Sheboygan resident asks Ashland County to back Amtrak extension to northern Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula

Luis Valens, a private citizen from Sheboygan, Michigan, asked the Ashland County Executive Committee on July 15 for “a letter of support and/or a formal resolution” backing an Amtrak extension that would serve parts of northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Valens told the committee the proposed route would extend the Hiawatha service from Milwaukee through Escanaba to Duluth, Minnesota, and said the extension would connect the region to Chicago and “bring economic development, access to quality health care, access to educational opportunities, employment opportunities.”

The committee chair, Gary Mertig, asked Valens to send his materials to County Administrator Dan Grady. Mertig said the administrator would determine where to place the request on a future meeting agenda after reviewing the submitted template resolution from Chippewa County, Michigan, that Valens said he had provided.

Valens said he had already been in contact with congressional offices and state lawmakers and that the project would depend on a mix of federal and state funding. He asked the committee to consider supporting the effort with a county letter or resolution and offered the Chippewa County resolution as a template.

Administrator Dan Grady told Valens to forward the request and supporting materials; the committee did not take formal action at the July 15 meeting.

Because the request arrived during the public-comment portion of the meeting, the committee treated it as a referral for possible future discussion rather than a formal vote. The committee did not adopt any resolution or letter during the session.

If the county receives the written request and the Chippewa County template, the administrator will decide where to place the item on a future agenda for formal consideration.