Marathon City hires new leader

For their next village administrator, Marathon City’s supervisors have chosen Marathon County’s deputy treasurer, Steven Cherek of Mosinee.

The village board approved a contract with Cherek at its Oct. 4 meeting, after rewording one provision to make it clear that the village will pay $6,000 for him to complete a two-year certified public manager course offered by the University of Wisconsin Extension. If he were to leave the village within three years of completing the course, he would need to refund half the tuition cost.

Cherek will be paid a starting salary of $78,000, and will be eligible for a $5,000 raise in November of 2024 if he meets certain performance goals set by the board at his first performance review, which will occur 90 days after the start of his employment.

The county required Cherek to submit a four-week notice before his resignation takes effect, so he will not start working for the village until Nov. 6. To make sure the village runs smoothly over the next month, the board approved an interim administrator’s contact with Andy Kurtz, who recently started a new job with Vierbicher Associates in Reedsburg after serving as village administrator for nine years.

Under the interim contract, Kurtz will be paid a total of $3,300 for approximately 12 hours per week of village-related work. The contract will run through Nov. 10, allowing him to return to Marathon during Cherek’s first week on the job so he can give his replacement pointers on the administrator’s duties. The board agreed to pay Kurtz’s mileage to and from his new home in the Reedsburg area, and for a hotel room.

“I will schedule time to come up and spend a couple of days with him, to basically give him the lay of the land, do various introductions in town and, more importantly, show him where everything is, systems-wise,” Kurtz said.

Cherek has been serving in his current position since 2015, and prior to that, he worked at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation as a data services professional. From 2006 to 2010, he was a stormwater coordinator/GIS specialist in Lafayette, Ind. He has a bachelor’s degree in geography (community development) from UW-Stevens Point and a post-graduate certificate in geographic information systems (GIS) from Pennsylvania State University.

Kurtz noted that Cherek has also completed the Treasurer’s Institute, a threeyear course for municipal treasurers offered by UW-Green Bay.

Cherek was one of four candidates to be interviewed by the board, including two from the state of Florida and one from Oshkosh.

Public Administration Associates, a search firm out of West Bend, negotiated the contract with Cherek after helping the village find applicants. Shawn Murphy of PAA went through the contract with board members and told them that Cherek had successfully passed a background check and financial credit check.

“I think you have a really good candidate,” Murphy said. “He’s very excited to get started.”

In other business:

The board renewed a license for Middleton & Middleton Management to continue operating the village’s mobile home park after the management company addressed several property maintenance concerns raised by the village. Kurtz said he did a follow-up inspection of the park on Sept. 20 and confirmed that all of the problems identified by the village had been taken care of, including the removal of two storage sheds in the village’s right-of-way.

Kurtz told the board that the proposed 2024 village budget is closer to completion after he learned that the village will receive over $150,000 in road aid next year from the Wisconsin DOT. The village’s projected reserve funds have also increased to over $13,000. He said a draft budget will be ready for a Nov. 1 public hearing, after which it will go to the board for approval.

Kurtz told trustees that Earth, Inc., the contractor on this year’s Third Street, project will have an estimated $15,000 in liquidated damages deducted from their final payment after missing the village’s project deadline on Sept. 24.

Kurtz said the Wisconsin DNR is requiring the installation of a retention pond near the future Kwik Trip site as part of the village’s newly started business park expansion north of STH 29. He said it’s been “extremely frustrating” dealing with the agency’s permitting process.

Village president Kurt Handrick presented a proposal for straightening the traffic lanes on Third Street, which would involve eliminating parking on the south side of the street, from Walnut on Pine Street. Handrick said Third Street narrows after one of the intersections, causing some drivers to enter the wrong lane of traffic. He said businesses that would lose parking spaces under his plan could park in the municipal lot instead.

Trustees were skeptical of his plan, especially since it would take away onstreet parking for local businesses. The proposal was tabled so it could be discussed further at a future meeting.

The board approved an alcohol operator’s license for Charlotte Lemmer at The R-Store.

After meeting in closed session, the board approved a 4.5 percent wage increase for village employees. Seasonal employee Norm Fisher was also granted a raise to equal his pre-retirement rate.