Wisconsin Rapids Common Council approves solar power project and ATV/UTVs

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WFHR / WIRI) – The solar power project proposed by the Water Works and Lighting Commission now has the stamp of approval from the full Common Council. It passed at a meeting Tuesday, with 5 ayes and 3 nays.

Mayor Matt Zacher tells WFHR, the council tried to slow the process as much as they could to hear and address concerns from residents, especially those living around the parcel.

He said trees will only be cleared in the center of the parcel to accommodate the solar panels and the company will be seeding with pollinator plants throughout the property.

“ Where there are neighborhoods around that whole 80 acre parcel to be able to densify those areas more with different bushes and trees [150-250 feet] to make sure that nobody can see the array from their houses anyway,” said Zacher. “So, it shouldn’t be any different than it is now in terms of any kind of property values or anything like that changing.”

The solar power company doing the installation is One Energy out of Madison. Zacher said it’s up to WWLC for the timeline, but the project will begin soon.

“ I know it’s gonna start pretty quick and make it through the process pretty quick,” says Zacher. “Because the sooner they get it up, the sooner they’re generating that electricity and everybody’s making money off of that electricity.”

ATV/UTV shared roads ordinance passed the council

Allowing ATV/UTV access to share the roads is another item approved at the Common Council meeting.

“ What we came to realize over time is because Wisconsin DOT as a state is not necessarily putting clear rules on this, it’s leaving it up to everybody else,” said Zacher. “We’re really becoming more and more of an island in the sense that we’ve voted not to make an ordinance, but everybody around us has an ordinance … we are definitely gonna be in a little pocket.”

The passage of this ordinance fixes the issue of streets that are only open on one side. People living on those streets can only drive one direction, so would be able to leave their property, but not return home the same way.

“ They [city staff] went through the painstaking procedure of going through each road that’s shared with another community,” explained Zacher. “Some, they didn’t open up because there’s no reason to do it. There’s nobody living there.”

Paul Vollert with the City Streets Department says crews will begin placing signs along streets starting in February notifying which roadways are open to ATV/UTV traffic.

He said they may be able to source some signs from the Wood County Highway Department to acquire them swiftly. The work will be dependent on the weather but they’re hoping to complete the project by or before the end of April.