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A Little History of the Town of Florence

From the Heritage of Iron & Timber 1880-1980

Published for Florence County, Wisconsin, 1980

The Townsite of Florence is Laid Out

In 1879 Mr. VanDyke and Mr. Hagerman, financiers, purchased a three-fourths interest, arranged for railroad extension because of the good work done in this mining region by Mr. N.P. Hulst and called the mine in Florence in honor of Mrs. Florence Hulst, his wife. This name was first applied to the iron mine, then to the town and county. The following is an account of the letter sent to Mrs. Florence Hulst on December 15, 1879 by Mr. J.J. Hagerman President of the Menominee Mining company:

Mrs. Hulst -- The time is come when we must give a name to the new town in Wisconsin at the end of the Railroad now building, and to the new mine in the vicinity, now called the Eagle, but which name we do not wish to keep, as there is already an Eagle P.O. in Wisconsin. The Company owns all the land around the lake, where the town will be located. It will be a lively town. We shall put an anti-whiskey clause in all deeds and we expect it will be as much noted for its temperance and morality as for its -- well, anything the future may develop. We all wish to call the new town and the mine FLORENCE, in honor of the first white woman who had courage enough to settle (for a while) in that rugged country. I mean the first white woman known to us.

Will you permit your name to be used?

Thus the town and mine had been given a name, a very prim and proper name!

Because of the mine people rushed into the region and by 1880 Mr. Fisher laid out the townsite, putting a number of lots upon the market. He said he would put the lots in at government prices selling the ordinary lots from $100.00 while the corners sold for $150.00.

In sixty days Mr. Fisher had sold $60,000 worth of realty. The population at this time was 50 people. In a short time a blast furnace was put up as was a foundry, five coal kilns, a large sawmill and a cheese factory.

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Notice of Spring Election

Notice Of

Spring Election

State of Wisconsin

Florence County

Town of Florence

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that at an election to be held in the Town of Florence, on Tuesday,

April 1, 2025, the following officers are to be elected to succeed the present incumbents listed. The term for these offices are for two years beginning on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

OFFICE & INCUMBENT

Town Board Chairperson

Tim Bomberg

Town Board Supervisor #1

John Holbrook

Town Board Supervisor #2

Shane McLain

Clerk/Treasurer

Shelly VanPembrook

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN, that the first day to circulate nomination papers is December 1, 2024, and the final day for filing nomination papers is 5:00 p.m. on

Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in the office of the town clerk.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN, that if a primary is necessary, the primary will be held on Tuesday,

February 18, 2024. GIVEN, under my hand, done in the Town of Florence, on this 21st Day of November, 2024.

Shelly Van Pembrook

Clerk/Treasurer

A Market Revaluation on Property Assessments in the Town of Florence is in process for 2024.

Note: All assessments increased in the Town of Florence, but this does not mean that the taxes are going to go up the same percentage as assessment change.

Physical Inspections:

Physical inspections are done on all properties that were issued building permits in 2023 & 2024.

They are also done upon request by the property owner.

Looking at the Market:

Once completed with physicals we then turn to a review of all properties that have sold not only in calendar year 2023, but for years 2019 through 2022.

What we are looking for is market trends.

Has there been a steady crescendo in values?

Are all properties appreciating in value the same?

Or are lake properties going up in value greater than properties in the intown/city limits of Florence?

Adjustments:

Adjustments to assessments will be based on this research with the result being assessments representing property worth more in tune with today’s market, NOT 2012 (the date of the last revaluation). The last revaluation was conducted in 2012, which means for many property owners their assessments have not changed since 2012.

Unless owners put something up or tore something down, their assessment in 2023 is the same as what it was for years 2012 through 2023.

So, we are going to be looking at 11-12 years of market growth getting caught up in one year.

What does this mean for taxes?

Looking at the sale ratios for 2023, if a revaluation were not performed this year, the estimated level of assessment appears to be 58% for 2024 assessment year.

However, with the revaluation taking place and the level of assessment we are targeting is 100%, the mill rate for 2024 should go down approximately 42%.

With the increase in overall value to the township (58% to 100%) the taxes can be spread amongst that larger value base.

Therefore, the mill rate goes down approximately the same percentage, pending spending from the various taxing jurisdictions are comparable to the previous year. (School, Tech College, Municipality, County, etc.)

The first step for information is reaching out to the assessor if you have more questions, to make an appointment for the open book, or to talk to the assessor directly about what exactly is included in the valuation of your property

920-846-4250

rrassessllc@outlook.com

For a printable version of this information, please click the file link below:

Changeover to Automated Garbage Collection

Note: The information below is for Town of Florence residents/properties only. If you are in the Town of Commonwealth, you need to contact them directly. Contact information for the Town of Commonwealth can be found by visiting the Florence County website municipality page at: https://www.florencecountywi.com/municipalities/?i=bc93992f6b36

We have received a lot of calls about Commonwealth garbage collection. Florence and Commonwealth have similar systems, but they are not the same. Commonwealth addresses list Florence as their mailing city. The easiest way to determine if you are Florence or Commonwealth is to look at the physical fire number posted on your property. It will identify the Town that your property is in.

07-15-24: There are have been issues with the 96 gallon bins and the 300 gallon bins. These issues that have come up may result in garbage not being picked up by GFL, which can create a nuisance and a mess for the areas that are not following the rules. A couple of pictures were taken on the containers that would not be serviced on 07-08-24 & 07-16-24. There are a list of rules below the pictures. NOTE: Ash from a firepit is not material that will be serviced by GFL. Someone put bags of ash that became wet in one of the 300 gallon containers, and it could not be serviced by GFL because of the weight.

Automated Refuse Collection Reminders

Please note the items in red below as after a year these are still issues that keep coming up from the garbage collection company.

The Town of Florence was required to switched to automated refuse collection with Green For Life (GFL) providing the service. In the year that the system has been in place, GFL has communicated with the Town of Florence about some of the issues they are having servicing refuse collection carts in the Town of Florence and Spread Eagle locations.

Here are some reminders when it comes to the procedures to have your cart serviced:

Garbage stickers are no longer required

All refuse must be bagged. No loose items may be placed in the carts.

All bags must fit into the cart with the lid mostly closed. If the cart is over filled or the lid is not down, the cart will be left and not emptied.

Only Town of Florence Garbage Carts (or preapproved privately owned carts) will be serviced (emptied) by Green for Life. Do not put garbage into your Eagle Waste/Republic Services recycling bins as they will not be emptied even if there is garbage in them since they are recycling bins only.

All refuse carts should be placed on the street side your house. If a cart is placed in the alley, it will not be serviced (note: this does not currently affect where you are putting your Eagle Waste/Republic Services recycling bins—this is for Town of Florence garbage collection only)

There is a new GFL employee servicing the Town of Florence route. He is approximately 1-2 hour earlier than the previous driver. Bins should be placed out no later than 6 a.m. on Tuesdays for collection this includes Spread Eagle.

This refuse collection service is only for household waste. Do NOT put demolition material in the cart (insulation, lumber, concrete, etc). Do NOT put yard waste (leaves, branches, lawn clippings, etc).

The carts are owned by the Town. If you have a cart, you are considered the caretaker of the cart. You have the responsibility to bring the cart out and back in after collection day, which is especially true in the winter months for snow removal.

NOTE: If you are a Town of Florence resident who lives in the Patten Lake area, you use the Town of Fern drop-off site. Nothing is changing in regards to how your garbage handled. You will still drop it off there.

Agendas for Upcoming Meetings

Agendas for upcoming Town Board Meetings are posted below. They are typically posted on the Thursday or Friday prior to the regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting (Monday).

NOTICE OF QUORUM

TOWN OF FLORENCE

Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.

at 501 Spring Ave - Florence Utilities

Notice is hereby given that there may be a quorum of the Town of Florence Board Members attending a meeting at the Utility with Michael from ISG to gather information on the Capital Improvement Plan proposal submitted in June.

Jessica Klumpp

Clerk/Treasurer

Note: If you have any special needs or require special accommodations in order to attend town board meetings, please call 715-528-3595 or write PO Box 247, Florence, WI 54121

AGENDA

TOWN BOARD MEETING

TOWN OF FLORENCE

Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. (amended 06-17-25 at 3:10 p.m.)

Florence Community Center located at

749 Central Avenue, Florence, WI

Meeting called to order

Pledge of Allegiance

Adoption of agenda

Approval of minutes of previous meeting(s) held on June 9 & June 16, 2025

Discussion with Amanda and Cory from Florence County EMS

Discussion and possible action regarding Spread Eagle Fire Hall information received from ISG

Communications from the floor (up to 30 minutes)

Discussion and possible action approving Resolution #06-18-2025 – Resolution Declaring Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures from Proceeds of Borrowing for Florence Utility Water Tower Rehab

Discussion and possible action for a purchase of a John Deere 650 Bulldozer from McCoy Construction and Forestry – joint purchase with Florence Utilities

10.

Discussion and possible action accepting gravel crushing proposal opened at June 16, 2025 Special Town Board meeting from James Peterson Sons

11.

Discussion and possible action accepting proposal submitted from ISG to proceed with developing a Capital Improvement Plan for the Town of Florence

12.

Discussion and possible action ordering dust control through Florence County Highway – discussion to include cost of application and locations to receive dust control/calcium chloride

13.

Discussion and possible action on operator license applications received

14.

Discussion and possible action renewal of Class A and Class B Liquor Licenses term 7/1/25 to 6/30/26

15.

Discussion and possible action original Class “A” Beer License for ACR Wisconsin, LLC, Manvir Singh, Agent, 869 Central Ave, Florence

16.

Treasurer’s report to include: voucher approval date change, constant contact information, correspondence, notices, journal entries, June bank reconciliation reports, FERC reports, Florence Utility Commission meeting minutes (if any), Timber cut notices, (if any)

17.

Board Member Concerns

18.

Adjournment

Jessica Klumpp

Clerk/Treasurer

Note: If you have any special needs or require special accommodations in order to attend town board meetings, please call 715-528-3595 or write PO Box 247, Florence, WI 54121

This agenda was posted on our website www.townofflorencewisconsin.com and physically posted at the Florence County Courthouse, Florence Post Office and Town Office.