Paying the bill
City council sets special assessments for Shattuck
St. road reconstruction
NEWS EDITOR
Shattuck Street residents will be getting their assessment bills for last summer’s construction projects.
Members of the Medford City Council on Tuesday night approved setting the final special assessments for the road reconstruction project that included replacement of utilities, curb and gutter and road surface. As with other city projects, homeowners are charged for the replacement of the utility laterals, one third of the blacktop, 20% of the engineering cost and for the actual amount of concrete curb and gutter and driveway aprons. The total actual cost billed to the area property owners is $130,512.84 compared to the estimate of $162,061.56. Depending on the amount of the assessment, property owners have the option to pay it all at once or have it added to their taxes over a period of time. Alderman Greg Knight noted the estimated cost of the project was getting close to the actual cost. Historically, the city’s preliminary estimates were much higher than actual.
City Coordinator Joe Harris explained that the city had the actual bid numbers when the council set the estimated amounts last spring so they were able to be much more accurate in their projections.
Growth
Medford is looking to grow and council members helped give that growth a boost with action on rezoning requests and a final subdivision plat.
Council members approved rezoning requests for two parcels along Pep’s Drive located south of CTH O from light industrial to residential.
The city-owned properties had originally been planned for industrial park expansion, but are now being developed for residential use with the southernmost portion, which borders the Black River to the south will be zoned for single family homes with the portion closer to CTH O being multi-family homes.
A planned 64-unit apartment complex will be built on the area closer to CTH O. Development of the area is a major part of the proposed Tax Incremental Finance District No. 14. A joint review board meeting has been called for February 28 to consider the creation of this new TID which will serve as a financing mechanism for the development projects. In TIDs, the property taxes generated from improvements to the district help fund the development of the area.
In addition to rezoning the two cityowned properties, council members approved a zoning change from commercial to institutional for a new Marshfield Clinic Health Systems hospital in Medford.
Zoning changes were approved for 147 Ninth Street and 870 E. Broadway Ave (Hwy 64) for the Marshfield Clinic Health System. Marshfield Clinic plans to build a 10-licensed bed hospital facility to include an emergency department, inpatient services, small lab and diagnostics (including CT, x-ray, and ultrasound). The facility will be 18,000 square feet and include a board-certified ED physician and support staff. The emergency department will have eight treatment rooms with the inpatient area having 10 beds. The facility is designed to accommodate patients with airborne isolation needs and precautions.
“We look forward to working with the city,” said Pat Board, chief administrative officer with Marshfield Medical Center. He added that the health system already serves many patients from the Medford area and looked to continue to serve their needs.
In addition to the zoning changes, council members approved the final plat for Edgewood Estate subdivision located north of Allman Street. The area is being developed by Chuck and Linda Gelhaus. Final plat approval came after approval from the state of Department of Administration.
In other business, council members:
_ Approved allowing curbside sales of alcohol for Black River Spirits in Medford. This will allow customers to place an order online with the store and then pick it up when they arrive at the store. The customer would still have to show proof of being over 21 when picking up and paying for the purchases.
_ Approved changes to the city employee’s handbook as part of an ongoing revision process. While most changes were in wording and organization, council members approved allowing employees who choose a different health insurance plan to be eligible for the city’s health savings account (HSA) contributions.
_ Recommended approval of the purchase of a new police interceptor squad from Medford Motors for a base cost of $33,722 minus a trade of $14,000 for a net cost of $19,722. Police chief Chad Liske, said he was at a police convention last week where the dealers were about $3,000 higher than what they could get locally. The new vehicle will match the one being replaced allowing the transfer of equipment from one to the other. It is expected to take 30 weeks for the delivery of the new vehicle due to production delays and also locks the price in for the city. This will replace a 2018 squad.
_ Received the annual report from the Hotel/Motel Room Tax Commission. Chamber president Sue Emmerich noted there were many events held in the past year which would not have been possible without the support of the room tax. Bub, who is the council representative to the commission, said he was pleased with the number of new groups that are coming forward with events and how these groups are reaching out to work with businesses in the community.
_ Approved the designated unreserved accounts totaling about $2 million across the general fund and utility accounts. This is money set aside for future projects and purchases.
_ Received updates on the sewer plant. The city will be receiving processed waste from Cadott which will be pressed and then applied to fields. Harris explained that Cadott is out of room in their facility and Medford has additional space due to a recent expansion. The city is charging Cadott for the service. Alderman Mike Bub questioned the status of the waste being hauled from the former Park Falls paper mill. Harris said about three tanker loads of waste are being hauled to Medford each Saturday. He noted this works well for the city because of the timing. The city receives revenue from processing this waste.
