Marshfield Mayor Holds First Town Hall Forum
Wednesday, August 1st, 2018 -- 9:09 AM
(WDLB) -Marshfield's Mayor has held his first town hall forum since being elected.Bob McManus spent just over an hour last night listening to the concerns of nearly three-dozen residents, at the 2nd Street Community Center.
"Overall, I think it was good. It was good to hear the input from people. Some had very certain issues, like parking or somebody not having a seller's permit, just certain issues. And other people thought maybe a little bit bigger on bigger issues like how are we going to progress as a city and what we can do there."
"So, I think overall it was accepted very well. A lot of great diverse questions. I had no idea, to be honest with you, that so many people were concerned about the railroad and the noise and things like that. So, we can get them a good response to that."
"And I think that they were intrigued by the fact, it was interesting from my perspective, when I said please give us your name and phone number and I'll call you back tomorrow. Or I'll come to your house with somebody from that department. I think that resonated with them. So, I'm looking forward to seeing some resolution."
Residents brought up issues such as noise from trains at all hours of the day and night, the city's grant program for replacing lead water pipes, concerns over the long-term parking habits of their neighbors, programming for the new Wenzel Family Plaza, and one resident's complaints over a perpetual garage sale in her neighborhood, which she termed "a junk dealer".
The one issue the Mayor thought would come up for sure but did not is roads. But he told the audience the topic is being addressed at city hall, with the creation of a new website aimed at keeping the public up-to-date on what roads are going to get fixed when.
"This is our commitment to you. That website will be up by September 1st. You can see the grading system on what roads are actually in good shape. And then, we're going to give you 3 years of the roads that are going to be done. So, we're going to have 3 years and I believe that that's going to be helpful."
"The one thing that you're going to be able to do on this new website is if there's a crazy pothole around your place, you'll be able to go in, which I understand you can do right now with our GIS system you can go in, but this one is going to be much simpler. That will be very, very helpful. And you'll be able to show exactly where those are. So, I think you're going to see some good things coming with the roads."
The Mayor also said he thought a new aquatic center to replace the aging Hefko Pool is a good idea. He also urged those in attendance to give their feedback on a regular basis, noting there's an opportunity at the beginning of each meeting of the Common Council.
"We really, really need your input. We need community involvement because, if we don't hear from you, positive and negative, then we're just going to go based on what we think our ideas are. And that's why it's good to get the back up from you on the pool, on the mall, on the fact that you want the city to continue to grow, that people cut their grass appropriately. And the only way we can fix that, is if you talk to us and you communicate with us."
"In the very beginning of the council meeting, which again they're going to start at 6pm now, within about 7-8 minutes, there's a time frame there for citizen comments. And that's the time where you can come and you can tell the council your thoughts. Because when they can hear that, now we can actually do something about it. So, that's going to be very, very important. So, we really need your help."
The next Common Council meeting is August 14th at 6pm. The Mayor called last night's event his "Hundred Day Town Hall". His actual 100th day in office was last Wednesday, the 25th.
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