Council crafts compromise on Messer project design

The Rhinelander Common Council resolved the debate over the design for the upcoming Messer Street road and utility improvement project with a unanimous vote Monday for what was described as a compromise between the present and the future that will allow for necessary improvements while preserving the character of the neighborhood as much as possible.

In the end, the panel directed the engineers to have sidewalks only in the following areas of the proposed project site — on both sides of Pearl between Thayer and Messer; on the east side of Messer between Doyle and Rose; on the north side Rose Street between Messer and Lake Shore (adjacent to Hodag Park); on the west side of Messer between Pearl and Hodag Beach Dr.; and on the south side of Hodag Beach Dr. between Thayer and Messer.

Mayor Kris Hanus summarized the as follows: “You’re making the park connected, you’re making it walkable with the smallest amount of impact to the residents who own properties there which would also result in a cost savings to the city for the infrastructure,” he said.

“Compromise between the present and the future is a core tenet of good governance,” alderman Steven Jopek added. “We sit on this council and we have a responsibility to the future of Rhinelander and so we have a pretty big burden here to shoulder.”

 “I think it’s important to know that for us we do have to compromise, because we do have a foot in the present, with where you’re at, but we also have to think into the future,” he continued, addressing the Hodag Park neighborhood residents in the gallery. “To this extent, I do feel that the members of this council, as well as Mark Barden (of Town and Country Engineering), have attempted to compromise in good faith and I think we’re close, if not there, with the strategic goals of this city (which include walkability and access to parks).”

Jopek noted that the compromise design plan offers multiple options for people to access the park either on foot or via bicycle. 

The city’s largest park is “growing in popularity and is only going to get bigger as we go with (the addition of) the splashpad and whatnot,” he noted.

He finished by stressing that he hoped that the discussion had to put to rest any lingering concerns that the council members were not willing to listen to constituents or were insisting on applying ordinances without regard for the consequences for residents.

“I hope we are all here in agreement that we are listening, we are trying to find that way,” he concluded.

When City Clerk Austyn Zarda called the roll, each alderperson answered in the affirmative. When Hanus announced that the motion had passed, the gallery responded with a round of applause. 

Also, during the brief intermission that followed the vote, a number of those who had been in the gallery approached the alderpersons to shake hands and offer thanks.

That spirit was also present on the Facebook page the Hodag Park neighbors have been using to exchange information about the project.

Several posters expressed relief that it appeared the matter had come to a positive end. 

There was also praise for Matthew Campbell, who acted as a spokesperson for the group.

For his part, Campbell suggested the residents consider sending the alderpersons a note of thanks via email.

“It seems to me that their job can often feel thankless, but tonight of all nights, I believe it deserves a lot of gratitude,” he wrote. “Many of us will be benefiting from the improved utilities, and on top of that, they listened to our plea for no sidewalks. Remember, all of this was because they took the time to get the grants and funding in place to fix the water and sewer issues we’ve been dealing with for the past handful of years. So all of this started in an effort to help us and I believe it ended that way as well. I think it would be a great idea to take a moment to show that gratitude to the people who have been taking time out of their busy schedules to walk the neighborhood, talk to us via phone and email, and extend their Monday meetings, often keeping them from their families. They deserve thanks not just because it was the right thing to do, but because the outcome brought so much happiness and relief to all of us — and I think they deserve to share in that. It’s sometimes easy to forget that they are just regular people like the rest of us and I think it’s fair to say we caused them a bit of stress. I, for one, would like to acknowledge that in some way and I think it would be really cool if we could make one more group effort in this way.”

The Messer project — which involves repairs and updates to sanitary sewer mains, manholes, laterals, streets and storm sewers — is expected to get underway in the spring of 2025.

The public is encouraged to view the full discussion which is available at www.hodagtv.com.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].