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Weekly Blast!: One of the network news stations ends its Nightly News with the following “there’s good news tonight”. Well, there’s “good news tonight” in the Town of Grant. Lots of it actually… On Monday, the Town of Grant Board hosted the Portage County Unit meeting of the Wisconsin Towns Association. It was well attended by officers from towns and villages throughout Portage County. Owner Shane of Ryder’s Roadhouse opened the spacious banquet hall and owner Kathi from Chat-R-Box Catering provided the meal to accommodate our 40+ guests. Jodi Lomma, Chair of our Plan Commission presented our town’s innovative approach to Data Centers and the approved changes to our Zoning Ordinance to prohibit them in all current zoning districts. The concept of a “floating zone” was introduced to the assembly. Her presentation was followed by Lynn Markham, UWSP Land Use Specialist detailing educational opportunities re: utility solar. The evening was well-attended and educational for all. On Tuesday, Lesa Kardash, WDNR Wildlife Biologist received a call from the Portage County Sheriff Department that a grouse hunter had discovered the stolen historical kiosk panel and contacted them. The panel is now safe in the WDNR office. The picture attached shows Deputy Jeff Saddlemare with the beautiful panel. Our thanks to the Portage County Sheriff Department and Crime Stoppers for their swift assist. On Thursday, the long-standing requests to have anti-freeze recycling available at our Transfer Station came closer to reality. Leo Kruger and Garry Saeger picked up a burial vault from Marshfield Wilburt Vault and then secured two 55-gallon drums from me that I’m donating to the effort. Here’s a picture of Garry trying out the vault for size – eek! Under the direction of Supervisors Provost and Steltenpohl they will be building a roof system over both our existing oil recycling drum and the new anti-freeze containers. Watch for that soon. Looks like it should be a beautiful fall weekend. Enjoy the season, 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