebuilt as some type of housing — either student-level housing (not operated by the school) or senior housing, says consultant MSA planner Jason Valerius. Th e plan even addresses a nowunneeded parking lot on the north side of Stewart Avenue, which could become anything from four single-family homes to townhomes or an apartment complex.

Another area the plan addresses is developing the area along West Street, south of the park. Th e county owns some land for redevelopment on that street, along with the current highway department building which it plans to move. Th e whole corridor could be opened for development.

Th e initial concepts came after MSA surveyed 2,200 people. Residents can now fi ll out a preference survey to give planners feedback on the concepts.

Once fi nalized, the goal is to have the County Board vote on the master plan in October.

Former Portage County exec named deputy administrator in Marathon County

A former Portage County executive has been named Marathon County’s newest deputy administrator.

Chris Holman has been named to the position, according to a release from Marathon County. Holman served recently as Portage County Executive for one fouryear term starting in 2018. Holman didn’t survive the February primary between him, Eric Olson and John Pavelski. Pavelski ultimately won in April.

Holman was the third person to serve in that role in Portage County since it was created in 2006. Th e position operates in lieu of an administrator such as Marathon County has, and is elected versus appointed.

“I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue working in local government here in Marathon County,” Holman said in a statement. “In my previous role as the Portage County Executive, I worked with Marathon County on several issues and got to know the county well through regional conversations, as well as the collective work both Marathon and Portage counties have been involved in through the Wisconsin Counties Association.”

Marathon County trails now open

Marathon County ATV, mountain bike and horse trails opened last week, county offi cials say.

Th e list includes ATV/UTV trails in Burma Forest; mountain bike trails in Nine Mile Forest and Big Eau Pleine; and horse trails in Big Eau Pleine, Nine Mile and Kronenwetter and Leather Camp.

Trail openings for many trails were delayed from rainy conditions. Ringle mountain bike trails only opened last week, though typically would be open in April.

Nine Mile bike and horse trails open starting at noon through Turkey season, which ends May 31.

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