Letter to the Editor: Clearing Up Misinformation Circulating in Nasewaupee

Seats on the Nasewaupee Town Board are up for election April 4, and there has been a lot of misleading information circulating in our community.

The town gave notice to the Southern Door Fire Department last year that we will be leaving it and have created Nasewaupee Fire Rescue. Rumors are going around that your mill rate is going up and that we will not have enough firefighters and first responders. That is false. We have more firefighters and first responders already for our new department than we currently have. 

We do not need any tax increase to do this. We are paying 71% of the budget, with the three other municipalities paying 29% – split among them. We also have only two of the eight votes on the department’s board of directors. 

We are vested 68% in the department, so we have the option to purchase our station and all equipment associated with the Nasewaupee station at 32 cents on the dollar. We have the funds on hand to cover all the costs to purchase the assets. The $390,000 we are currently paying to fund all four municipalities is more than enough to cover our operating expenses. 

We will have a better department when this transition is completed near the end of September. With our new members, we will have most of our people under 40 years of age and will have a sustainable crew for the future.

Nasewaupee is currently working on getting the costs together to run fiber optic to each house and business in our town. When costs are determined, it would require borrowing, and that will require a vote before the town could ever go ahead with this. Some people are saying the town is just going ahead with this project on its own, but that is not true.

Whatever your opinion, be sure to vote in April. 

Steve Sullivan
Nasewaupee, Wisconsin

(Editor’s Note: Steve Sullivan, the current chair of the Nasewaupee Town Board, is running unopposed for reelection.)