Mayor's Community Update - 04/26/2019

Greetings! 2018 was a significant year for economic development in the City of Waupun. Core assets, including our public schools and healthcare facilities underwent major renovation and construction projects and we are now well-positioned with state-of-the-art facilities to support and enhance the quality of life in our community. We also saw significant public and private investment across the city, including the renovation and opening of Bridges at the Rock, a long needed banquet facility for the community; expansion of Heritage Ridge and the travel plaza to optimize the city’s presence along the US151 corridor; significant investment in our historic downtown; housing expansion that saw new families move to the area; demolition and our first redevelopment on the former Meadowview Primary (MVP) site on the east side; and revitalization of Park Plaza with new retail opening on the city’s west side. Furthermore, the city made its first significant inroad to diversify our economic base by being named the site for the state’s first soybean processing facility. This was significant in that as business continues to evolve in response to shifting economic conditions, our ability to attract new industry to the community is vital to create a diverse and healthy business mix that promotes growth and fosters economic stability. However, to date the soybean project has yet to cross the finish line and I wanted to provide you with an update. National policy changes on tariffs that occurred late last year and their impact on soybeans have definitely slowed progress on this development. While the project continues to be of interest to the city for the reasons previously stated, we recently met with the developer and a decision was made to allow the land option that we had with that developer to expire. This project tied up almost all of the city’s available land for industrial development. While the developer’s intent is to continue marketing the project and to finalize their investor base with the goal of constructing the proposed facility, in our discussions neither party felt that it was in the best interest of our community to continue waiting for final commitments on the project while allowing other possible development opportunities to pass us by. We will continue to support work on the soybean project, however, allowing the expiration of this land option frees the city to market available land to other prospective industrial developers and helps us continue to work toward our economic diversification goals.

So what does 2019 hold in store for Waupun? We are currently engaging with a site selection firm to explore marketing opportunities for the industrial land in our portfolio. Additionally, we’re focused on continued downtown revitalization, including investments in streetscaping to improve the aesthetics of our downtown and we’re expecting that the State Historical Society will review our nomination for historic district designation this summer. This designation would make tax credits available to building owners to foster additional investment in our downtown. Furthermore, we continue our investment in housing expansion and are working to quantify and foster needed multi-family development opportunities in the community; we’re also increasing our focus on east side development of the MVP and Heritage Ridge sites with several projects in

discussion; finally, we’re leverage our Aging in Place work to address public facility improvements to meet the future needs of our community. We’ll continue to update you as this work evolves.

Around town, on Saturday, April 28, Marsh Haven Nature Center will host an Earth Day Celebration from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Yard waste collection continues the week of April 29. And, don’t miss the annual Downtown Waupun Wine Walk scheduled for Friday, May 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. Only a few tickets remain and can be purchased online at waupunchamber.com. See you around town!