Letter: Vote yes on transportation referenda
To the Editor-
Citizens of Stevens Point, there are many reasons to get out and vote this November. I’d like to address the four local transportation-related referenda questions.
The first two have to do with yearly local road projects for general maintenance and repair. These are located on the south side of Stevens Point. I believe this a simple choice to vote yes and pass these two projects. These roads are in need of repair and are part of the city of Stevens Point’s yearly projects.
The third question addresses Badger Ave. in the Stevens Point Industrial Park. It is important to the growth and development of our business park to vote yes on this question. The attraction of new businesses depends on it. Let’s move forward in building our business community.
The fourth referendum question pertains to rail spurs that will also attract new businesses to the area and support the growth of Lineage Logistics. Passing this question will add hundreds of jobs to the area. Lineage is the leading cold storage company in the United States. Lineage has high-paying jobs and we are lucky to have this business in our great city.
The Badger Ave. and rail spur questions are supported by a TIF district. To put it simply, the businesses in the industrial park will foot the bill for these projects. There will be no tax burden to the taxpayers of Stevens Point on your personal property taxes.
We all want to see growth and progress in our local economy.
Please vote yes to referendum questions one through four in the upcoming ballot. We appreciate your support.
In the spring of 2023, the City of Stevens Point plans to put the northern corridor of Business 51 to referendum. The current design proposes a two-lane road diet and we must make sure this question fails. The South Side Business Association will keep you posted as it gets near.
Everybody knows the reason for our current ordinance approved by the voters this spring was to save the integrity of Business 51 and keep it four lanes. Let’s save Business 51.
Let’s grow Stevens Point in voting yes to all four transportation referendum questions on November 8.
Thank You
Kevin A. Flatoff
President, South Side Business Association
