Marshfield Common Council Hears Update on the 2025 Central Wisconsin State Fair

Wednesday, November 12th, 2025 -- 8:01 AM

The Marshfield Common Council heard an update on the 2025 Central Wisconsin State Fair.

They had great weather overall and saw great use of its website and social media pages. Over 62,000 people attended the fair and they had people from 26 different states attend their grandstand shows.

On their new “Can Do” Day, they had over 2,000 items donated for Wood County Food Pantries. They had over 1,086 Jr. Fair Exhibitors and over $10,000 were paid in premiums to them.

The cost of this year’s fair came to $830,000 and brought in $975,000. The carnival was down this year, but food sales were up. The Fair will be doing an Economic Impact Study for the Central Wisconsin State Fair.

The Council also approved the second reading of several ordinances including the Joint Municipal Court, Zoning District, and Small Scale Residential District. The Council also heard an update on the redevelopment of the Weinbrenner Facility. Their Request for Qualifications were due on Friday and they had one response. They’ll go over that response more next month.

In approving the consent agenda, the Board approved authorizing an RFP for real estate acquisition services for the Vine Avenue (14th Street to 4th Street), Vine Avenue (4th Street to 2nd Street), and 4th Street (Maple Avenue to Peach Avenue) reconstruction project.

The Council also approved Job Order #7506, which covers the design, procurement, and construction of an approximately 150 megawatt (MW) dual-fuel simple-cycle combustion turbine (SC CTG) generating facility. The facility will be capable of operating on both natural gas and fuel oil, ensuring reliability during supply or transmission constraints.

Project ownership will be shared between Marshfield Utilities (MU) and Great Lakes Utilities (GLU), with MU owning approximately 30% and GLU owning 70%. The total project cost is currently estimated at $282.2 million, with MU’s portion totaling approximately $86.46 million.

The GLU Board of Directors approved moving forward with the project on October 8, 2025, followed by MU Commission approval on October 13, 2025. Because the total project value exceeds the $1 million threshold, Common Council approval is required. Additional future approvals by the Common Council will be necessary, including:

• A land/developer agreement associated with the proposed site,
• Bond financing authorization once project costs are finalized.

Financing will be through revenue bonds, not general obligation bonds, meaning this project will not count toward the City’s borrowing limits. The project timeline is anticipated to span approximately five years, encompassing design, permitting, procurement, and construction phases.

The Council also heard the Mayor’s comments, which included a Veterans Day Proclamation, deputy clerk recognition, MACCI nominations, and the holiday parade. They also heard the City Administrator’s comments including the deputy clerk recognition, future agenda items, and a public hearing on next year’s budget.

Finally, during the public comments portion of the meeting, one individual spoke about the proposed generator and a representative from Visit Marshfield provided some updates.

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