Marshfield Common Council Approves New 5th District Alderman

Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 -- 8:00 AM

The Marshfield Common Council approved the new alderman for the 5th District at their meeting on Tuesday.

After the resignation of former Alderman Ed Wagner, the Council asked interested applicants to contact the City with a letter of interest. One individual applied, Scott Koran, for the position. The Council approved his appointment and he was sworn in.

The Council initially had a resolution on the agenda to authorize a volunteer group from MACCI Leadership Marshfield Class of 2025 to raise money for the Griese Park playground and work with Parks and Recreation staff and the Marshfield Area Community Foundation. However, that item was removed as more information was needed.

The Council also approved sending back a conditional use permit regarding a fence on a property back to the Planning Commission. It was brought before the Council because the Planning Commission tied on the vote to approve or deny it.

However, at the time, the Commission was short one member with only six voting members. A new member has since been appointed, so they should reach a decision at their next meeting.

The Council also heard an update on future agenda items and heard the appointment of two members to the BID Board. However, it was just a first reading, so it will be brought back at the next meeting on the 26th.

In approving the minutes from the various committee meetings the past couple weeks, they approved the purchase of grapple safety equipment for the Street Division, approved the 2025-2027 asphalt paving program, and approved the transient merchant application for Tree Ripe Fruit Co.

During staff updates, the Council heard a recap of the November 5th election from the City Clerk. The City of Marshfield saw record turnout. Voter turnout for the fall election was 10,307, or 98% of registered voters in Marshfield.

In 2020, it was 92%, and in 2016, it was 88%. They had 2,477 in-person absentee ballots and 1,815 mail-in ballots returned before Election Day. They also had over 1,400 same day voter registrations.

She did mention that they did have one voting machine jam and be rebooted several times at the 2nd Street Community Center. She said that the damp weather that day changed the weight of the ballots, which the machine is programmed to accept a certain weight. However, all ballots put in came out and were counted.

During the Mayor’s comments, she mentioned pulling the raising money for Griese Park item from the agenda, thanked all the voters for voting, and thanked our veterans for their service. During the Council’s comments, one alderman reported on the League of Municipalities Meeting.

Finally, during the City Administrator’s update, he thanked staff for all their hard work during the election season, he welcomed the new 5th District Alderman, reminded everyone about the City budget hearing at the November 26th meeting, and a recent meeting with the CDA on the Weinbrenner project.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.