New Village Countersues Wausau Over Annexation Issue

The newly formed Village of Maine is countersuing the neighboring City of Wausau in a dispute over property annexation.

Town of Maine citizens voted by a 5 to 1 margin last year to become a village in order to make it easier to absorb millions of dollars of debt from the dissolving paper mill community of Brokaw. Soon after, Wausau sued to void Maine’s incorporation so it could annex several properties on their joint border.

Now, Maine has countersued to protect its boundaries and its tax base — a tax base that Maine chair Betty Hoenisch said the village needs to help it absorb Brokaw’s debt. Hoenisch said the legal dispute is making a tough situation worse.

“Town of Maine taxpayers stepped up to the plate, voted for the referendum overwhelmingly, never anticipating that our neighboring municipality would then sue us. To add this burden is just very disheartening,” she said.

She said she feels betrayed by Wausau city leaders.

“They talked about the incorporation and said they were going to step back and assist us if necessary, and then we get this lawsuit,” said Hoenisch. “And we stepped up to the plate to try to find a solution to Brokaw, only to have another problem.”

Wausau’s lawsuit claims there were open meetings violations by Maine leaders. Maine’s attorney said they did nothing wrong.