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Public comments mixed as Plan Commission opens hearing on UMC basement for emergency shelter
Summary
The Plan Commission opened a public hearing on a conditional-use permit request to allow First United Methodist Church at 903 Third Avenue to use its basement as an emergency night shelter sponsored by the Wausau Police Department; the commission will take final action at a special meeting.
The Wausau Plan Commission opened a public hearing on a conditional-use permit for First United Methodist Church, 903 Third Avenue, to use its basement as an emergency night shelter sponsored by the Wausau Police Department. The commission did not take final action and scheduled a special meeting two days later for the conditional-use decision.
Brian Bailey, president and CEO of the Woodson YMCA, said he had reservations about the proposed shelter location because of proximity to YMCA programs and vulnerable populations: “This is one of the worst backyard you could put it in. We have the largest licensed childcare center in the city of Wausau with over 200 children that congregate in our playgrounds … We had theft, we had loitering, we had, drug needles, alcohol, garbage, defecation on our campus” when a shelter was operated at a nearby site in 2021. He added that Chief Barnes told him the Police Department would provide oversight this time, and said he wants to “be a good neighbor” but that his board was uncomfortable with the location.
The commission chair closed public comment for this hearing and indicated the conditional-use application would return for final action at a special Plan Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday at 4:15 p.m.; the chair said the item would also appear on the Common Council agenda that night under suspension of the rules.
