Mayor’s Column August 31, 2024
Rohn Bishop, Mayor of Waupun
Hello Waupun!
What a busy week! I’ll briefly touch on a few things happening and let you enjoy your holiday weekend.
The railroad crossing at Lincoln Street has been fixed up. Over the last few years, we’ve worked with Wisconsin and Southern Railroad on several crossings throughout the city. Having a total rebuild on the Main Street crossing, and repair work at Taylor/Jackson, Brown, and now Lincoln Street.
The RV that’s been beached on the west end of Waupun by the new restaurant has left. Yay! It took some prodding from the city, but we got it moved. Thank you to the property owner for helping on that. It’s unfortunate that someone would abandon a vehicle like that, but it happens.
Repair work has begun on the City Hall roof! This is the beginning of a multi year investment into our historic building, which will be turning 100 years old soon.
The City Council has begun the process of adopting ordinances to combat vacant and dilapidated properties within the community. The owner of a vacant property would be forced to register it with the city. Why? Because as an American, you have the right to purchase a property and just sit on it, however we as a city, have a responsibility to make sure the building is at least being maintained. We’ve already had to tear down two buildings downtown (which are now the empty lots to each side of Stone + Suede), and I don’t want anymore. And with lousy property owners (like at the Golden Cup) we don’t want vacant buildings just falling down. We’ll also be doing something for vacant houses in Waupun. With a housing shortage, there’s no reason we need to accept vacant properties.
Lastly, I ended up in Urgent Care this week with a high fever and terrible cough. Luckly all the tests came back negative, and it’s nothing super serious, but I’ve been highly encouraged to slow down a little and rest. Which I’m not good at doing, but Jenny is good at making me. 🙂 Hopefully this is a nice relaxing weekend for all of us.
Thank you and God Bless,
Mayor Rohn
