Galesville considers update to comprehensive plan

The city of Galesville could soon see an update to its comprehensive plan, which is often used by local governmental bodies in Wisconsin to plan for the future.

Such plans are used to guide municipal leaders in decision making and spending, as the plans show where the city hopes to be years into the future as well as what focus areas it hopes to see change.

The city’s current comprehensive plan was last updated in December 2009, according to councilor Dave Carlson, who proposed the update at last Thursday’s council meeting.

State statute s. 66.1001(2)(i) indicates cities are supposed to operate with active comprehensive plans, which must be updated at least once every decade.

The council unanimously approved allowing Carlson to reach out to the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission, which was the group the city last used to update its comprehensive plan.

There was no money spent on Thursday, and the council will still need to approve spending any money on a comprehensive plan update in the future.

“It’s issues and opportunities, housing, transportation, economic development, etc.,” Carlson said last Thursday. “The other thing I wanted to point out is that there’s different grant funding sources and programs too that require that you have a current comprehensive plan, so I don’t want us to be out of compliance.”

Council member Jean Wallner said the process can be lengthy and takes at minimum a year, adding it will eventually add costs to the city. She asked if the council should wait until after the April election to let the new council members be more involved.

Mayor Vince Howe spoke in favor of starting the update now.

“I think we need to get going on it. We’re out of compliance,” Howe said.

City to remove two-hour parking downtown

The council also unanimously approved removing two-hour parking signs downtown. Most of the conversation revolved around movability with a laundromat.

“I would agree with that (removal),” Wallner said. “Because I feel like even though in the past we had that in front of the laundromat, right across the street from the laundromat I believe is six parking spaces on the north end of the square, so I feel like there’s plenty of parking available.”

Howe shared some concern over elderly people carrying their baskets into the laundromat, and the council did say they could consider adding a handicapped parking space outside the laundromat in the future to help address mobility concerns with laundry baskets.