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Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Ranked the Sixth Best Place to Live in the USA |
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| Beginning the evening of Thursday, August 14, the drawdown
rate will be .2 feet per hour. The final goal of eight to ten feet below normal levels will be achieved by the
evening of August 16. The water will remain at this level for seawall repairs. As the lower seawall section repairs
are completed, reservoir refilling could begin as early as August 19. The reservoir refilling rate will continue
as repairs are completed progressing up the seawall. Normal water elevations will be restored on Wednesday, August
27. During the drawdown, CWPCo will also use this opportunity to conduct inspections of the other Stevens Point dam structures, shorelines, boat launches, Rocky Run spillway and DuBay dam tailwater apron/diffuser steps. The information will be valuable to access how different dam features are changing with time and where future dam repairs may be required to maintain a safe operating dam. CWPCo and the WDNR are working with several organizations to support stranded fish recovery, river cleanup and carp reduction programs. If you or your organization is interested in supporting these or other efforts, please contact the following individuals for more information: Don Keck, Twelve Apostles Musky Club of Stevens Point, Phone: 715-340-3970, dkeck@cesa10.k12.wi.us; or Jeff Reed, Representing several bass organizations (www.outlawbass.com), Phone: 715-630-1903 wisconsinbass@charter.net. Residents with specific drawdown concerns or community members seeking additional information on this process may contact Thomas Witt at 715-422-3927 or Gary Romanski, operations manager for CWPCo at 715-422-3481. |
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| Meeting Videos Online Videos of all 2008 City of Stevens Point Common Council meetings and many city committee meetings are available on our meeting video archive page. Minutes are added to the video pages as soon as minutes become available. Until then, agendas appear with the videos to help you follow the meeting. To see a particular agenda item, click the item number under the video. Videos are typically uploaded, indexed, and ready to view within 24 hours of the end of the meeting. Bull's Eye Credit Union Phone/E-Mail Scam. If you receive a phone call or email claiming to be from Bull's Eye Credit Union and asking you for your credit or debit card number, or any other account information, do not give it to them. The phone calls and e-mails are part of a scam and are not coming from Bull's Eye Credit Union. Bull's Eye Credit Union says it would never ask its members to provide credit card numbers or account information via a phone call or e-mail. More information is available on Bull's Eye's web site. |
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| Community TV, Channel 3, is Moving Soon Since State of Wisconsin lawmakers took away cities' rights to negotiate television franchise agreements with cable and phone companies, cable companies like Charter now have free reign to do a lot of things cities would never have allowed them to do under our local franchises. The new state law's first impact on the City of Stevens Point was that it will not allow the city to collect PEG Channel support fees from Charter after 2010. This will mean a loss of about $33,000 a year that the city currently uses to purchase TV equipment. But the city's Community TV channel is now faced with another problem that might prove to be worse than that - the loss of many of its viewers. Our local franchise agreements with Charter always made it clear that our PEG (Public, Education, and Government Access) Channels 3, 10, and 99 were to always be available to all customers for no additional charge and with no need for special equipment. We also required those channels to be located near local broadcast channels like 7, 9, and 12, so viewers could easily find all of their local programming. Now that local control has been removed, Charter is moving all PEG channels in the state, including Stevens Point's channels 3, 10, and 99, to the digital realm on or around August 12, 2008. After the move, our PEG channels will be located somewhere in the channel 980 to 995 range, which Charter is calling their "Public Affairs Neighborhood." C-SPAN 2, Wisconsin Eye, and PEG channels from Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids, and other central Wisconsin cities will also be located in this channel range. The new digital versions of our local PEG channels will only be viewable with the use of a QAM tuner found in some new TVs, a few DVD recorders, some standalone tuners, and the cable tuner boxes that are available from Charter for a monthly rental fee. Charter says that all subscribers with "basic" service will be able to see the channels with the use of a QAM tuner because the channels will not be scrambled like premium digital channels. QAM digital tuners are not the same as ATSC digital tuners which are found in many TVs and DVD recorders, and the $40 coupons available from the federal government for purchasing digital to analog converter boxes can not be used to purchase QAM tuners, according to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration which administers the coupon program. Wisconsin's new video franchising law, Act 42, only requires that PEG channels be available to at least 50% of a video provider's subscribers, and Charter claims that a little over 50% of its subscribers in Wisconsin already have digital service and therefore should be able to view the PEG channels. The City of Stevens Point is concerned that a little under 50% of cable subscribers could NOT be able to see our PEG channels without purchasing or renting new equipment. When the PEG channels are moved to digital on August 12, people who do not already have a QAM tuner are not going to be able to watch local government meetings, The Mayor's Office, Inside the County Lines, Pets on Parade, Polka Potpourri, local church services, SPASH and UWSP sports, or anything else they currently watch on channels 3, 10, and 99 unless they buy a new TV or DVD recorder with a QAM tuner, or buy a standalone QAM tuner, or rent a digital tuner "box" from Charter. Preliminary reports from Charter officials indicate that if people who currently subscribe to analog-only service threaten to cancel their cable service after August 12 because they can no longer watch the PEG channels, Charter will rent them a digital tuner box for 6 months for free, after which time normal monthly rental charges will apply. The city hasn't received any information directly from Charter, but has been kept up to date of Charter's plans by the Wisconsin Association of PEG Channels (WAPC), of which Stevens Point is a founding member. When the city receives more information, it will be made available here and on Community TV. The City of Stevens Point, the WAPC, and a few state lawmakers including Representative Louis Molepske Jr. and Senator Julie Lassa fought to keep local control over cable TV and to preserve access to local community programming. Wisconsin Act 42, known as the Video Competition Bill before it became law, was heavily endorsed by AT&T and was supported by the cable industry. AT&T has not announced plans to deliver video service in Stevens Point. Charter was granted a statewide video franchise earlier this year. |
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| Please Water your Trees The City of Stevens Point Urban Forestry Department asks city residents to remember to water the street trees in front of your homes when you are watering the trees on your property. During dry times like those we presently are experiencing, this is especially important for recently-planted trees. Soak the soil beneath the tree, out to the outermost ends of the branches, for an hour or so every week. On smaller, younger trees, you may not have to water as long, but you may have to water more often during hot weeks. Give the soil time to dry out a little before watering again. |
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| City Council Approves Downtown Re-Design The City of Stevens Point Plan Commission met Thursday, June 12 to consider adopting the Downtown Redevelopment Plan, and approved recommending the plan to the Common Council, who approved it at their meeting on Monday, June 16. See the video and minutes of the June 12 Plan Commission Meeting. See the Downtown Redevelopment Plan (Acrobat). 5 MB pdf File Requires Acrobat or Free Adobe Acrobat Reader. |
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| EZ Go Refuse/Recycling Cart Delivery in August The City of Stevens Point will not be starting delivery of new EZ Go Refuse and Recycling Carts until August 4, 2008. Each Property Tax Parcel will receive one 65-gallon cart with a brown lid for refuse and one 95-gallon cart with a green lid for recyclables. There will only be two cart sizes available, 65-gallon (which measures, 26" square x 42" tall) or 95-gallon (which measures, 28" wide x 30" deep x 46" tall). Property owners will have the option to purchase extra carts (additional fees may apply) or request to change sizes before delivery by contacting the Streets Department at 100 6th Avenue, 346-1537, or Engineering Department at 1515 Strongs Avenue, 346-1561, or using the request form below. Print a Form to Exchange or Purchase Carts. 89 KB pdf File Requires Free Acrobat Reader. You can fill out and save this form on your computer. We are expecting delivery of the new collection trucks mid August. Please do not use your new carts until the program is fully implemented - we will be unable to tip the carts until the new trucks arrive. The start date for implementation will be in early September. Watch your local newspapers, radio stations, Community TV channel 3, and this web site for information. Get More Information about the EZ Go Cart Program. |
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