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Weekly Blast!: Last week the Town of Grant hosted the Portage County unit meeting of the Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA). This week I attended the WTA Annual Convention in Stevens Point. Town and village officers from all over the State of Wisconsin were present; hundreds of them. Each year this event helps to educate officers about state statutes, current legislation, road maintenance and construction, budgeting, ambulance and fire protection, and so much more. No one officer can attend all the sessions available (we need the entire board to do that!) but these are the ones I attended: 1) Cypersecurity Attacks; 2) Fire Protection Service Fees; 3) Legal “Cracker Barrel” (where officers can ask the WTA attorneys ANYTHING); 4) Large-Scale Wind & Solar; and 5) Industrial Development. Each session was extremely interesting and educational. Of particular interest was the session on Fire Protection Service Fees. Currently we pay for fire protection services from our general fund to the Town of Grand Rapids and the Village of Plainfield. The first uses equalized value to determine what we pay whereas the second uses a formula that is proportional to each contracted municipality. The former does not and so unfortunately, we pay a disproportional amount to T. Grand Rapids. In this WTA session they recommended two options if we don’t want to continue pulling from our general fund: 1) referendum to increase our levy; or 2) using a formula based on square footage of homes/businesses/land size, etc. to have landowners pay proportionally based on the anticipated expense of a fire to their parcel. It’s a very interesting option and several towns are working with their assessors to create a fair formula for landowners. For example, an agricultural field would pay far less than a large commercial building, or a small home would pay less than a large one with several accessory buildings, etc. Moving forward the Town of Grant will be looking at options as the price of fire protection increases every year. We need to find ways to make it fair with the greatest protection for all our residents, their homes, businesses, and land. Enjoy the anticipated stunning weather, Sharon

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