Wausau City Hall. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council will once again consider a $50,000 budget modification to fund a design and feasibility study for a proposed police and fire department headquarters project.
Police Chief Matthew Barnes told the Finance Committee that Marathon County is interested in working with the city, but Alders voted down the funding in August. That has raised eyebrows throughout the process. “The fact that we are asking for six months to do the due diligence, and the funding necessary to do the due diligence failed at council, has been questioned. [Economic Development Director] Randy Fifrick and I can only give our assessment of what the council might do at the next meeting
He described the scenario as a “chicken-and-egg” situation, saying the departments need to know if the proposal makes sense. “The questions that need to be answered and taken seriously in our proposal will require due diligence. The cost for that [due diligence] is $50,000. If you want to be able to [decide] as a council whether it’s in the best interest of the city, it costs about $50,000 to get the answers to those questions.”
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The proposal involves purchasing some of the vacated UWSP Wausau campus buildings and remodeling them into a police headquarters. The project could include additional evidence storage and leaseable office space.
That move frees up the current police building on Grand Avenue for the Fire Department, which has long sought to improve its downtown headquarters. Previous estimates have shown that building a new location could cost more than $25 million.
Tuesday’s vote was 3-0, with Alders Tom Neal and Matt Hoenecke absent. The full council will consider the funding at its next meeting in October.
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