STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza is making one last call to residents to inform themselves ahead of tomorrow’s city-wide vote on four transportation projects.
“This is normal, routine stuff that normally we take care of through the regular channels,” said Wiza. “But, because of the August referendum we are now legally obligated to go to a public vote on every transportation project valued at $1 million or more.”
The questions that voters will consider on Tuesday include:
- Construct a railroad sidetrack in the area of Burbank Road to Brilowski Road including all necessary equipment at a cost of about $4.1 million
- Construct an extension of Badger Avenue from EM Copps Drive to County Highway HH at a cost of about $1.8 million- including stormwater and sidewalk infrastructure along with landscaping.
- Reconstruct Minnesota Avenue from Clark to Jefferson, Algoma Street from Minnesota to Texas, and Texas Avenue north to Jefferson at a cost of about $1.9 million- curb, gutter, and sidewalk are included with this project
- A large street resurfacing project near McDill Pond encompassing Bush Street, Indiana Avenue, Channel Drive, and portions of other nearby streets for $2.2 million
While Wiza doesn’t want to tell you how to vote on the matters he does want to stress their importance. “The regular road maintenance will not be able to happen if this referendum fails, and the two projects [for those] developers that could bring in $20-30 million in value, 150 jobs or more will likely not happen.
“So it is critical that you understand them and that you vote appropriately,” added Wiza.
Additionally, none of the referendum questions will have any impact on property taxes in the new year. The two road projects are already accounted for in the city’s spending plan for 2023. Should development agreements for the two others become official, those projects will be paid for using tax increment dollars on the property value generated by the businesses located within the boundaries of those districts.
The four questions are part of Tuesday’s mid-term election ballot. As usual, polls will be open from 7 AM until 8 PM. Voters must bring a photo ID with them to their polling place, and voter registration is allowed on the day of the election for those that haven’t registered already. For more information or to see a sample ballot visit the www.myvote.wi.gov website.
Other topics Wiza discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Transportation funding referendum questions
11:30- New artistic light to be installed near the Wisconsin River
15:50- New way to honor Veterans in the city
19:30- Shop downtown for the Holidays
