MARINETTE — Mayor Steve Genisot updated the Marinette Common Council about the proposed Main Street restoration project during Tuesday’s common council meeting. He said the project — scheduled to begin next spring — is estimated to cost the city a little over $3 million.
The plan for improvements to the downtown area includes replacement of the roadway, sidewalks, utilities, lighting, trees and a plaza for gathering. Plaza designs have been scaled back to reduce costs.
The forecasted project would begin at U.S. 41 and run the length of Main Street, all the way down to Wells Street. Elevated portions of the road will serve as speed tables and they will be placed by Dunlap Square Apartments and the proposed plaza.
Previous plans for the plaza included new sidewalks and additional amenities but those have been removed to cut costs. Genisot estimates that $300,000 was cut from the project by scaling back the plaza. The plaza would be located in between the Green Cafe and Jordon Cole Jewelers, at the end of Pierce Avenue — where there are currently permanent barriers blocking traffic.
Food truck pedestals and the infrastructure to power them have remained in the plan. Genisot said the grassy gathering space of the plaza can be built upon and added to in the future when more funding is available.
“The goal is to have a TID (Tax Increment District) reimburse the overall cost of the project, but it will take some time,” Genosit said.
In other matters, the council passed a motion that will require food truck vendors to obtain a single-day permit, giving city officials the ability to track their whereabouts. Alderperson Doug Oitzinger was the lone “no” vote, as he voiced concerns over the ordinances’ girth and he said it might be difficult to enforce.
The ordinance was originally 18 pages in length and was an adaptation of an ordinance from De Pere, Genisot said. It has been trimmed quite a bit to get to where it is today, some eight pages.
Genisot clarified after the meeting that he does not believe the new permit will be a burden on vendors as he said they will not have to fill anything out and can simply call or email the city to make known their location for the day.
Alderperson Rick Polzin said the permit will help city officials keep track of vendors and reduce any confusion or conflicts that may arise otherwise. Just two weeks ago such an issue occurred at the farmers market.
“I had no idea any of them would come,” said Director of Marketing and Tourism Shawn Katzbeck. “I’m trying to spread them out and figure out how this will work.”
The city has seen an influx of transient vendors and Genisot said he doesn’t want to discourage that in any way.
“We’re just getting busier and busier with food trucks and that’s good,” Genisot said. “We don’t want to hinder that, but we also want to just have some process that we follow so they just don’t set up in front of someone’s house.”
Changes to the ordinance will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.
In other matters, the common council approved $1,600 in upgrades to the softball field at at Fred Carney Park. Council President and Member At-Large Dorothy Kowalski said her team was able to find the funding for the improvements but did not have that information readily available at the meeting.
The alderpersons discussed the proposed sale of 25 acres behind the Circle K gas station in a closed session. During which time, they were presented with an offer to review. Genisot said they are still in negotiations with the potential buyer at this time and no decision was made to accept the offer.
The common council also carried two motions that would allow the city to temporarily finance two projects that aim to reduce per- and polyfluroalkyl substances, or PFAS, groundwater contamination. The city must provide interim financing to cover the costs of the improvements, as the grants the city expects to receive require issuance of tax-exempt bonds. Once the bonds are received, the city will reimburse itself.
Seventy percent of the funding for the projects is expected to come from grants from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. One of the projects would replace a PFAS contaminated sewer on Parnell Street, and another has to do with the city’s PFAS treatment system equipment.
The “forever” chemicals were first detected in Marinette in 2016 and are linked to cancers and other diseases. Products containing PFAS can be found in thousands of consumer goods and are generally used in firefighting foams, non-stick pans and stain-resistant fabrics.
The common council also voted to move forward in the hiring of Godfrey & Kahn law firm for a case filed against the city by Ayers and Associates, a contractor who worked on the Menekaunee Harbor Restoration Project.
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