Council advances junk removal ordinance, ATV rules; tables playground purchase

With summer in full swing, the City of Rhinelander is addressing the issue of residents leaving discarded property in public right-of-ways. During its June 22 meeting, the council approved the first reading of proposed ordinance 2026-05, which would give the city a faster mechanism to remove mattresses, refrigerators, and other bulky items left in public right-of-ways by creating a 48-hour notice-and-removal process modeled after existing ordinances governing tall grass and snow removal.
Mayor Kris Hanus described the impetus for the ordinance, noting that under the current process a single item could sit on a city street for an extended period of time before the city could compel its removal. Once a complaint is filed or code enforcement officer Luke Johnson spots a violation, a letter must be mailed, giving the property owner up to 30 days to remove the item — and that owner can then appear before the council to contest the citation, adding additional time.
“In theory, someone could have a refrigerator, some hazardous material, whatever, out on the front of their street for half the summer,” the mayor said.
Under the proposed ordinance, which applies only to public right-of-ways rather than private property, the city would tag the item and give the property owner 48 hours to remove it. If they don’t, the city can remove it and bill the cost to the property owner — the same mechanism used for snow removal. City attorney Steve Sorenson said the 48-hour clock would start from the time notice is posted, with notice also mailed to an address in situations involving rental properties where a tenant might be unresponsive.
“If they don’t remove it, the city may enter the right of way,” Sorenson said, adding that the ordinance language was deliberately flexible, giving city staff discretion to let a bicycle or other potentially useful item remain while acting quickly on obvious refuse. “Nobody’s going to take an old mattress, nobody’s going to take a refrigerator with the door hanging off.”

Aldermen Thomas Barnett and Gerald Anderson raised concerns that the ordinance could discourage residents from putting usable items out for neighbors to take. Alderman Steven Jopek countered that the 48-hour window, combined with the reality that code enforcement might not catch a newly placed item immediately and does not operate on weekends, leaves adequate time for curbside giveaways to find takers.
“If I’m putting something out that I think others would want, and I put a free sign on it, if it’s not gone within 48 hours, it might not be something that’s wanted,” Jopek said.
The ordinance passed first reading 6-2, with Barnett and Anderson voting no. It will return for a second reading at the council’s next meeting.
ATVs/UTVs
The council also approved the first reading of proposed ordinance 2026-04, amending the city’s ATV and UTV regulations, though the path to passage included a procedural tangle and a failed amendment that exposed lingering disagreement over how the issue was packaged.
The ordinance as presented would prohibit all ATVs and UTVs from operating on Lincoln Street prior to January 1, 2027, after which UTVs — but not ATVs — would be permitted on that corridor. Anderson moved to strip the Lincoln Street provisions from the ordinance entirely, arguing, as did Jopek, that the council had previously been led to believe the definitional updates to ATV and UTV classifications would be voted on separately from the question of Lincoln Street access. Jopek said the combined package put members in a difficult position.
“If I vote against it, I’m voting against changes in the ordinance that I find are necessary — but I’m also voting for something that, on principle, I might not agree with,” he explained.
Sorenson intervened to clarify a procedural issue mid-discussion, noting that a motion to amend was already on the floor and could not itself be amended without a vote. Anderson’s amendment — to remove the Lincoln Street language from the ordinance — failed. The original motion, which included a minor language tweak to remove the words “established at” from a speed limit provision, passed. The ordinance is set to return for a second reading, and a vote on the Lincoln Street issue, at the July 13 meeting.
Pioneer Park playground equipment tabled
In other business, the council moved to table a proposal to purchase new playground equipment for Pioneer Park from BCI Burke and Company — a $250,280 purchase — after Barnett raised questions about accessibility features for children with disabilities that staff could not answer with Public Works Director Tom Roeser unavailable.
City administrator Patrick Reagan acknowledged he had also requested the full bid comparisons from the Sourcewell cooperative purchasing process used to solicit the proposal and had not yet received them, adding that he was not comfortable moving forward without the council having that information.
Finance Director Wendi Bixby noted some time pressure, reminding the council that the purchase is intended to draw down borrowed funds that carry a spending deadline. She said she would prefer not to see the project pushed to next year.
The mayor noted the purchase was made possible in part by the Streets and Parks departments completing the new Hodag Park bathrooms in-house, freeing up funds that had been earmarked for that project. Staff indicated the Sourcewell bid remains open until July 17, leaving time for the council to take up the item at its next meeting with Roser present to answer questions.
Golf course blower
The council did approve the purchase of a new Buffalo KB7 turbine blower for the Northwood Golf Club at a cost of up to $11,850, with the actual price expected to come in lower once an existing parts credit with vendor Rebels Turf and Tractor is applied.
Golf course superintendent Keith Staron told the council the course typically runs two of the tow-behind blowers simultaneously during fall leaf season to clear the heavily tree-lined course quickly enough to open for morning play. One of the two units suffered engine failure and is not economically repairable. The purchase would restore the course to two working units, with the disabled blower kept for spare parts — which Staron noted are interchangeable across all three units.
The council chose the Buffalo unit over lower bids from other vendors, a decision Sorenson said was legally defensible. He noted the requirement to take the lowest bid applies to public works projects under state statute, not equipment purchases, and that even where such a requirement exists, selecting a higher bid can be justified when it is demonstrably in the city’s best interest — which Staron argued was the case given the parts compatibility.
Funding for the purchase will come from payroll savings accumulated over roughly two months of understaffing. The course lost a maintenance employee earlier this year and has not yet been able to fill that position or two others, generating savings that Staron said will cover approximately 90 percent of the purchase price before the credit is applied.