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Weekly Blast!: The F3 tornado that severely damaged the City of Menasha last week has been devastating to that community. Have you ever wondered what the Town of Grant would do in case of a similar disaster? Recently Portage County Emergency Managers Bob Weinert and Tanner Arnold, T. Grant First Responders Jim Yetter and Keith Kardash, and Clerk Stefanie Schlapa and I met to work on a Local Emergency Response Guide. All Portage County municipalities are required to have this document available, but it needs to be reviewed and updated every so often. Case in point…Menasha.   So, what does this Response Guide entail? We must identify where could residents go if their structures were in danger or uninhabitable, and who we the Town could call on to supply three critical items: food, water, and power. Emergency contact names and their numbers are included in the Guide. Questions including if there are critical infrastructures that could be impacted, for example chemical, commercial, communications, emergency services, energy, transportation, etc. In the next few weeks, we’ll be reconvening to make updates to our Guide. Do you have large equipment or a skill set that might be helpful to us in case of a disaster? If so, let Clerk Stefanie Schlapa at 715-213-7370 or me at 715-213-1717 know so we can add your name to the list of contacts. It’s important that we work together if disaster strikes.   Have a good weekend. Perhaps rain may fall, Sharon

Posted on , by Dado

Weekly Blast

The Board held its monthly meeting on Wednesday. We’re trying a different agenda format to improve efficiency and shorten meeting times. A “consent agenda” allows usual items like minutes, committee and officer reports, financial reports, and invoices to be reviewed in advance of the meeting. When the meeting begins a board member can request that any item from the list be moved to the “regular” agenda for discussion and consideration. In this way any item where concerns or questions exist are scrutinized. Anything that remains on the consent agenda is approved by unanimous consent in its entirety. On Wednesday it seemed to work well, however it’s new so we’ll see how it goes.

One item of interest (not on the consent agenda) was a Resolution regarding the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Plan prepared by the Wisconsin Rapids School District. The District includes Grant Elementary School right here in the Town of Grant. Recall some months ago we had an informational meeting for residents in the Mertz Subdivision just south of Grant Elementary. The residents did not want sidewalks for bike or pedestrians installed whenever the roads are reconstructed. Originally the Town included this option in two grants submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). Neither were funded, nor were two recent ones WITHOUT sidewalks included. In short, the SRTS Plan and the Resolution signed do not include any sidewalks within the Subdivision; only a short, cemented area at the corner of 85th/CTH WW at the request of the Portage County Highway Department. This, in hopes of a future enhanced crosswalk across the highway. This Resolution may be submitted with any future funding requests to reconstruct the roads within the Subdivision. However, if you have a million dollars sitting around, we’d be happy to start construction ASAP – ha!

Have a safe weekend and be careful in the expected heatwave, Sharon