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+--- Topic: WORCESTER MEETING: PASER, RED PINES SUBDIVISION, AND LITTLE CHICAGO ROAD (/thread-729.html)
WORCESTER MEETING: PASER, RED PINES SUBDIVISION, AND LITTLE CHICAGO ROAD - My Northern Wisconsin - 10-22-2025
Image from Facebook/The Voice of Worcester 2.0 video
A good-sized group of over 30 people were in attendance at the Town of Worcester meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Among other town business, PACER ratings, the Red Pines subdivision, and Little Chicago Road were addressed.
Chairman Jim Michler shared that the state wanted the town to give PASER ratings to all 230 roads, basically grading them on a scale of 1 to 10, and that was completed and sent in.
Jim also discussed that the Red Pines subdivision, which includes 25 acres, is ready for sales of lots. He mentioned they will need to decide when lots should be sold and who should be in charge of selling them, but no decisions were made at the meeting.
A topic that drew a lot of interest was Agenda Item 10, "Little Chicago/Hwy 13 intersection - rumble strips." Jim said the need to address this intersection was brought to his attention by Lynne Bohn of My Price County / My Northern Wisconsin, sharing readers' concerns about the intersection in light of the fatal accident on August 28, 2025. Jim read the information provided by WISDOT, which is the information that was also included in the article, Recent Fatal Accident Draws Safety Concerns About Little Chicago Road.
Jim stated WISDOT provided a detailed drawing and noted that rumble strips can make a significant amount of noise. A board member, Jeremy Pesko, noted that he wasn't personally aware of how much noise that type of rumble strip would cause, but he was told by others that rumble strips on the yellow center line and white fog line do make some noise. Jim said if they decided to move forward with rumble strips, he would want to send a letter to any nearby residents. Since Board Member Russ Long was not in attendance, a motion was made and carried to table the matter until all board members were present. Jim said he would accept comments during public comment at the end of the meeting.
After the 2026 budget meeting was scheduled and the voucher list was gone over, it was time for public comment. "Before we get started on our public comment, it's been a while since we reviewed the rules for public comment," said Jim. "I have here a sheet put together by Sheriff Brian Schmidt on if people get out of hand, which as we know can easily happen on a contentious subject." Reading from the sheet provided by the sheriff, Jim said anyone attending a meeting can removed. He said the chairman can state someone is out of order, ask for the individual's cooperation or removal, demand that the individual sits quietly or leave, and, if the individual refuses to be quiet or leave, pause the meeting, and call the sheriff's office to tell them about the situation. A deputy sheriff was present at the meeting, as noted by Jim, who interacted with him. (The Town of Worcester has asked for a police presence at some past meetings, as well.) Jim asked the deputy sheriff what the person could get charged with if they were rowdy, and a brief exchange took place about disturbing the peace or "something like that." Jim also told the meeting attendees that the board has the discretion to allow public comment and should be limited to agenda items only. "Public comment is limited to agenda items only. So, for instance, signage and rumble strips on the highway, Little Chicago / Hwy. 13 intersection or any other intersection in town is a legitimate subject because it's on the agenda. The people that use the roads, the businesses in this town, are not on the agenda and are not an appropriate subject for public comment, so any comment about individuals or businesses with respect to road accidents and intersections will be out of order." He said this understanding was in effect with the sheriff and the board, and he then asked for public comment.
A woman asked if the speed limit could come down some distance before the intersection. Jim said, "Changing town speed limits on town roads from the state default is something that requires some homework and digging and procedures, but it can be done within limits. I think they allow like 10 miles an hour in town from the state default but more than that you'd need traffic safety studies; expensive traffic safety studies."
A man asked how rumble strips would make it safer when there are already stop signs there that should be obeyed.
When asked about the cost, Jim said they grind grooves into the blacktop, and he would have to get a cost estimate but figured it would cost quite a bit to get the equipment in there to do the job.
A man who works on the roads said, "We see people blow through stop signs constantly." He felt people need to use common sense, care about others, and be responsible while driving.
A few other brief comments were made, similar to comments mentioned.
Jim asked if there were more comments, but no one else spoke up. He said, "I thought there'd be more questions than that."
The meeting was then concluded.
Since our readers are very interested in improving the safety of that intersection, we reached out to Sheriff Brian Schmidt on September 21, October 7, and today, October 22, asking what can be done about policing the intersection, plus we sent him some comments from the community, but the sheriff has yet to reply. We will update this article if he replies.