Say Thanks — Plow It Back to the Middle

06Take action

Two things now: say thank you, and keep a storm log

The Common Council adopted the policy amendment 11 to 0 on October 13. The people who voted for it, and the Director who committed to it in public, should hear from the neighborhoods they heard from all summer. Then, when the snow comes, help us keep one honest record of how it goes.

Thank the Council and the City Attorneys

One click opens a short thank-you to all eleven alderpersons, the City Attorney, and the Assistant City Attorney. It thanks them for the 11 to 0 vote, notes the Director’s commitment, and says we look forward to the first snowfall. Add your name and, if you like, one sentence of your own. A thank-you is remembered longer than any complaint.

Open a pre-written thank-you

Or copy the addresses: Carol.Lukens@wausauwi.gov, Michael.Martens@wausauwi.gov, Terry.Kilian@wausauwi.gov, Tom.Neal@wausauwi.gov, Andrew.Wiskowski@wausauwi.gov, Kristin.Slonski@wausauwi.gov, Matt.Hoenecke@wausauwi.gov, Sarah.Watson@wausauwi.gov, Victoria.Tierney@wausauwi.gov, Lou.Larson@wausauwi.gov, Bruce.Trueblood@wausauwi.gov, Anne.Jacobson@wausauwi.gov, vincent.bonino@wausauwi.gov

Not sure who your alderperson is? Find your district on the city’s alderperson page. A separate note to your own alderperson is even better. Alders Lukens and Larson carried this for months, and Alder Neal (District 4, Highland Park) was the one who told the Director, “If it’s going to be a route, make it a route.”

Storm log: tell us how it went

After each plowable snowfall, tell us the date, your street, and which way the plow went. We keep one shared log for both neighborhoods. Your note comes to our organizers, not to the city.

What the city adopted

Resolution 26-1008, adopted October 13, 2026, 11 to 0, amends the Winter Street Maintenance Policy to permit plowing to the center median on two-way streets with a center median boulevard and to permit plows to run counterflow to traffic while doing it, when it is safe to do so. The Public Works Director told the Council the boulevards will be plowed to the center “probably 90 percent, or even better” of the time, with light sanding-only runs and a full median late in the season as the exceptions. Read the transcript (PDF) or watch the item. If a full plow event leaves your street plowed to the outside, call Public Works at 715-261-6740 with the date and street, copy your alderperson, and log it here.

Have a yard sign? Thank you. It can come down.

Fifty signs went up across two neighborhoods and stayed up through three meetings. They did their job. Bring yours in whenever you like, and hang on to it; it folds flat.

07Spread the word

Share the news

Share it online

Please share widely: on your own Nextdoor neighborhood, in local Wausau community and neighborhood Facebook groups, and on Instagram. Attach the image to every post. Download the image, or share this site on Facebook.

For Nextdoor and neighborhood groups

Neighbors: we did it. On Oct 13 the Wausau City Council voted 11 to 0 to send our boulevard snow back to the grassy center median, the way it was done for 50+ years. The Public Works Director told the Council it will be plowed to the center "90 percent, or even better" of the time. Thank you to everyone who signed, wrote, and showed up, and to Alders Lukens, Larson, and Neal. Two small asks: send the alders a thank-you (one click at PlowItBack.org), and after each snowfall this winter, log which way the plow went so we have one honest record.

For Facebook (your page and local Wausau groups)

For 50+ years, Wausau plowed the boulevard snow to the middle. In 2023 the city quietly started packing it into our driveways instead. Residents on Highland Park and the Southeast Side signed, wrote, filled Council Chambers twice, and on October 13 the City Council voted 11 to 0 to send the snow back to the center median. The Public Works Director committed, on the record, to plowing to the center "90 percent, or even better" of the time. Thank you to every neighbor and to the alders who listened. The one-click thank-you note and the winter storm log are at PlowItBack.org. Please share.

For Instagram (put PlowItBack.org in your bio, then post the image with this caption)

We plowed it back to the middle. Oct 13: Wausau City Council, 11 to 0. The boulevard snow goes back to the grassy center, the way it was for 50+ years. Thank you, neighbors. Thank-you note and winter storm log, link in bio. #Wausau #WausauWI #Wisconsin #PlowItBack #CentralWisconsin #Neighbors #SnowRemoval

Write the paper

A letter to the editor of the Wausau Pilot & Review or the Wausau Daily Herald reaches the whole city. They ask for your real name and a phone number to verify, usually under about 400 words. Make it yours and send it in.

To the editor: For more than fifty years, Wausau plowed the snow on our boulevard streets to the grassy median in the center. In 2023, without notice, that changed, and the plow began packing a full street's worth of snow into the ends of our driveways. On October 13 the Common Council voted 11 to 0 to change it back. Thank you. Thank you to the neighbors on Highland Park, Everest, and Kreutzer Boulevards and on the Southeast Side who signed petitions, wrote letters, and filled Council Chambers twice. Thank you to Alders Carol Lukens and Lou Larson, who came to a committee they do not sit on and stood with us, to Alder Tom Neal, who told the Public Works Director, "If it's going to be a route, make it a route," and to every alderperson who voted yes. Thank you to the City Attorney's office for answering the legal question in writing, and to Public Works Director Eric Lindman for committing in public to plowing the boulevards to the center. The lesson is not complicated. Residents who do their homework and show up, courteously and in numbers, can still be heard at City Hall. We will see the city at the first snowfall. [Your name] [Your neighborhood], Wausau