The latest bimonthly department reports are in for the city of Stanley for March, with several highlights.

Clerk’s Office
Starting with the Clerk’s Report, Stanley Deputy Clerk Maggie Wurst reported items in the past two weeks to include accounts payable checks, quarterly billing, payroll, bank reconciliations and fund reviews in coordination with auditors, spring cleaning, Insurance contacts, a funds analysis with Mayor Henke, and new water rates applied. Wurst also reported completion of meeting minutes, fielding of customer concerns, industrial billing, department head meetings, fielding of questions for the quarterly newsletter, and access to the City of Stanley Facebook page. Thank yous were extended for help with spring cleaning and other tasks, Mark and Kris Fitzsimmons and Joe Schmitt coming in to help clean and organize for spring. Water bills were mailed on time as well, with Alderpersons Ben Wald and Therese Metzger assisting with adding postage and delivering bills to the post office for mailing. Cathy Ryba, Anne Diers, and Jim Ericksen of the Library Board were also thanked for assistance rendered.
There were no operator’s licenses to approve.
As for upcoming items, Wurst reported that she and Mayor Henke would be collecting a list of items tabled by council that had not been revisited, with these being put on an upcoming agenda.

Police Department
Writing in the police chief’s report, Stanley Police Chief Lance Weiland reported that new full-time officer Christian Cortes-Cartagena started as of March 30, with training in the foreseeable future.
Weiland also reported that the department was working with the Cornell Police Department to coordinate a date and time to receive Taser update training “in the very near future,” with recent short staffing at Stanley affecting plans to have a Stanley staff member trained as a Taser instructor.
Also in the police chief’s report was news that Weiland had been asked to be part of an upcoming Northwestern Law Enforcement Ceremony in Eau Claire May 14 at Florian Gardens, with staff also asked to be part of a collaborative meeting May 19 with Chippewa County Adult Protective Services and staff at Aspirus Stanley as it related to mental health and other care. Weiland shared that he had sub fitted a request to send Officer Andrew Holty to a one day Field Training Officer (FTO) refresher course at Chippewa Falls April 13, in order to better train new staff. Sergeant Keuchenmeister was reported to be working on the CJIS audit, with payment of $16,900 received from Sparta for the sale of the K-9 squad.
Covered as well in Weiland’s report, meanwhile, was a review of ordinance language related to sex offender registration in some area communities. Wisconsin state statutes do not limit where most sex offenders can live, with the exception made for sexually violent persons. Ordinances that severely limit where a sex offender can reside have faced challenges and been invalidated by courts, Weiland wrote. Stanley’s current ordinance states it is unlawful for any designated offender to establish a permanent or temporary residence within 1,000 feet of any Safety Zone property/use as enumerated in subsection b(8). An official map of such zones was to be kept by the City Clerk-Treasurer showing prohibited locations. The question of whether it was better to allow variance from the ordinance if it meant someone was housed and monitored versus unhoused and unmonitored was brought to the fore.
With residences increasingly hard to find where people convicted of sex offenses would not be in violation of the ordinance, the prospect of having people monitored versus having to report as unhoused (and unmonitored by extension) was something to consider, with community safety potentially better served by allowing for variance with monitoring versus no variance without monitoring, unhoused and unmonitored individuals being the result. With four individuals currently out of compliance with the city statute but also not drawing police contact, ensuring that such individuals were monitored would encourage accountability, versus an unhoused status leading to being unmonitored.
No action was taken on the matter of city ordinance variance at the April 6 council meeting, the city opting to look at how other communities like Eau Claire are handling the matter first.

Fire Department
Writing in the fire chief’s report, Stanley Fire Chief Ron Patten reported “office work, repairs on equipment, monthly truck checks, weekly SCBA and PASS Alarm checks for work completed since the last report. Work for the next two weeks includes normal office work and learning new computer programming, with upcoming training to include ICS 300 in April as well as regular monthly training.
As for matters concerning the council, Patten reported one mutual aid call and one vehicle fire in the past two weeks, along with four first responder meetings. Two officer meetings were held in March, as well as a two hour DNR training with Boyd-Edson-Delmar. A total of three and a half hours of “extractor training” was done in March, with four fire department officers and two city council members driving to Appleton on March 27 to look at a Pierce Fire Truck. The road trip follows a March 9 viewing of a Pierce Fire Truck at the Stanley Fire station.

Water Department
In news from the water department Water Operator Ben Blair and Streets and Grounds Foreman Joe Schmitt reported stable operations over the past two weeks. Key accomplishments included returning Well #3 to service, replacing reverse osmosis prefilters, conducting bacteriological testing, and continuing staff training. Routine plant operations remained consistent. In the coming weeks, staff will focus on regulatory reporting to the Department of Natural Resources, ongoing training, quarterly testing, and maintenance of the RO system. Additional certification exams are also scheduled for Blair on classes related to groundwater and distribution.

Wastewater Department
As for the wastewater department, Sewer Operator Jake Lukes reported continued success in maintaining treatment standards, particularly phosphorus levels, which remain within regulatory limits. Regular testing was completed on influent and effluent along with adjustment of treatment processes to optimize the removal of biological phosphorous. Maintenance work has also been a major focus, including repairs and upgrades to equipment at the main lift station. Lukes reported that significant progress has been made on rebuilding a fine screen system, with multiple components repaired or replaced to extend the life of the equipment at a reduced cost compared to full replacement. Lukes anticipated completion once remaining parts arrive. The department is also exploring cost-saving measures, including potentially downsizing equipment used for hauling operations.

Streets, Parks, and Cemetery
Closing out department updates with Streets, Parks, and Cemetery, department head Joe Schmitt reported a wide range of seasonal and maintenance activities. Highlights in the last two weeks from April 6 included snow removal, citywide trash pickup, equipment repairs, and park cleanup following snowmelt. Additional work included filling potholes, removing trees and brush, preparing lawn equipment, and assisting other departments as needed. Also in tasks completed was building maintenance and preparation of community facilities in preparation for rentals. Schmitt also listed monthly safety training for work planned over the next sixty days.