City of Eau Claire residents, staff, and Council Members,

Here’s some news from around the City for this week. As a reminder, prior updates can be found here, and people can sign up for City updates here. Feel free to send me feedback.

CITY UPDATES:

Spring Community Engagement Efforts: Council President Emily Berge and I are happy to announce the launch of a new engagement effort, which we plan to undertake each spring and fall.

District Discussions: Emily and I will be hosting four “District” meetings in the coming weeks, and we will be joined by District and At-Large Council Members and Neighborhood Associations.

Here’s what we will do at each District Discussion:

• Share citywide and neighborhood-specific updates on topics such as zoning, development, street repair, public safety, parks, and more.
• Ask for your opinion through a resident survey.
• Try to answer any question you can think of…see if you can stump us!
• Share how residents can join an existing neighborhood association or form a new one if their block isn’t already part of one.

District Discussion Meeting Times:

CENTRAL

When: Monday, March 18th, 6-8PM

Neighborhoods: Eastside Hill, Randall Park, North River Fronts, Third Ward, Downtown

Where: LE Phillips Senior Center - 1616 Bellinger St.

Spread the Word: District Discussions - Central District | Facebook

SOUTH

When: Wednesday, March 20th, 6-8PM

Neighborhoods: Putnam Heights, London Road, Oakwood Hills, Memorial, Randy's, Fairfax/South

Where: South Middle School Cafeteria - 2115 Mitscher Ave.

Spread the Word: District Discussions - South District | Facebook

WEST

When: Monday, April 1st, 6-8PM

Neighborhoods: Buffington, Shawtown, Upper Westside, West Ridge, Silvermine, Sherman Creek, Lamplighter/Crestview

Where: Delong Middle School Cafeteria - 2000 Vine Street

Spread the Word: District Discussions - West District | Facebook

NORTH

When: Thursday, April 18th, 6-8PM

Neighborhoods: Airport, Dells Park, North Side Hill, Princeton Valley, Sundet Park, Wells/Riverview, Pinehurst, Abby/Zephyr Hills

Where: North High School Commons - 1801 Piedmont Rd.

Spread the Word: District Discussions - North District | Facebook

City Circuit: Emily and I also invite organizations to schedule a time for us to visit your civic group, church, book club, coffee klatch, social organization, classroom, happy hour group, or any other group interested in discussing life in Eau Claire. We will share an abbreviated version of the City update, ask your group members to complete the resident survey, and discuss any topic you are interested in. Pick out an available time here https://calendly.com/springcitycircuit/spring-city-circuit-discussion, or contact me to arrange a visit: stephanie.hirsch@eauclairewi.gov.

New People, New Roles: We are happy to share that we have two new people in important roles.

Human Resources Director: First, Carrie Riepl has been promoted to the Human Resources Director. Carrie has been serving as the HR Manager for the past 1.5 years, working closely with Colleen Schian who will be retiring next month. While working for the City of Eau Claire over the past 11 years, Carrie has worked in HR and served as our City Clerk. As Clerk, she managed some very complex and high-profile challenges. Carrie is known throughout the City for her responsiveness, her ability to listen and problem solve, and her attention to detail. She is extremely determined, positive, and unflappable. Time and again, when there’s a thorny issue, we seek out Carrie to tackle it. We are grateful that she is willing to take on this complicated position that is so central to employee well-being, retention, and recruitment and central to the City’s operations. Join me in congratulating Carrie!

City Clerk: We also are happy to announce that we have a new City Clerk. Former City Clerk, Nick Koerner, has taken his brains and his ability to follow complex laws to the Assessing Division, leaving the Clerk position vacant. Kristina Kuzma has just moved into the role. Kristina hails from Northwest Indiana, and she and her husband moved to Eau Claire a year ago. They picked out Eau Claire because they heard it’s an awesome place to live. Kristina said that being in Eau Claire even exceeded the high expectations they had, and she loves how there’s so much to do. Kristina’s hobbies include hanging out with her dog, reading, and hiking. Kristina is a City Planner by training, and she has sought a career in the public sector because she loves working with the public, helping, and being part of a busy and exciting workplace. I want to extend a huge thank you to Nick Koerner and Deputy City Clerk Rebecca Draeger, who have been covering a large workload in the past month or so. Also, thank you to Nick and Rebecca, plus Carrie Riepl, Tess Morgan, and Anoosheh Hamzehee, who have all been helping Kristina learn the ropes. Kristina and Carrie are pictured together, as Carrie helps with City Clerk onboarding.

Cemetery News: Here’s some information about our Cemeteries…

Clean-Up: The City of Eau Claire Cemeteries staff will be performing their semi-annual clean-up of Eau Claire’s two cemeteries on Monday, March 18th and wanted to remind everyone that personal items and winter decorations that they wish to keep should be removed from grave sites on or before March 18th. Items remaining after that date will be removed by staff. Metal flowerpot stands may remain in place, but they should be emptied before March 18th. City Cemeteries have a spring clean-up date in March and a fall clean-up date in October to help keep the grounds presentable. If there are questions, please contact the Eau Claire Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department at (715) 839-5039.

Pink and Green Flags: Visitors to the cemeteries in the wintertime will see pink and green flags throughout the Cemetery, as pictured below. The flags are used in wintertime to help Cemeteries staff discern where the lots are more easily, especially in the areas that are for sale, and where upcoming burials will be most likely to take place. Pink flags represent monument rows, and green flags are for marker rows.

A Census of Veterans: As mentioned in a prior newsletter, a group of residents from the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire spent several days last fall at Lakeview Cemetery, inventorying all of the graves that are associated with veterans and their spouses. The volunteer group will inventory Forest Hill Cemetery in the spring when the weather warms up.

Based on the data compilation, here is what we can learn about the approximately 1,500 people who served our country and then were buried in Lakeview.

• By Era: Looking at the veterans by era when they served, the largest number of residents served in WWII, with 865 serving. The oldest era of service was the War of 1812 (one veteran), followed by the Civil War (170 veterans). Many people served through not just one war period, but two, and one person served during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. One veteran was associated with the 32nd Red Arrow. This Infantry Division was made up of National Guard Units from both Wisconsin and Michigan and was first mobilized in 1917 (more information about this division’s repeated heroic actions are here: History of the 32D 'Red Arrow' Infantry Division and Brigade (32nd-division.org))
• By Age: Not all records have ages associated with them, but for those that do, 11 percent of veterans buried in the Lakeview Cemetery passed away before they turned 46. At the youngest listed age, Roger Running lost his life at just 18. And three veterans lived to and/or beyond age 100. They were Harry Egdahl (age 107), Robert Anderson (age 100), and Vernon Mathison (age 100)
• Last Names: Not surprisingly, the most common last names were Johnson (93 veterans), Anderson (51), Olson (45), Peterson (39), Hanson (32), Larson (30), Nelson (30), Brown (21), Miller (21), Thompson (21), Lee (19), Severson (18), and Berg (17).

So many stories of courage and sacrifice underlie these data points, and we thank our local veterans and their families. Thank you also to the volunteers working to better document the information we have about those who served.

Financial Crimes Investigator Tips: The Police Department shared some information about how to avoid scams this week. They wrote: “Tax Season is in full swing, and with that comes an increase in criminals trying to impersonate government agents to commit fraud. Today is National Slam the Scam Day, and we talked to our very own Financial Crimes Investigator Matt Sanda for some of his most useful tips to avoid fraud. https://fb.watch/qF_pLT14oL/”

EAUSTAT NEWS: EauStat is Eau Claire’s performance management program. We meet regularly to discuss projects, data, and budgets. Here’s one take-away from a meeting this week.

Best Practices in Recruitment: We held our monthly Human Resources EauStat meeting this week. That team has been working hard to analyze the data they have to gain insights into their HR practices, such as recruitment, candidate review, onboarding, and retention.

The staff shared that over the past few years, they have set a goal of shortening the length of time that it takes to fill positions. This is especially important in the very tight job market that we have at present. If a candidate doesn’t hear back quickly after they apply or are interviewed, they may take another position in a matter of days. HR has been successful at shortening the length of hire, as indicated by this graph. In 2021, it took, on average, 45 days to hire someone. In contrast, it took only 29 days to hire someone in 2023. We have an awesome HR team, and we are happy that we’ve been able to hire so many excellent people, even in this very challenging job market.

QUESTION & ANSWER: Here are questions that came through the City Manager’s Office this week… Feel free to share your question here and we will work on answering it: https://forms.gle/VKzrTnfASd4EUd8cA

Utility Cover Placements

Question: "Can anyone explain why manhole covers are located exactly in the path of car tires? They often sink several inches below the road surface, resulting in constant jarring, excessive wear and tear on tires and the noise! Why can't they be located off the main tire paths in city streets? Thanks!"

Answer: Engineering Director Leah Ness shared this response, in consultation with our Streets and Utilities Managers, as they all do work related to utility covers: “Due to the width of the right-of-way, the width of street, the depth of the utility, the size of the utilities, and the required guidelines for separation of utilities, manhole covers sometimes end up in the travel path of vehicles. If possible, we try to shift them to keep them out of the path, but sometimes that’s not possible. If the utility is shifted too far in one direction in the street, it may require getting into the curb and gutter and/or sidewalk as well as the travel lanes of the street when completing maintenance. This increases the cost for maintenance and repairs. With new constructions, our contractors are required to follow specifications when placing the manholes which provides requirements related to heights and adjustments. This helps provide for a ‘smoother ride’ when traveling the streets. As the structures age, part of the City’s maintenance is to re-adjust or install adjustment rings to the manholes, which reduces the ‘bump’ in the roadway surface.”

Voting Absentee

Question: “When can I vote by Absentee?”

Answer: Deputy City Clerk Rebecca Draeger shared: “If you requested an Absentee Ballot already, they will be mailed out starting Tuesday, March 12^th. If you would like to vote by In-Person Drive-Through Absentee voting at City Hall, that starts March 19th and runs through March 29th, from 9AM to 4PM weekdays only. If you would like to vote Absentee by mail, please visit MyVote.wi.gov and submit a request by clicking on “Vote Absentee by Mail” – a photo ID being on file is required for this option. “

55+ Modern Housing

Question: “Will Eau Claire ever get apartments for over 55 for the middle class citizens? (That are not out of date for today’s technologies)?”

Answer: Community Development Director Aaron White shared this information: “We are working on a project for 55+ living right now that would be considered workforce housing. (The term workforce housing generally refers to an affordability level that’s between subsidized affordable housing and higher-end market rate.) The Developer has indicated there is good market demand for this type of housing. The challenge is in financing larger projects. Current high interest rates are impacting projects moving forward at the moment, and a number of developers are waiting to see if the Federal Reserve makes any cuts to interest rates this year.”

Parking on Yards

Question: “Why isn't the city ordinance for parking cars on your lawn being enforced?”

Answer: The question writer is correct that parking motor vehicles is not allowed on lawns. The City ordinance reads: “The parking of any motor vehicle on any lot shall be on a driveway or parking area having an improved surface” as defined by City of Eau Claire ordinance 16.36.080 Grass is not an improved surface. Additional questions and answers related to parking can be found here: Parking | City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin (eauclairewi.gov) We have limited capacity to carry out unimproved surface parking violations on a proactive basis. Please send specific complaints to NeighborhoodServices@EauClaireWI.gov and our staff will carry out enforcement.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS: We have the best employees! Get to know one of them this week. (And submit your suggestion for an employee to spotlight here…)

Today we spotlight Community Services Operations Manager, Cory Tietz. A co-worker said this about Cory: “Cory is one of the most determined people I have met while at the City. He identifies something that needs doing and moves the project down the field, one yard at a time, and overcoming complications that arise. It’s hard to understate how helpful this quality is, and the City and its residents experience the benefits of Cory’s determination, even if they don’t know the behind-the-scenes worker who is making things happen.”

• Your Job: “While I started in October 2010 as an entry-level team member of the Street Division, I am now the Operations Coordinator for the Community Services Department, where I assist the Director and each Division in any way I can.”
• What People May Not Know: “I am three months away from obtaining a Master's Degree in Public Administration with a secondary concentration in business.”
• Best Part about Working for the City: “The opportunity to collaborate with private and nonprofit organizations to meet the community's demands while serving in ways many will never recognize or know about.”
• Activity you Love: “To me, nothing is more relaxing than riding my motorcycle across the country. From North Carolina to Arizona or Colorado to Montana, riding across the open range on two two-lane roads is as good as it gets. If there were a close second, it would be hiking the upper elevations of any western mountain range.” (Pictured below on one of these adventures...)
• Life Philosophy: “Don’t fear failure; fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today.”

COUNCIL CALENDAR (Tentative – Please see: City Calendar | City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin (eauclairewi.gov) for most complete and up-to-date list of public meetings)

• Monday, March 11th, 7PM, Council Chambers: Council Public Hearing/Discussion Night
• Tuesday, March 12th, 4PM, Council Chambers: Council Meeting
• Monday, March 25th, 7PM, Council Chambers: Council Public Hearing/Discussion Night
• Tuesday, March 26th, 4PM, Council Chambers: Council Meeting
• Monday, April 8th, 7PM, Council Chambers: Council Public Hearing/Discussion Night
• Tuesday, April 9th, 4PM, Council Chambers: Council Meeting
• Tuesday, April 16th, 4PM, City Council Organizational Meeting