In addition to denying the conditional use permit for storage units just north of the city’s downtown, the Eagle River City Council took action on a number of other topics during its July 14 meeting.
A bid to repair some city streets came in about $75,000 higher than expected, likely due to the instability of oil prices. The cost of the project is $274,223.
“We believe that is largely because of unpredictable oil prices reflecting back in asphalt prices,” said John Promer of MSA Engineering.
City Administrator Robin Ginner said the money for the street projects has already been borrowed based on the original estimate, but there is still a deficit due to the higher costs. She explained there is a sidewalk project on Court Street that could be pushed off by a year or two to free up about $48,000 in funding to cover the street project. They would still need an additional $27,000 out of the reserves.
The idea of postponing the entire project was brought up to see if prices would come back down, but Promer noted that in his experience that rarely happens.
“Historically speaking, what we see is if we rebid the same thing the following year, prices usually do come back higher,” Promer said.
The council opted to put off the Court Street sidewalk project and use that money to move forward with the street project while taking the rest of the funding from the reserves.
Ginner also brought up some failing brick work on the Railroad Depot building downtown that needs to be repaired. “This is not something that can wait until next year,” she said, noting that the bricks are actively falling off.
The council approved an existing quote of $13,360 to do the masonry work out of the city’s reserve fund, with a note that if another bid comes in lower they will opt for the cheaper bid.
Discussions on where to put the city’s dog park continued but not much was decided. The proposed location behind city hall is still in play, but a number of council members have concerns about where the public works crew will put snow removed from city streets in the winter if that space is used as a dog park, and what that could mean for the snow removal budget.
Foreman Brad Adamovich said that last year there were “significant challenges” with finding places to dump snow. The city currently has three lots that are used for that purpose which are privately owned, which Adamovich said could definitely cause issues if one of those sites were to sell and not be available anymore.
They will look at the possibility of using the Vilas County Fairgrounds as a possible snow dumping location, but Adamovich said that will likely mean overtime and longer hours for staff and additional fuel to truck it over, leading to higher costs.
Mike Sanborn spoke on behalf of the Eagle River Lions Club, noting that they have plans in mind to expand Gremban Park with additional basketball courts and a pavilion which may also be impacted by placing the dog park in that location.
Alderman Vic Washelesky made a motion to build the dog park as presented and postpone the shelter in order to get the project started, but it died for lack of a second.
Eagle River Fire Department Fire Chief Jim Randall again asked the public to step up and volunteer to address volunteer shortages.
The department has fielded a total of 167 calls in 2026 as of the meeting date of July 14. To put that into perspective, Randall said they hit 180 calls at the end of October last year. “My projection is we’re going to reach that by the end of this month,” he said.
Randall said it’s usually the same eight or 10 department members responding to the majority of the calls, with others helping out sporadically. “It’s been very rough,” he said. “We need people desperately.”
There are currently 33 people on the department’s roll, but 10 are considered “mentors” who are 70 years or older and can only assist in a limited capacity.
“We’ll take men, women, anyone over 18,” he said. For information on volunteering with the department, call 715-479-8835.
Police Chief Tyler Salvinski noted in his monthly report that the department has extended an offer of employment to a candidate which is contingent on them passing a background check, medical and psychological exams, and completing academy training.
In addition, it has donated 13 items to the Eagle River Historical Society, including framed pictures and city relics such as a microscope, a parking meter, two wooden batons and a scale.
The retirement of city Attorney Steve Garbowicz is on the books for Dec. 31, 2026. He is actively working with the city to find his replacement, but Mayor Deb Brown said “this is going to substantially increase our legal costs,” due to the many things that Garbowicz currently helps with pro-bono for the city.
Clifton Larson Allen provided an audit update, saying the city’s General Fund is in “good financial shape.” He also noted that the golf course and the utilities are both being managed well.
“This is really good from where you were two to three years ago,” he said.
General reports regarding the golf course show positive feedback from users. Bunkers have received a lot of new sand, and nine benches have been ordered and assembled on the grounds for use.
In other business, the council approved a conditional use permit for camping to be permitted for carnival workers at the fairgrounds during the Vilas County Fair, Aug. 13-16.
It also approved a series of permits, signage, street closings and food trucks for upcoming events including the Eagle River Night Out Aug. 4 at city hall; the Eagle River Firefighters Festival Aug. 8 at the fairgrounds, the Three Eagle Half Marathon Oct. 10, and Praise in the Pines Oct. 18 at Northland Pines High School.
The council moved its August meeting due to a conflict with the Primary Election. Next month, the Eagle River City Council will meet Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 6 p.m. at city hall.
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