STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — City leaders in Stevens Point will inform the public about four binding transportation referendum questions headed for the November 9th ballot.
Mayor Mike Wiza says that the campaign is going to include informative videos and detailed project information on the city’s website. He says that the city is going to do whatever it can to make sure voters are informed about the projects before they get their ballots.
“We are going to have more public meetings and Q-and-A sessions. You might see us at Ruby Coffee one morning, just sitting there and available to answer questions,” said Wiza.
Many residents said they didn’t feel like they had gotten enough information on the original referendum question during the August primary, which passed by just 31 votes. Wiza says the city will try to make more information available this time around. “We do a lot of outreach, but unfortunately we can’t reach everybody. If there’s something different we can do, we are going to give it a shot. If anyone has ideas on how we might best reach you or your family and friends by all means contact my office.”
He notes none of that information is available just yet but should be in the coming days.
Wiza notes that two of the projects- a complete reconstruction of Minnesota Avenue and a street resurfacing project in the area of Bush Street and Indiana Avenue- were already on the city’s to-do list for 2023 as it was and likely “wouldn’t have made the news” if not for the August referendum requiring them to go to voters. The other two projects are being put on the ballot now because the city is inching closer to development agreements that would require the projects to be completed.
That list includes an extension of Badger Avenue, which the city has been planning to do for some time but Wiza says they wanted to wait until a development agreement was in place for the land around it. He says it’s to the point where they are close to making that happen. The other involves a railroad side track to service some facilities in the East Park Commerce Center.
“Again, we wouldn’t usually put that in until we have a development need it. Well, we have both right now but they are not set in stone. So we have to anticipate the need, and it’s very likely that by spring we will have a developers agreement on both of these. So we have to get them on the ballot now because the next opportunity wouldn’t be until April 2023.” added Wiza.
Other topics Wiza discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Details on the four transportation referendum questions
9:30- Planning for the next informational session regarding the Business 51 project
14:30- Welcome UWSP students
