Stevens Point Current: Grant promotes safer streets, Plover seeks to bring events to Standing Rocks Park
Like the current of the Wisconsin River flows through our communities and electric current from its world-renowned hydropower dams flows through our conduits, topics and processes flow through local governments with swiftness and regularity.
Stevens Point Current is a new regular column in the Stevens Point Journal by Service Journalism Reporter Erik Pfantz that will cover a range of topics in city and county governments and local school districts to highlight the many items that flow past our local decision-makers.
The Current will share information of varied topics just as a river may carry an oak leaf or a tree trunk with the same silent ease. If you have items you would like to see highlighted in this column, please reach out to Erik at epfantz@gannett.com.
Federal Safe Streets awards $200,000 grant to Portage County
A federal program promoting safer streets has awarded Portage County, Stevens Point, Plover, Whiting and Park Ridge a multi-jurisdictional planning and demonstration grant, according to a new release from Tim Reed, Portage County’s planning and zoning director. The grant will help the municipalities work together to create a “comprehensive roadway safety action plan,” update Portage County’s bicycle and pedestrian plan and perform demonstration projects to support the two plans.
Long-term strategic plans like the ones funded by this grant are important for receiving grant funding, attracting visitors and help local officials make better-informed decisions.
Work funded by the Safe Streets grants is expected to begin in spring 2024. Updated information will be posted on the county’s website. Information about the Safe Streets for All grant can be found on the Department of Transportation website.
Plover aims to bring events to Standing Rocks Park
The Plover Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, a state-authorized tourism promotion partnership between the town of Plover and the village of Plover, presented a plan to market Standing Rocks Park and other Portage County parks for use in events to the Portage County Park Commission in December.
The bureau listed potential events like 5Ks or other running events, disc golf tournaments and mountain biking events. The bureau said they have software that allows them to more easily connect with planners for these types of events, and they would like to partner with the Portage County Parks Department for better planning for the use of the parks’ facilities.
Coincidentally, the next agenda item was a request from Brad Zuraski from Wingz Disc Golf of Neenah to rent the pavilion at Standing Rocks Park to hold a disc golf tournament. Zuraski wrote to the parks department that he expects the event to draw more than 72 people as it would be part of a Mid-Eastern Wisconsin series he will be directing through 2024.
Seramur Park restroom shelter approaches final design approval
Stevens Point Board of Park Commissioners will discuss final approval of the design of a restroom shelter at Seramur Park Wednesday following approvals from City Plan Commission and staff. The shelter roof will span about 54 feet by 34 feet, which will also cover two rooms: one unisex restroom with a toilet and sink and a mechanical room that could be upgraded to a second restroom in the future.
The city renamed Emerson Park to Seramur Park on Aug. 21, following a second donation from the Seramur Family Foundation that funded the construction of the shelter. The foundation had previously donated to fund the playground equipment that was installed in November 2022.
Seramur Park was previously the location of Emerson School. The Stevens Point Area Public School District sold the nearly empty lot to the city in 2018 and it was dedicated as park land. Efforts to enhance the park's offerings have been ongoing since at least 2017 and phase two of its new construction, which included basketball courts and permanent bag toss, was completed in November 2023.
Portage County WIC Clinic moves
Portage County WIC Clinic has moved to 3349 Church St., Suite 1, in Stevens Point. It was previously located at the Stevens Point Area YMCA.
WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and is funded by both state and federal sources. WIC provides services in the areas of nutrition education, breastfeeding support, healthy foods, parenting and family resources, and other care-related services.
Its hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, by appointment only on Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, call 715-345-5744 or email wic@co.portage.wi.gov.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Reach him at epfantz@gannett.com or connect with him on Twitter @ErikPfantz.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Stevens Point Current: Safe Streets grant, Standing Rocks Park events
