Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this September 17th, 2025.
Have your host James here, joined right now by our Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher.
Matt good to see you.
Good to see you James.
Thanks for having me as always.
Appreciate the time from you.
We want to say a big shout out to our friends at Wisconsin Rapids Community Media as well.
Do yourself a favor, go to YouTube, type in your search bar Wisconsin Rapids Community
Media, subscribe to their page, keep up the date and the great work that they are doing.
Over there you can find a cool segment that they've been doing with our mayor, that you
have something some great conversations over there and everything.
Also noticed you're really good at the Q&A.
That's my thing.
All right, I need this job sir, I need this job please take it for me, I know you're really
good, it's really good.
I really enjoyed it.
Good, I appreciate you here in that and I'm glad that they're serving the purpose that
we intend and getting the information out and just letting people get to know the chiefs
that are there and that they care, they're involved in the community and they want to be
a part of it.
So don't hesitate to reach out and talk to the chiefs whenever you have questions or just
want to get to know them better.
We begin with hearing from our listeners and talking to them over the last, I'd say probably
going back about three weeks maybe shortly after your last visit with us, I know it was
around there.
Hearing from listeners and the feedback that I was getting and they were asking me like,
okay, when you see the mayor, if you could bring this up, if you could ask him about this,
was involving our construction and I want to stress that out of the five, six people
that I talked to, one of them a couple, there was no anger in any of this, their tone
was fine, there was no yelling, nothing like that.
What there was was I think a bit of confusion and a bit of just not understanding, well,
you know, I didn't know that this was happening, specifically they were talking about the construction
going on here on the west side of town on some of our roads back to back to back roads.
And it just kind of happened to them overnight, they made it sound.
So you know, they're trying to speak for them but speak with them in this, that was more
of the concern, was where to get this information and was this information already presented
and they just missed it or something along those lines and I know how much communication
means to you.
Right.
No, I appreciate hearing from the people because if we don't hear from the folks that
are in the community, yeah, we're, we don't know, we don't, we're just kind of living a,
I can, there's a whole separate topic, but the more I'm in the seat, the more I worry
about being in the bubble, whereas for 20 years I was outside the bubble.
When I say that, I mean, with all due respect to the city itself, the organization, you tend
to get, you know, silo would affect, you're not seeing the bigger picture of what's going
on and that's what people get frustrated about with government because it's not being
responsive to the people.
So that being said, we decide the year before what projects are going to be on the
docket for the coming year.
We actually have to budget for them and we have to figure out where that money's coming
from.
Some comes out of different parts of the budget.
It's funded by different aspects of the government's budget, whether it's state, federal, our
personal stuff and so we have to have that up and running before the year even starts
so that we know we're on the right page.
And then outside of that, I encourage everybody, we've just spent a ton of time revamping and
doing a brand new website and we're excited about the product.
But at the same time, we need everybody to get on that website, tell their friends and
family about the website, share it with your kids, you know, wirapids.gov now.
We switched from a dot org to a dot gov and that's for everybody's safety.
You can't get a dot gov address, again, I'm not the tech guy, but you can't get the
address without being a government organization.
So they're very much keep keep close scrutiny on that.
So that helps us out go wiwirapids.gov.
You got a great website, very communicative.
You have a report and issue there.
If you have stuff in the city that we can take care of, you'll have the street disclosure
stuff, what's going on, what programs, what constructions going on and what that looks
like, what streets are going to be closed.
Also at the bottom, you'll have the ability to connect with the community and contact
us or in any other way that you can within that website.
You can be able to reach out to us or the phone numbers are there.
I'm certainly happy to get phone calls to Emily.
Kent is there to take on calls and we will figure out what we need to get information
back to you.
But we do put all that information out for the roads there and then we put it out on
social media, all the different channels on social media, the website, like I said.
We have email notifications.
We need everybody to go to our website, sign up at the bottom of the page, says notifications,
click on there.
It'll take you through a simple process to get those emails sent directly to your email
address so that you can get all this stuff as it's coming in.
That's city meetings and all the different things that we put out.
And again, if it's not working, we need to hear that from the community so we can figure
out better ways, get it on the TV stations, radio stations, like this, newspapers and
all that.
You're mentioning the websites and one of the things that I think is really important
for people to do when it comes to this topic and this is whether this affects you or
not as far as information and getting the information and if you are up to date or not, I think
it's a good idea too.
So a lot of us save these web pages, we bookmark them, we put them on our tab, something
like that.
You might be not having the newest website, I think that's one thing to do.
And as I said to these listeners, these individuals that we're talking to, we had a really good
conversation that lasted a lot longer than I expected it to in a good way, when it comes
to this subject and I say this with all respect and grace as I can, there is government doing
what it needs to do and making sure that every bit of information is out there and every
medium possible so that individuals, no matter who they are, whether you have an email address
or not or you know what a website is or not, you can get that information.
But it is also on citizens to get the information, to reach out, to pursue the information.
If you're just sitting there on your couch, expecting to fall in your lap, few things in
life are like that.
The air you breathe and that's about it.
Like you've got to put some effort into this, you've got to put some work into it.
I don't know, these individuals that we're talking to, most of them were older and some
of them were around my age.
I ask them, like when in your life has information ever just fallen in your lap.
Like if you want to watch the news, you've got to flip on the channel, you've got to be
there at a certain time.
You want to read up on a website, you've got to pull up the website, you've got to put
in some work.
There is a, there is meeting people halfway on this one.
Our government, our local government is working their tails off to do that.
If you weren't, I'd be holding your feet to the fire about it.
That's my job.
When it comes to this, I don't know what more you can do necessarily as far as getting
the information out there and presenting the information.
We want to do better, we want to do more.
I know that that's the case, but I also feel like it's, you know, the, is the customer
always right, is a listener always right, absolutely, but they also got to get in the game.
You've got to put some effort in there too, and I don't say that just as I'm pointing
the finger, even I could do a better job of pursuing information and finding things
out when I need to know information or something along those lines.
I think we all could.
Yeah, I think it just goes back to, and I know people differ on this philosophy of, is,
is government a business or not, and I say, okay, we understand that it's a unique business
because of the, the model that it is, but at the same time, the residents and the businesses
are the customers.
And if you're not actually getting to them the information you need, you're not, you're
not providing the services that you need to provide it and, and yeah, it's a little bit
different, but ultimately, they are, our gauge is if we're doing a good job, granted
it's a little bit trickier to know because we still get to collect tax money, and that's
the difference.
Somebody's going to come for your house if you don't pay your property taxes, like,
you know, whereas if it's, you know, selling widgets or widgets, you know, and then it's
a different story.
People stop buying them, you go out of business.
So it's a lot more simple in that sense, but so in that sense, I don't, again, I, I
personally don't look at this as, well, I'm not trying to get into the residents mind.
Well, I mean, I guess I am to understand what they want, but I'm not going to look and
say, well, it's their fault, like, they're not getting the information.
We're putting it out.
We're doing what we need.
In my mind, I say, then we need to be better.
If it's not working, we need to figure out why and we need to do better with it.
So I come from that philosophy, and I think we have work to do yet, but we're working
on it.
The WI Rapids.gov is that website that Mayor was referring to.
Make sure to bookmark that everybody and rebookmark it if you haven't in the past or something.
And we'll mention that again before we wrap up.
Speaking on the, the things going on in town here, one of the ad get in the middle update,
see how things are going over there.
Yeah, I jumped in pretty hard last month.
I kind of have a circuit that I go through between you guys and some of the TV channels and
other podcasts and all that.
And I really did dive in because I got some feedback that people didn't know what was
happening at the mill, which surprised me a little bit because I'm very open and what
I can't talk about.
I want to get out there as much as possible.
So for the most part, you know, the biggest thing going on there is outside of all the
things that are happening behind the scenes that you got to sign NDAs for and you can't
talk about just because you don't want to make anybody angry at you.
I appreciate the fact that they let us be involved in the conversation.
They don't have to do that.
But the mill itself being taken down by MRD is continuing.
Everybody's seeing it.
Hopefully at WRC, I'm puts out a lot of the videos.
I actually went to MRD again, Jerry, Jerry's name, his last name's looting me at the moment,
but he is really good at this business and he's really concerned about how they're doing
in this community.
Well, in any community, really, and how they do now, I mean, imagine this is the biggest
project ever taken on.
So it sky's the limit from here because there's only other times that they're going to have
to be doing this.
Anyways, I went to him and said, can we videotape some of the stuff that's going on so we
can share it with the residents?
In the end, he took it a step further and it was going to be easier than us trying to
be there at the moment that they then started videoing this stuff so they could put it
on their social media and then they send it to us and we connect with it and we're able
to piggyback off that and get it out to everybody.
And it's just amazing footage because they can be exactly where they need to be in
order to make great demolition shows out of it.
So greatly appreciated they're making great headway, again, always sad that this is going
away, but it's also great that it's not going to just sit there and wither away in front
of our eyes and never going to be able to be fired back up again.
So it had to go away and it'll open up that land and I think it's going to be a great
move in the long run and there's people that are talking to the people that have the
power to help them get in there to set up, it's going to be manufacturing is what we're
shooting for.
Probably going to be some database stuff and go from there so great things ahead in
the future.
Sounds like you might have given a good idea there, they're filming it themselves and
everything.
That's really cool.
You're right.
They could probably get an angle and do more there than they others could.
That's fun.
Yeah.
We had a golf outing.
It's not a city sanctioned thing, but a lot of the city people are involved and then
people come in and I got to meet a lot of the guys from MRD that I haven't met and
very proud of what they're doing and very happy to be able to do that and you're right
then they get to show it to other people and use it as marketing for future projects.
With this building and all buildings have some memories to them, some care to them,
every house, every building.
This one being a little bit different and you noted that I think being able to share
that stuff is all the more important and all the more great and the archival footage
that will be to be able to show you other generations and everything.
It's a very cool part of our history around here.
Yeah, I think that's awesome.
Want to talk a little city budget with you.
I know that you guys had some recent meetings and everything about that and wanted to see
how that's going.
How are we looking?
Yeah, I wanted to really need me to go to Atlantic City.
Yeah, it's our budget because I'm on a run right now.
Well, I say this is the time that it's probably the most tricky or stressful because we
just got done meeting in July and it takes a while for July, August, to get through all
the departments and let them say what their plan is for 2026, kind of see where that money
comes in.
We really started right at the beginning of the year saying you need to keep up on the
2025 budget so we know what it's going to look like in 2026 and start talking about
that as soon as possible.
So everybody brings their budget to the table, Tim Dessourci, the finance director, he
then compiles everything and he brings together right now all the money that should be coming
in or what we can count on and whatnot and be able to put together that snapshot on the
front end.
And then that's when the tough work starts, that's where you have to start saying we can't
do this, we can't do that, we can try to work on this, we move this over a year to cover
for that.
We lost the transportation utility a lot a year ago.
We were able to cover some of that expense through WWLC and wastewater and the sewer utility.
But then because that the transportation utility is gone, there are some mill and overlay
projects that were there that they're helping fund and now that money will be gone so we
have to work on that.
Of course all the wages are going up and all the benefits that come along with that are
going to be going up so it's really a never ending battle.
Not to say, I'm not afraid of the challenge, neither is Tim, neither are the department
heads.
It is what it is.
I mean, you're not going to take out debt in order to find operations.
So once you get to that point, you got to make tough calls, that's what it's all about.
So.
Some of the more important work being done is when it comes to our budget and the time
and effort that's put into it, it's good to hear.
And certainly we'll keep you up to date on that one, talk next month, maybe we'll rehash
and go over it again, we'll see.
Just wanted to ask you about the EMS and kind of an overview of that.
Yeah, so we've been for the last year, probably since I got started, you know, it's been a conversation.
The problem, problems everybody's facing in the country, my assumption is probably the
world, but I don't know anything outside the country is that we're facing this baby boomer
generation that is just so big and they're all at a certain age where they need the help
and it's partially just the amount of people, but it's partially that 911 has become more
of a like a daily care, more type thing instead of going to the hospital or to go to see their
doctor.
A lot of times we're calling 911 for basic services and people, if we go to their house,
we have to provide the services.
We don't have to give them a ride to the hospital.
If they don't want to go to the hospital, then we don't get any money for Medicare Medicaid.
So then it's just a call that was spent.
In the end, Wisconsin Rapids has an amazing fire department and a EMS department and we
pay decent money for that.
Like that's part of our taxes, we all pay for it.
So right now they're providing the services, the problem is the amount of calls versus the
amount of employees is a little bit out of whack right now.
And then so then the questions come in as to, and again, this is tricky because we want
to be good neighbors.
We want to be good stewards of our resources and help our neighbors.
But at the same time, if 20% of our call volume, 20 to 25% is outlying community contracts.
Well now in their paying a lot less money for the same services that Wisconsin Rapids citizens
are paying, you have to be able to have that conversation openly, transparently and honestly
and say, okay, fair is fair.
Right now the contracts are hovering around $26 ahead per capita, which means everybody's
paying $26 a year, a year, just kind of re, like I'm just coming to that realization
for these amazing services, two paramedics, a rigged out, an ambulance that has everything
in it, they have the ability, they're like, they're like moving doctor clinics basically
that's what they're qualified for.
So it's amazing and we should recognize that.
So then the question is, we understand we could help the outlying communities and we are
doing it right now.
But if the costs are realistically looked at, you know, we're paying somewhere in the
ballpark of $126 per ad versus $26 a ad.
So where is the happy medium in there?
And again, we can only go so high before they say, well, we're just going to go somewhere
else and we understand that.
And maybe that's the way to do it.
The problem is we already started the contracts, so now we kind of rely on that money
that's coming in in order to cover the employees and stuff like that.
So it really is, last night, we got a clear direction from the council, which is what
I need is so that myself and Chief Goudreau can go to the communities and talk about what
the reality is, you know, hope that they understand we're coming with the best intentions
to have a conversation and what that looks like and lay out some different options on
the table to really negotiate where we should be and where we could be or say, we don't
want to, you know, it's too much and we don't want to go with these services anymore.
We understand that too.
If we got to rip the bandaid off, you know, better sooner than later in my opinion, because
it's only going to become more impactful until the call volume starts to come down again,
but we don't really know when that's going to be.
So we have to prepare for the next 10 years, at least.
There's so many layers to a topic like this you mentioned early on in it.
You know, our area has a little bit higher of a senior population than some.
So certainly, you know, the work of our EMT, our ambulances out there, all of this is
understandable.
Maybe you see a higher rate with that or something or not in pay, I mean, but in the
call volume and some of those things.
And then when it comes to rural areas, many of us that have lived in some of those spots
you're talking about and everything, certainly, you know, hope and pay taxes for services.
And that's so, you know, figuring those things out.
One of the things that I think is a positive about this, to me, and maybe it's nothing but
a positive is so much of this was kind of, we kind of inherited, you know, a lot of this
thing.
And this isn't a pointing fingers at a generation or anything.
It's just like kind of the way things work.
We see this with our schools often times, you know, there used to be a whole lot more schools
around.
Well, we don't need as many, you know, we, and it's not to say that those schools aren't
important.
Those kids got to go somewhere, but it turns out, well, we could actually just send them
to this school that is like two blocks away, you know, and working on those things.
Where, by doing that, while we hate to see any school go away, those teachers, those
employees are able to go into the workforce here or in other places and make those schools
that are around now stronger.
This is an opportunity for us to make this a stronger thing in our communities.
Maybe even call times lesser than, you know, when they're showing up, all these, you
know, the added layers to this that will we get this figured out and get the right solution
for everybody.
Yeah, that's, it's what you're saying is, it's a lot, it's a lot, and I'm realizing,
I appreciate the fact is, you know, again, as soon as I got into the seat, I went out
to the surrounding businesses, nonprofits, anybody that's connected to, you know, in my
mind, it was entrepreneurialism, it still is, but then you realize, you know, the school
system plays a role in this, the MST plays a role, UWS P plays a role in this, the convention
of visitors bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and really what is, like, all the unforeseen
things that you're planning for that may or may not happen because there's so many things
happening at one time, but nothing is for sure until it just keeps going, kind of like
the mill.
It didn't, it didn't start out the way it looks now, it started out in one room of one
machine with a handful of people, you know.
So then people come and ask, like, should we do this as an organization because we don't
necessarily know what's coming?
So let's just take the schools, for example, like you said, if there's talk, which again,
it's not for sure, it's just a conversation, do we try to consolidate in order to put
money into this instead of put money into that?
But then all of a sudden, if we have an influx of jobs that happen because we have an industrial
park with a ton of power, which could happen, then all of a sudden we have this influx of
people who can move to the area going to MSTC because MSTC is great at saying, you need
these specific skill sets.
We can start these programs like immediately and get these guys up and running.
They're great.
UWSP is the same way.
Yeah, there's just so many factors to the housing, the housing plays a huge role in this,
the communication amongst everybody.
So yeah, it's awesome to be a part of it and it certainly opens my eyes to the bigger
picture.
I definitely complain a lot less about governmental organizations at this point.
But at the same time, we got to stay focused too because they serve a specific need for
the community.
We got to make sure we're accomplishing those.
Hearing you break that down just now and I really do appreciate one of the things that
I think I thought of right away and I'm sure I'm the only one our listeners out there
probably did too is that the kind of theme of this conversation today in communication.
And hearing whether it's you talking to the community, your team talking to the community
or the community talking to you, being open with each other, having open conversation,
treating each other with respect and sharing information is how we get to a better community
a better city.
I would say that and this is not about one is better than the other.
I don't mean it that way.
But having lived in so many communities in my life.
What I'm seeing happening here is very new to me and I have not seen before and I have
not seen a portion of our government working so hard to reach out to the community, working
so hard to communicate with the community.
So not only is that appreciated, but I know the community, I appreciate this community
coming out and talking as well and speaking up.
It's we got plenty of people out there that will sit on their couch and bark at the TV
or bark at the radio and never get off the couch.
I appreciate this community is filled with people that are willing to speak up, willing
to be heard because that's how we make the community that much stronger and that much
better.
Yeah.
Again, we've done a lot of work with the website for that.
But I'm always open to conversations, my emails on the website, my directs, cell phone
number seven, five, three, one, five, twenty nine, twenty five, call me directly.
I also go to the, I'm not going to know the dates offhand, but the coffee talk with
the mayor at the Centrelius Center, I do that once a month, it's, it's, we try to advertise
that throughout.
That's a place you can come and talk one on one with me.
You know, it's an hour, usually I'll tell people and it's a bigger conversation.
Let's get together and talk about it more in depth because you need more time to vet
it out.
So, but at the same time, don't hesitate to reach out and, you know, have the conversation.
At least if nothing else, you learn the answer is to allow to your questions so you don't
feel like you don't, you're, you're not in the know of what's happening.
So, appreciate the time as always, sir, and looking forward to talking again next month.
Yep.
Thanks for what you do, James.
Appreciate it.
Big thank you to our friends at Wisconsin Rapids Community Media as well.
We appreciate the work they're doing again.
Go to YouTube, subscribe to their page by typing in Wisconsin Rapids Community Media dot
com.
And be sure to keep up to date on what they're doing in that website.
We've mentioned a number of times, wirapids.gov, wirapids.gov.
We'll be back with more rapids report here at WFHR, locally grown rate.
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