Wausau committees enter closed session to discuss purchase of riverfront parcels after contamination concerns raised

On April 22 at 5:15 p.m., the joint Finance and Economic Development Committees of the City of Wausau voted to go into closed session to discuss negotiating the purchase of properties identified as 201 North First Avenue and 901 and 1021 Cherry Street in Wausau.

Committee members raised environmental concerns during the open portion of the meeting, citing the Cherry Street parcel’s proximity to a Superfund site and a nearby landfill. A city staff member said the phase 1 and phase 2 environmental reports provided to the committees showed contamination typical of century‑old industrial riverfront parcels and warned that "there's going to be significant cleanup issues if we were to purchase." The staff member said they did not have information that phase 2 testing had included groundwater sampling for PFAS specifically.

Members discussed potential uses for the properties, including possible expansion of a riverfront facility and a fleet facility or future commercial or residential redevelopment. Eric, a city staff member, said the city is still considering multiple sites for fleet operations and is continuing to monitor opportunities as they arise. Committee members also noted the agenda contained a clerical error listing a non‑existent "201 North First Street" and agreed to proceed with the item using the correct avenue address.

Before the closed session motion, a committee member asked whether REI’s phase 2 assessment had included PFAS groundwater testing; staff said that specific testing was not documented in the materials provided and that additional testing could be requested if the committees wanted more information to inform purchase-price decisions. Staff also said they had reached out to parking‑lot owners related to one of the parcels but had not completed follow‑up contact.

The committees moved into closed session under Wisconsin's open meetings exemption for negotiating the purchase of public property, cited as Wis. Stat. §19.85(1)(e). The motion to enter closed session carried on a roll call vote that was recorded as affirmative by several members. The committees said staff could return with additional information if requested after the closed session.

Because the committees moved to closed session for negotiation, no final purchase terms or price were disclosed during the public portion of the meeting. The committees did not take further public action on the property purchase before adjourning the joint session.