Marathon County committee authorizes letter supporting Domtar’s Rothschild Dam modernization, forwards request to full board

A Marathon County committee on April 3 authorized a letter of support for Domtar’s proposal to modernize the timber-crib spillway at the Rothschild dam and agreed to forward the request to the full county board for its consideration.

The request centered on a congressionally directed spending application being prepared through U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office; Domtar asked for letters of local support to strengthen that application, which the company said must be submitted by April 7. Domtar’s representative told the committee the engineering is complete and the company plans construction this summer if funding is secured.

Mr. Fawcett, general manager of Domtar’s Rothschild mill, told the committee the total cost to repair the compromised timber-crib section is $84,000,000 and that his company is proposing a one‑third, one‑third, one‑third cost‑share model. “The cost of the project is $84,000,000,” Fawcett said, adding that Domtar would cover roughly…