News & Notices

 

Notice of Quorum March 21, 2024 click here.

NOTICE: The Town of Washington will impose seasonal weight restrictions on all town roads beginning Wednesday, February 28th at 12 noon.

Weight restrictions will be in effect until the spring thaw period is over. Weight limits are put in place to protect the integrity of our roadways.

No heavy trucks will be allowed on town roads during the weight restriction period.

Contact Paul Chlapecka, Town Foreman, at 715-891-4833 for questions.

Awards have been decided by the Wisconsin DNR for the 2024 Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant applications. There were more applications than ever before.  

The Town of Washington was awarded FULL FUNDING for our Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for 2024 in the amount of $17,700.  

The projects included in the grant are: 

  • Spring mailing to all town property owners

  • Home ignition zone assessments offered free of charge to a portion of Carpenter Lake residents

  • Roadside chipping offered free of charge to Carpenter, Deerskin, and Finger Lake residents

  • Campfire safety education package for all short-term rental properties


Since beginning our CWPP in 2017, we have received a total of $88,969 in funding for our projects. There has been no cost to the town!  

We are grateful to Laura Hayes, WDNR Wildland Urban Interface Specialist, for all her help over the years.  

Stay tuned for more information on this year's projects!  

The 2023 Town of Washington newsletter is available here.

The Transfer Station is now accepting plastic bags and other sheet plastics for recycling. This is part of the Trex Recycling Program. 

It's the NexTrex Recycling Community Challenge. If we gather 1,000 pounds of plastic in a 12-month period the Town of Washington will receive a Trex park bench from Trex. As part of this program, we received a Trex bench in 2023, which can be found at the transfer station.  

There are two separate bins at the Transfer Station where you can deposit plastic bags and other sheet plastics for recycling. The plastics will be bagged, weighed, and taken to a NexTrex drop-off site.  

What kind of plastics can be recycled in the NexTrex Challenge? 

  • Grocery bags

  • Bread bags

  • Bubble wrap

  • Ice bags

  • Dry cleaning bags

  • Plastic shipping envelopes

  • ZipLok and other food storage bags

  • Cereal bags

  • Case overwraps

  • Salt bags

  • Plastic wrap

  • Stretch film

  • Produce bags

NEW GRANT FOR THE TOWN OF WASHINGTON

We are pleased to announce the Town of Washington has been awarded a Community Wildfire Defense Grant in the amount of $246,938.45. 

Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program helps communities plan for and mitigate wildfire risks. 

The USFS administers this grant, and it invested $197 million in the initial round of funding. 

The grant proposal was written by Carole Linn, a member of the town CWPP team. 

100 grant proposals were selected representing 22 states and seven tribes. CWDG grants will make $1 billion available over five years to assist at-risk communities.  

There were more than 400 applications nationwide requesting more than $525 million during this application cycle. Only three projects were funded in the northeast-midwest section of the United States. The Town of Washington was one of those three projects! 

The purpose of our Fuels Reduction Project is to augment, enhance, and expand the Town of Washington Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to protect lives, property, and resources from wildfire and provide for public safety. This will be accomplished through the following projects: 

  • Improve wildfire planning efforts and increase the public's and emergency responders' safety through vegetation management on town rights-of-way. This will be accomplished on all 72 miles of town roads rights-of-way through mowing and cutting using a leased John Deere tractor, boom mower, and swing flail for a total cost of $212,938.45. The Town will own the tractor at the end of the lease period.

  • Reduce hazardous fuels to mitigate fire danger by supporting the Town's brush site through annual chipping. Foley Tree Service will chip the brush site and remove the chips at a cost of $6,800 per year for 5 years for a total cost of $34,000.

  • We are grateful for our partnership with the WDNR. Through their support of our CWPP, we were able to take advantage of this funding opportunity. Special thanks to Laura Hayes, WDNR Wildland Urban Interface Specialist, for her hard work and dedication to facilitating the Town of Washington CWPP. 

    TOW AWARDED GRANT FUNDING FOR THE ER CHAIN BUOY PROGRAM

    The formation of the Eagle River Tourism Promotion and Development Grant Committee made grant funding available for not-for-profit organizations within the Eagle River Area Room Tax District for projects that increase overnight stays and tourism in the area.

    The Town of Washington, as coordinator of the Eagle River Chain Buoy Program, applied for and received grant funding in the amount of $7,625.00 for the buoy program.

    There are more than 100 buoys on the Eagle River Chain from the Burnt Rollways Channel upstream of Cranberry Lake to the Hwy 70 bridge on Watersmeet Lake. Buoys are placed under permitting from the WDNR utilizing GPS coordinates.

    The Towns of Washington and Lincoln and the City of Eagle River financially support the program, and the buoys are placed and removed through the cooperative effort of these municipalities. During the boating season, buoys that have been moved or damaged are repositioned or repaired by volunteers from the Eagle River Chain of Lakes Association.

    Buoy repair and replacement is an ongoing process due to aging, environmental conditions, heavy Eagle River Chain boat traffic, and routine wear and tear. Many buoys have been struck by watercraft and damaged or destroyed.

    Operating costs and maintenance of the pontoon boat, boat motor, crane, and power-washer used to place and remove the buoys is an additional cost to the municipalities.

    Repair and replacement of the buoys is a continual process. With limited funding from the Towns and City, there is insufficient money to repair and replace the buoys, and additional financial support is needed to operate the Chain buoy program.

    Many Slow-No-Wake buoys have damaged or missing buoy lights and light guards. Each solar marine buoy light costs $267, and each steel light guard costs $70. Funds awarded from the Eagle River Tourism Promotion and Development Grant enabled the purchase of 25 buoy lights and 25 light guards.

    The new lights and light guards were installed earlier this summer by volunteers from the Eagle River Chain of Lakes Association.

    Carole Linn, Town of Washington Supervisor, expressed gratitude to the Eagle River Tourism Promotion Development Grant Committee for awarding the Chain Buoy Program the funds needed to replace 25 buoy lights and light cages. With continued diligence and financial support, the buoys can be maintained in the condition necessary to ensure safe navigation – a critical factor in attracting tourists to the Eagle River area which in turn has a positive effect on local businesses and helps ensure a robust economy.

    “We appreciate the partnership and support of the Eagle River Tourism Promotion and Development Grant Committee" stated Linn.

    HERE'S AN UPDATE FROM LORI COLLINS AT SONICNET REGARDING THE BROADBAND EXPANSION PROJECT AS OF MARCH 1, 2023

    SonicNet is currently accepting requests for service at both the 2022 Bass Lake fiber optic project area and the upcoming 2023 fiber project that will cover the Everett peninsula, Rangeline Road, Eagle Waters Road and off-shoots, as well as Scattering Rice Lake. 

     Bass Lake service has been live since fall 2022, and there is currently a wait list of 40 customers. Installation of service will begin in the spring as soon as the ground thaws and burying the cable to the home is possible. 

     The 2023 project will begin in the spring with the contractor burying the fiber optic cable along the roadways and will likely continue through most of the summer. SonicNet's technicians will begin installing the fiber to the homes or resorts soon after the contractor's work begins. Services will go "live" as soon as the roadway network in each area is turned on. 

     To be added to the list for either project area for service installation in 2023, please contact SonicNet at 888-631-9666, ext 100, or send a message to SonicNet Here 

    Details about the service and pricing are available Here  

    ADOPT-A-ROAD AND HELP KEEP OUR ROADS FREE FROM LITTER!

    Jill Faulkner is the Adopt-A-Road program coordinator.

    We need volunteers! If you or your group would like to volunteer for a road segment, please contact Jill.

    The Town provides all the required materials and support.

    All that is required is for you or your group to pick up litter twice a year (spring and fall) on your desired segment of town road.

    Please consider volunteering! To volunteer or for more information, please contact Jill here or by phone at 630-750-6563.

    Download the Adopt-A-Road Application/Permit click here.

    Please note the following procedures at the transfer station:

    • 2 vehicles are allowed in both the drive-through and side entrance

    • Backing up is prohibited for safety reasons

    • You may not walk your garbage or recyclables in

    Please be mindful of those waiting in line. Empty your garbage quickly and limit conversation.

    The Town of Washington is developing a forest management plan  known as a Stewardship Plan .

    With approximately 1,200 acres of town-owned land, we have enlisted the help of the WDNR in developing a forest management plan for these lands.

    Our local WDNR Vilas County Forestry Department will be leading the effort. Ryan Brown, WDNR Forester will work with Jean Gillen, WDNR NR Regional Supervisor to produce the plan.

    Some of the benefits include:

    • Providing an inventory of forest resources (e.g. forest cover types, approximate timber volumes, tree ages).

    • Providing a schedule of forest management activities to follow in order to meet land management objectives.

    • Once a Stewardship Plan    is prepared and adopted by the Township, the Town can apply to become a Community Forest. Benefits of this program include free trees or seeds from the State Nursery and technical assistance from DNR Foresters to implement forest management practices and tree planting plans.

    • Implementing practices within the plan can help the Town sustain its forest resource for future generations while generating periodic income. Managed forests are typically healthy forests.

    The Stewardship Plan will give us a good snapshot of our current land holdings and provide us with a basic framework of forest management practices.

    There is NO COST for the development of this plan. We thank the WDNR for working with us to develop the plan!

    Ryan and John provided an update to the town at our February, 2023 board meeting. They reported all town-owned parcels have been inventoried. The parcels were identified as eight specific compartments. No immediate needs were revealed. They will continue to develop the plan with more detailed compartment maps and management strategies.

    We'll keep you posted as the plan develops.

    Please note #1 , #2 and #5  plastics are accepted for recycling.

    Some examples of #1 plastics are soda bottles, water bottles, cooking oil bottles, and medicine containers, peanut butter jars, mouthwash bottles, and salad dressing bottles. They are glossy, rigid containers that sink in water.

    Some examples of #2 plastics are containers for laundry/dish detergent, milk, shampoo, conditioner, butter tubs, and motor oil bottles. They are rigid containers that usually have a milky or solid color.

    Some examples of #5 plastics are margarine containers, yogurt containers, syrup bottles, sour cream containers, plastic bottle caps and medicine bottles.

    Look for the #1 , #2 and #5 symbols on the bottom of the containers.

    These are the only containers to be placed in the recycle compactor. Place all other plastics in the garbage compactor.


    Print 2023 Recycling Guidelines here

    Oak Wilt, a 100% fatal disease of oak trees, has been confirmed at seven locations in the Town of Washington. To read more about it click here.

    PLEASE NOTE: Cardboard larger than 2' X 2' is NOT ACCEPTED at the transfer station as it causes the compactor to jam. Please ensure cardboard boxes are flattened.

    Please note the phone number for the Town Shop 715-477-2024.

    Do you need to dispose of old computer equipment or appliances? Recycling vouchers are still available. Voucher is limited to a maximum of $15. Contact the Town Clerk here to get your voucher.