Winnebago supervisors approve buyout of Outagamie interest in UW Fox campus; Weis museum contents to move to Appleton, childcare faces urgent deadline

Winnebago County supervisors voted 28-5 to adopt a resolution authorizing Winnebago to acquire Outagamie County's interest in the University of Wisconsin (UW) Fox Cities campus, a step supporters said would centralize decision-making and help avert an imminent closure of the campus childcare center.

Supporters said the transfer would give a single local government control of the property and allow faster action on operational matters. Corporation counsel summarized the proposal to the board as "basically saying that Winnebago will divorce itself from Outagamie County and pay Outagamie County $1 to get its interest at UW Fox Cities." The attorney said the agreement includes a two-year requirement that the property be used for public purposes and that any nonpublic leases during those two years must return revenue to support the campus's public uses.

The decision drew extensive public comment from educators, museum staff and local volunteers who urged the board to preserve the Weis Earth Science Museum at its current Menasha location and to keep coordinated programming between the Weis and the Barlow Planetarium. Steven J. DeBaker, owner and winemaker at Trout Springs Winery and a member of a local steering committee, said: "We have a choice to do the right thing. We have an opportunity to…