The City of Washburn is governed by a mayor-council form of government and operates under the authority of Chapter 62, Wisconsin Statutes. The Mayor and Common Council establish the vision, direction, goals and policies of the city.
Watch Council meetings live and access archived meetings online at City of Washburn YouTube. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 PM at City Hall.
2024 Goals/Projects
So what is the City working on in 2024? We get that question from time to time, so we wanted to share with you what we will be working on for the next year or so. Besides the daily routine of processing invoices, utility bills, ambulance bills, elections, cemetery matters, audits, various permits, reports and other state and federal imposed requirements, as well as numerous questions on a wide range of topics, we try to get some things done that we hope will lead to a better City! Recently, the Council approved a list of goals that will be our focus during the next year. Here, in summary and in no particular priority, are what they are:
Bayfield Street Reconstruction Phase 1 and Phase 2 - Phase 1 has begun. While there will be construction oversight from our engineer for the City utility work, there are going to be many other items that need to be worked on during this time including special assessments, lateral replacements and the funding and loan programs associated with that, all of the detailed construction issues that come up, oversight of funding, grants, payment of bills, coordination with the Chamber on signage issues, and coordination of property owner/citizen concerns and public information during the project. In addition, we will continue to work on planning for Phase 2 of the project. This item will consume significant time this year and will be the priority project.
Borrowing/Project Implementation – The City will need to finalize its financing for the Bayfield Street Project and other items that have been identified. Some of those items will be implemented this year, and others would be implemented next year as funding allows. Many of these items will require additional planning and details that need to be done.
Sidewalks – As soon as time allows, inventory of existing sidewalks needs to resume so that we can then present that and have discussion on what the community desires, how it would be implemented, and how that would be paid for.
This is not everything that City staff will be working on, but it is a listing of the major projects known at this time. Let us know what you think. Follow along the next couple months and see how we do. Know that sometimes things will come up as the year progresses. If they do, priorities may need to be rearranged.