Weekly News Blast

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

Posted on March 6, 2026, Edited March 6, 2026 by Flor Faustino

It looks like spring may be going to spring soon! Either way you’ll need to remember to “spring ahead” one hour on your clocks early this Sunday.

Perhaps this is a good time to acknowledge our snowplow operators this winter: Jerry Reinwand, Jim Yetter, Brian Kuhlmann, and Leo Krueger. They did a nice job of keeping our roads clear of ice and snow as best they could. Wood County Highway Department assisted on Lake Road from 100th to CTH U (per request of Safeway bus company transporting our children). That 2-mile stretch gets remarkably icy each year and is traversed upwards of 12 times per day by the bus company!

You’ve probably all noticed quite a bit of brushing and clearing along our road rights of way this winter. That work is being done by Dominic DeVito, Brian Kuhlmann, Leo Krueger, and Garry Saeger. They need a shout-out also!

Our monthly Town Board meeting will be held on Wednesday March 11 beginning at 6:00 pm. You are all welcome to attend. Sharon