It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of January. Time continues to go by so fast.
One goal set for 2026 is to publish a monthly newsletter summarizing county activities for the month. At the end of each month, the newsletter will be posted on the county website. To locate reports in the future, navigate to the Administrator’s page and they will be found under Administrator’s News.
The county continues to focus on the campus property. In July of 2025, we engaged Short Elliott and Hendrickson (SEH) to take the lead on the Campus Redevelopment Project. This was anticipated to be at least a nine-month process. Their first step was to complete a Market Analysis. This has been completed and the final copy has been shared in the Campus Reconfiguration Committee meeting packet for February 4, 2026. This report guides future discussions about how to best utilize the campus property.
The next step is to gather community input. A survey will be shared with the community in early February, and a community listening session will occur in early March. Once these two components are completed, SEH will create and share Requests for Quotes or Requests for Proposals with the community and potential developers.
While there have been concerns about the length of time this process is taking, the County believes it is important to proceed thoughtfully and thoroughly to ensure the strongest possible outcome and long-term success.
In 2025, the city obtained a grant from the State to assess the current structure of The Symons Center. Innovative Public Advisors were chosen to complete the study. Work that has been done for the study includes an analysis of existing conditions, stakeholder meetings, and touring comparable facilities. A community survey has been shared, and responses were received through January 30th, and a public input session was held. The final report will be presented at the City Council meeting on March 3.
In 2025, there was extensive discussion regarding the provision of ambulance services for the community. In the end, 12 municipalities signed agreements for Richland County Ambulance Service to meet the needs of their communities.
Because of all the questions and concerns related to the oversight of the service and how best to fund the service, the county engaged with Strategic Management & Consulting to complete a study. The purpose of the study is to explore options for oversight of the service and then provide a framework on how to get there.
In addition to the study, the county has been hosting meetings with the municipalities that currently receive the service to talk about the future of the service. The first meeting that was held focused on the creation of a district. The second one highlighted what it would look like if we engaged with a third-party provider. Our meeting next month will talk about how the service would look if the county continued to provide the service. These are also the three options the study will explore.
Our multi-year radio tower project is nearing completion. The project will transition our emergency services providers from analog to digital. In February, we will start to use the new system. Community partners will start the transition in March. This has been a long process, but we are excited to have the new system in place which will provide better coverage across the county. With our topography, clear communication on an analog system provided some challenges.
In December, the county board approved the creation of an ad hoc committee with the goal of creating a 20-year plan for our facilities. The County Facilities Planning Committee started meeting in January. They will look into future remodeling and/or building needs with the goal of having the long-range plan in place by the end of April.
The full county board met on January 20, 2026. For complete details of the meeting, please review the packet and/or video shared on the website.
A highlight of the January full county board meeting was a presentation by Craig Woodhouse from Neighborhood Housing Services of Southwest Wisconsin. An overview was provided of their 2025 accomplishments. In addition, information was provided on the definitions of home ownership, discussing low-income housing, affordable housing and workforce housing. It is important to understand that many of the homes in this county are workforce housing. Workforce housing refers to affordable, quality housing for moderate-income workers. These are the homes that essential workers live in.
Until next month,
Trish