Written by Craig McEwen
Marathon County is set to release its first batch of Uniform Addresses to the public at the end of March in anticipation of the project’s expected April 9 start date.
In late March 2018, Marathon County’s Conservation, Planning & Zoning (CPZ) Department will begin sending a staggered mailing of Official Notices to residents, landowners, and business owners whose addresses will be changing as a result of the County’s Uniform Addressing project. The project will assign each location a unique, six-digit address — which will be unmistakable for another — aiding Marathon County emergency services in their goal to provide the RIGHT SERVICE to the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME.
Official Notices will be mailed in a series of batches between late March and November 2018, beginning on the east side of the County and moving west. A few weeks before sign installation is projected to begin in a given municipality, Official Notices for that town or village will be mailed, informing recipients of their new address, as well as other details of the project. Recipients should keep the Official Notice for their records, as they may need it later as proof of their address change (e.g., for updating licenses/certificates).
Following each mailing, the County will update a Sign-Installation Progress Map on the Maps page of www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org, indicating which municipalities are completed, in progress, and next in line for sign installation.
At the same time, the County will post cross-reference spreadsheets of the old/new addresses for the next municipalities scheduled to have their address and road-name signs installed by the County’s contractor: Lange Enterprises. Additional address cross-reference tables will be uploaded to the website at intervals throughout the year, in sequence with the mailing of each batch of Official Notices.
These downloadable spreadsheets will be essential to businesses, utility companies, schools, and other non-profits that will need to update their customer, client, and member databases with the address changes as they are released over the next several months.
According to David Eckmann, President and CEO of the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce:
“It’s important for organizations that do business in Marathon County to update their client databases with the new address changes in the CPZ’s Excel files available at www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org.”
If you’re a business that can utilize address ranges (e.g., delivery drivers), an Excel file 
for 15 participating Eastern towns and the Village of Elderon is now available for download at www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org. Address ranges for Western towns and villages will be posted later in the year.
Over 20,000 properties will receive new addresses, and more than 600 roads will be renamed as part of the project, which is expected to be completed by November 2018.
First, Diggers Hotline will be requested by Lange to spray-paint lines on the property to mark where it’s safe for workers to install the signpost. In the weeks to follow, a blue, flag-style address sign will be installed on the side of the driveway (for most properties).
Property owners will NOT have to be home during spray-painting or sign installation.
At the time of sign installation, old signs and signposts will be removed by Lange workers for proper recycling.
A small number of properties are slated to receive a black-and-white, building-mounted address sign. Lange Enterprises will mail selected property owners this new address sign when workers are in the corresponding municipality installing any flag-style signs. Recipients should use the instructions included to hang the new address sign on the home or building as indicated, so it is visible to emergency personnel.
Property owners can begin using their new Uniform Address AFTER their flag-style sign is installed in the ground or they receive their building-mounted sign in the mail. For safety reasons, the new address should NOT be used until after the date of installation/delivery, when E911 services will be synced with the new address.
Marathon County is partnering with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to automatically forward any mail sent to former addresses for a period of 1 year from the property’s address-activation date. So, property owners do NOT need to file a Change of Address with the USPS.
Marathon County will also take care of notifying the following of all address changes:
- Marathon County E911 Communication Center
- Local fire and police departments
- Municipal officials
- Marathon County Clerk (elections)
- Marathon County Treasurer (tax bills)
- Other Marathon County governmental departments
Property owners and businesses will NOT be charged for a County-issued replacement address sign. The Marathon County Board voted to commit funds to cover the cost of replacement road-name signs and address signs related to the Uniform Addressing project for participating towns and villages.
The project was first approved by the Marathon County Board of Supervisors in February 2016 in an effort to improve public safety county-wide. Marathon County is one of only four counties in Wisconsin without a Uniform Addressing System.
To keep everyone up to date and to help with the address-change process, the Marathon County CPZ Department created a dedicated Uniform Addressing website — www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org — with:
- Project updates
- Address range data files (for delivery drivers, etc.)
- Old/new address cross-reference spreadsheets (to help businesses and organizations update their databases)
- A Sign-Installation Progress Map, a Road-Name Map, and other maps
- Downloadable Quick Reference Guides for residents and businesses
- Address-Change Checklists
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- …and more
NOTE: The Road Name List posted online was updated in February 2018 to include more road names that will be changing, so those who checked the list before then may wish to check again to see if their road will be getting a new name.
Also, nearly all information on the website is easily translated into Hmong or Spanish via a button at the top of the homepage (as shown above).
Residents can also call the Marathon County Public Library (MCPL)–Wausau Headquarters Reference Desk at 715-261-7230 with questions, use the Live Chat feature on the MyMarathonCountyAddress.org website during the library’s hours of operation, or visit any of the nine MCPL locations for one-to-one assistance or a free paper copy of the Quick Reference Guides.
As of March 15, 2018, the 41 municipalities participating in this Marathon County Uniform Addressing project include: Bergen, Berlin, Bern, Bevent, Brighton, Cassel, Cleveland, Day, Easton, Eau Pleine, Elderon (town), Elderon (village), Emmet, Frankfort, Franzen, Green Valley, Guenther, Halsey, Hamburg, Harrison, Hewitt, Holton, Hull, Johnson, Knowlton, Marathon (town), McMillan, Mosinee (town), Norrie, Plover, Reid, Rib Falls, Rietbrock, Ringle, Spencer (town), Stettin, Stratford (village), Texas, Wausau (town), Weston (town), Wien.
As of March 15, 2018, the 21 municipalities NOT participating in this Marathon County Uniform Addressing project include: Abbotsford, Athens, Birnamwood, Brokaw, Colby, Dorchester, Edgar, Fenwood, Hatley, Kronenwetter, Maine, Marathon City, Marshfield, Mosinee (city), Rib Mountain*, Rothschild, Schofield, Spencer (village), Unity, Wausau (city), Weston (village).
* At the time of publication, application of the Uniform Addressing System in the Town of Rib Mountain was being reviewed by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Check www.MyMarathonCountyAddress.org for status updates on municipal participation in the Marathon County Uniform Addressing project.
NOTE: The TOWNS of Marathon, Spencer, and Weston ARE participating in the Uniform Addressing project (but NOT the VILLAGES of Marathon City, Spencer, or Weston).
The TOWNS of Mosinee and Wausau ARE participating (but NOT the CITIES of Mosinee or Wausau).
This effort is part of a larger overarching goal for the County to be the heathiest, safest, and most prosperous county in Wisconsin, as stated in its 2016 Comprehensive Plan.
We understand there may be some inconvenience or additional costs to transition to Uniform Addressing; however, these address changes are necessary in the interest of public safety.
Craig McEwen
Marathon County Board Supervisor | District 18
Chair | Marathon County Public Safety Committee
Craig McEwen began his service with the Marathon County Board in 2008 and is currently a Marathon County Board Supervisor representing District 18, as well as Chair of the Public Safety Committee. Other assignments with the Marathon County Board have included the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Committee; Human Resources, Finance, and Property Committee; Executive Committee; and the Board of Health. Craig is a retired police officer, as was his father, who also served on the Marathon County Board. Craig believes that some of the best things about Marathon County are its abundance of beautiful parks and its safe communities. In his free time, Craig enjoys spending time with his family up north at his cottage on Long Lake. Email Craig McEwen.
NOTE: This article may be reprinted in its entirety (minus the graphics) for your newsletter/publication upon request. Please email CountyNewsletter@co.marathon.wi.us to request permission to reprint/adapt this article.
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