Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
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Crews worked quickly in a variety of ways Tuesday to remove the estimated five inches of snow which fell overnight. It caused schools to close on Tuesday and be delayed by an hour on Wednesday. In a pictorial on page one Foto News photographer Phil Ziesemer shows how the city dug out. Carl Nelson is pictured cleaning out his driveway with a shovel, Rubin Pehlke is shown in another picture using a snow blower to clear out the sidewalks around St. John School, and a city grader is pictured clearing out Center Avenue as it passes by the courthouse.
A committee charged with studying the future of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Jail was informed it would be less expensive to demolish the existing jail and build a new. Plans to build a more secure and efficient building have been in the works for years but this is the first solid numbers the group has received. Stubenrauch Associates out of Appleton told committee members that building a new jail with conventional cells and a new basement would cost around $2,405,000 in comparison to remodeling the current jail at a cost of $2,424,000 along with some additions to the current building. The full report will be given to the county board next month.
In news briefs: Lillian Peeters has been appointed as the new director of the Merrill Drop-In Center. She will replace Delores Kelley who recently resigned to take the position of Coordinator of the Commission on Aging of Lincoln County. Jerry Eilola and Theresa Chula are pictured on page four after they were presented with the district’s the Teacher of the Year certificates. The awards were presented to the pair by Dr. Thomas Strick during an in-service of the district teachers at the Junior High on Tuesday. Vivian Borchardt has formally announced her re-election bid for the MAPS School Board. She has served on the BOE for the last six years. Members of St. John’s Catholic Church in Bloomville are celebrating as they have paid off the church’s mortgage. Thomas Reamer is pictured with Father Leo Anctil as they burn the mortgage on the nearly eight year old church this past Sunday. The cost of the building in 1966 was $87,000 (nearly $670,000 today). Congrats to Joe VanGoethem, he was the winner of the annual Democracy oratorical contest sponsored by the local VFW Post 1638. For his efforts VanGoethem won a $75 savings bond. The Raasch farm has been awarded the Outstanding Conservation Farming Award at the Farm-City dinner this past weekend. Dick Hass was awarded the Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year award, and the Chamber Interdependence Award went to VanDerGeest Livestock. First Financial, located on North Center Avenue in Merrill is touting the bank’s growth. According to an article the bank has grown its savings by 25% in the past year and has $159 million in assets in its 14 locations. What is a Pasty? Ron Mulford at Queenie’s Pizza is advertising his new product on the entertainment page; they are only $1.25 and are served daily.
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It is still January, but Madison is talking about our next season in Wisconsin, road construction. Governor Tommy Thompson has announced $1.7 million in construction projects for Lincoln County this spring. The state will pay to pave seven miles of State Rd. 17 from the Big Haymeadow Creek north, and replace the aging New Wood River bridge on County Rd. E in the Town of Harding. According to the state, the highway, which travels north through Gleason into Langlade and Oneida counties, has not been resurfaced since 1971; the bridge was originally built in 1937.
Good Samaritan Health Center, in an effort to expand their emergency department, has announced the addition of a full time physician to the staff. Dr. Shirley Godiwalla will practice in the emergency room Mondays through Thursdays. Doctor Godiwalla is a native of India where she studied before furthering her education at the Medical College of Wisconsin and at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee. In speaking with the Foto News, Dr. Godiwalla explained her preference for treating patients in the emergency room setting due to the variety of the work. The emergency room at Good Samaritan is now staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with a doctor. In prior years a patient’s doctor or the on call doctor was summoned from the clinic or their home to treat their patients who presented themselves to the emergency room.
Four people have stepped forward to fill a once vacant seat on the Merrill Common Council. Matt Holt, son of former Mayor Richard Holt, was tapped to fill the District 1 post after Russell Grefe moved from the city and resigned the post. Holt’s appointment was only until the next regular election, which is this spring instead of the usual two-year term. Holt has indicated he plans on running for the seat to fulfill the full term but now three other candidates have tossed their hats into the ring. Dennis Grefe, a teacher in the Wausau School District; Marion Meyer, a former small business owner and employee of the Lincoln County Department of Social Services and Visiting Nurses; and Roger Mootz, an East Main Street resident and current student at NTC, will all appear on the ballot in February. The regular election is on April 4. This race is special due to the resignation; all other alderman will remain in office until April of 1990.
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Can a Merrill department head moonlight on city time? That is the question placed in front of the city’s Personnel and Finance Committee. Mayor Michael Caylor has brought up the question in response to concerns about a department head who is teaching at a local college. Caylor said he is well aware that many supervisors put in more than the required 40 hours per week when they attend functions such as committee meetings or the common council meeting or respond after hours for incidents. The concern Caylor stated is that the city is paying the department head to be available Monday through Friday during normal business hours and in this one case that isn’t happening. The mayor was quick to point out that no formal policy is in place to prohibit anyone from moonlighting as it never has been an issue in the past, but he is hoping the committee can set some guidelines to alleviate concerns.
The Prairie River Lake Association has preliminary figures on the cost of acquiring the dam at the now former Ward Paper Mill, but none of the numbers really match up. Ayers and Associates report that their study showed a total cost of $1.3 million to keep the dam in place. In that total amount is the cost of a DNR required flood gate, but Lake Association President Pat Taylor finds that price tag of $800,000 a little hard to swallow, feeling it is inflated. International Papers has offered to give the dam and land to the association, city, or anyone who will take it. They even offered to toss in $200,000 for repairs and upgrades, but local leaders are hesitant to jump on the offer as the deal also includes the sludge landfill, which is located north of the paper mill property. Taylor and Mayor Caylor hope to get together with county and town officials in hopes of making a counteroffer to International Paper.
A new restaurant is open on Merrill’s far east side. Located inside of the Merrill Ridge Shopping Area is the China Inn restaurant. They have over 100 menu choices and daily lunch specials. In an ad on the entertainment page the new eatery notes their chef has over 15 years of experience.