Wausau City Council Votes to Approve Partnership Agreement with Community Infrastructure Partners

Thursday, February 15th, 2024 -- 8:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The Wausau City Council has voted to approve a partnership agreement with Community Infrastructure Partners for the first year of a proposed five-year lead service line replacement program.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, that agreement was held over from a previous meeting so representatives from the city and CIP could add requirements for open meeting law compliance and other communications.

President and CEO Shawn Kerachsky says he feels they went above and beyond the requirements for communication that are already on the books. “I think programs like this need as much transparency with the public as possible. That’s what everyone was comfortable with, so it’s a win for everyone.”

Kerachsky said he’s aware of questions surrounding the company and its involvement in prior projects. He said he welcomes those discussions because residents deserve to know who they and the city are dealing with.

“That’s what they should expect when you have a program of this nature. It involves the public, it involves going into people’s homes, it involves doing work on their property. You want to make sure they are comfortable with who was selected as the partner."

“In addition to earning their trust by delivering flawlessly, it’s being as transparent as possible with the contents of what you are doing,” added Kerachsky. Part of the amendment also called for CIP and the city to work in tandem to provide information on their websites regarding the project.

Kerachsky says they’ve also dispatched a project manager who is currently working out of the city’s water plant to help plan and be a point of contact between CIP and the city.

The matter led to a lengthy debate among the alders. That included direct questions from Alder Tom Kilian to Kerachsky and CIP Chief Business Officer Sean Agid. Alder Carol Lukens also addressed CIP regarding their plan for workforce development, following which Alder Lou Larson called the question.

Alders then voted 7-4 to end the debate, followed by a 7-4 vote to approve the agreement. Alders Doug Diny, Kilian, Gary Gisselman, and Becky McElhaney provided the no votes each time. The project begins this spring with a plan to replace 500 service lines.

Kerachsky says if they can, they will replace more. Year two calls for up to 1,500 lines to be replaced. The final three years could see as many as 2,000 per year swapped out.

Alder Lisa Rasmussen proposed a first-year checkup on the project during a meeting in October, typically considered the end of the construction season in Wausau. Kerachsky, Mayor Katie Rosenberg, and others on the council agreed that would be worthwhile.

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