Marathon County – �鶹��Ƶ

Conducting a space needs analysis for Marathon County facilities

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:40 +0000

Marathon County is seeking uses for the Lakeview Professional Plaza and the Universityof Wisconsin-Stevens Point dormitory building within the county that is no longer being used.The courthouse in Marathon County is currently experiencing overcrowding, so moving some ofthe departments into the Lakeview Professional Plaza is the intended goal. Meeting theprofessional needs of many departments as well as taking the thoughts of the department headsinto account are priorities especially in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting work life. Tocreate space in the courthouse and determine uses for the dorm building, data from courthouseemployees and county resources was collected and compiled by our team to create a plan thatencompasses these factors and opinions. A general analysis that is able to be used to determineuses for future locations for a space analysis was created as well. A survey was also conducted tocollect information on the professional needs of the employees that currently work in thecourthouse to determine who can move and the tasks that would need to be completed in order tomove them. After the survey, another set of criteria for determining the locations of eachdepartment within the Lakeview Professional Plaza was created. For the dorm, information wascollected from the 2019-2021 Marathon County Life Report to make recommendations of usesfor the dorm building that would satisfy the needs of the county.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Analyzing infill and redevelopment opportunities within the Wausau MPO

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:40 +0000

The goal of this report is to provide the communities within the boundaries of the Wausau Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) a starting point to consider why, where, what, and how residential infill and redevelopment may benefit, be located, look like, and be encouraged in their community. The report briefly addresses the consequences of sprawl development placed on residents and local governments and examines why infill and redevelopment is a useful strategy to mitigate the environmental and fiscal costs of sprawl while providing benefits and new opportunities to community members. Additionally, the project provides a condensed examination of the spatial and demographic context within the WMPO to inform communities why they might want to consider exploring the opportunities of residential infill and redevelopment. While infill and redevelopment can be residential, commercial, or mixed-use, this report focuses on the potential of residential infill and redevelopment within the WMPO.

The project locates where residential infill and redevelopment could take place by conducting a GIS inventory and analysis that identifies underutilized privately owned parcels which are defined as being vacant or having low improvement value to land value ratios of 30% or less. Following the identification
of these parcels, further GIS analysis is conducted to calculate the buildable area per parcel by subtracting the total area of a parcel within various environmental constraints from the total area of a parcel within the sewer service area. Next, three overlay layers – walkability, major corridors, and Tax
Increment Financing Districts – are created in the GIS to better understand the locational dynamics of the identified parcels. By utilizing the buildable area per parcel in tandem with the overlay layers, the project infers what scale of residential infill or redevelopment could potentially be developed based on
the size and location of the identified parcels. The findings of the inventory and analysis are displayed using maps and tables and are discussed at the
WMPO scale. These maps, tables, and discussions inform where and what residential infill and redevelopment may take place given the unique context of each municipality in the WMPO.

Recommendations of strategies, tools, best practices, and future steps are briefly discussed to inform how residential infill and redevelopment might be successfully implemented through the WMPO.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Mapping Nitrate-N contamination of groundwater in Marathon County

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:39 +0000

A student created a visual of where nitrogen levels are worse within the community so that actions can be taken in the right areas to increase water quality. UniverCity Year Contact Info Gavin Luter Managing Director gavin@cows.org 608-261-1141 [...]

Evaluating and improving ADA compliance in the Wausau Metro Area

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:39 +0000

The Wausau Metropolitan Area has completed a sidewalk inventory containing information on all the street’s sidewalks or lack thereof. This information was collected using aerial photos that were recently taken in Marathon County, and then this information was transferred to Google Maps. The map is organized and color-coded to communicate if the sidewalk has no complete sidewalks, a complete sidewalk on one side of the street, or complete sidewalks on both sides of the street. Now that this information has been collected, the Wausau Metropolitan Area can use this data to prioritize certain areas, add sidewalks, potentially fix sidewalks, or curb ramps, and work on receiving the funding to overall make the surrounding Wausau communities more ADA accessible. This outline will detail important opportunities for communities and public entities to follow in the footsteps of past communities by prioritizing certain areas and overall creating safer and more accessible sidewalks and curb ramps for all community members. In addition, this outline will discuss the prioritization of audible traffic signals, to create a safer environment for all individuals. Finally, it will explore funding opportunities for community projects in relation to ADA policies and infrastructure.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Reconstructing the intersection of Grand Avenue and Forest Street in Wausau Preliminary Engineering Report

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:39 +0000

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering students created a preliminary design report for the revised design of the Grand Avenue and Forest Street intersection for Marathon County and the City of Wausau. To prepare an effective preliminary design, the team has reviewed the project scope and
constraints outlined in the proposal and identified additional details through discussions with the City Engineer and County Transportation Planner. Further, the team visited the project site to observe the restrictions of the current intersection and existing conditions firsthand. The students obtained and reviewed data for existing public and utilities including watermains, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, laterals, and electrical. Additionally, right of way boundaries, contours, and building footprints were reviewed along with crash data for the intersection.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Mapping winter road salt use and sensitive areas in Marathon County

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:38 +0000

To combat the intense winter weather of Northern Wisconsin, road salt has been usedthroughout Marathon county as a cheap, effective means to melt snow and ice on roads, keepingdrivers safe in potentially treacherous conditions. Recent discovery has revealed that this roadsalt application has potentially significant consequences on local ecosystems near roads. Ourgoal of this project [...]

Examining best practices for de-icing in Marathon County

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:38 +0000

In order to be more cost effective and environmentally conscious, Marathon County ishoping to utilize a standard salt usage plan as the road de-icing techniques currently vary in eachof the 11 municipalities in the county. This disconnect is not only ineffective, but also potentiallydangerous to drivers traveling throughout different municipalities that salt heavier or lighter thanothers. Ideally, the amount of salt used to de-ice should be as little as is safe to apply because salthas negative environmental effects such as worsening soil quality, destroying roots thus stuntingplant growth, and polluting water sources which can kill aquatic life. Similarly, salt also causesinfrastructural damage which further proves the need to reduce salt usage.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Road Salt Practices Across Wausau Metropolitan Area Municipalities

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:38 +0000

With the support of Andrew Lynch, AICP, Transportation Planner at the Wausau Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the UniverCity Alliance, students in the Nelson Institute Community Environmental Scholars Program researched road salt
practices in the Wausau Metropolitan Area during Spring Semester 2021. Four University of Wisconsin-Madison students participated in the project through their enrollment in Environmental Studies 317, the Community and Environmental Scholars Program Seminar course.

Over several months, we reached out to the cities of Wausau, Mosinee, and Schofield, the villages of Kronenwetter, Maine, Rothschild, and Weston, the towns of Weston, Rib Mountain, Stettin, and Wausau, and the Marathon County administration to gather information for this document. We do not have complete information for all the communities, but instead have gathered some initial data that may begin to offer a sense of the different municipalities practices, needs, and concerns around road salt use in Marathon County. Missing data may be our failure to collect that information and does not necessarily imply the municipality does not have/know the information. We were unable to contact the Village of Rothschild, the Village of Weston and the Town of Wausau.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Planning a rural bicycling network and future bike infrastructure in Marathon County

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:38 +0000

Marathon County is a county located in central Wisconsin which hosts outdoor recreation activities year-round. Anchored by its largest city, Wausau, the area is known as a gateway to northern Wisconsin. The county hopes to expand its rural biking program in the future, as they currently only offer bike-focused amenities in the Wausau metro area. In partial completion of a Master’s in Urban Planning, this student assisted the Wausau MPO analyze current
levels of rural ridership and develop new guidelines to increase the number of rural bicyclists. This report creates a proposal for future bike infrastructure in ArcGIS based on national standards for bicycle safety, Average Daily Travel (ADT) metrics and pavement type.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141

Understanding environmental attitudes in the Fenwood Creek Watershed, Marathon County

Victor Manzanilla — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:38 +0000

In an effort to gain better insight for outreach strategies, this student team wrote and conducted apublic attitudes survey of Fenwood Creek Watershed farmers and landowners. Their goal was to gain perspectives on broad topics such as local watershed health and conservation efforts. The team’s methodology focused on three areas: communication, research, and survey writing. They used their research findings to draft a survey, which was then sent out to the public with the help of Paul Daigle and Jeff Pritchard. The returned survey results were then inputted and organized into a dedicated spreadsheet for analysis, which the students were able to analyze and produce sensible recommendations. The keypoint from the survey analysis shows that residents have little understanding of sustainable practices and existing conservation groups. They believe there are issues facing their community but do not have the proper education and knowledge to solvethem. The student team recommends that future outreach efforts include in-person communication, public forums where residents can ask questions and communicate with agricultural professionals, and general education on the importance of conservation and current efforts towards these goals.

UniverCity Year Contact Info
Gavin Luter
Managing Director
gavin@cows.org
608-261-1141