Although more than 1,300 Waupaca County residents will soon have new representatives on the county board, no incumbent supervisor will be redistricted out of office.
Waupaca County presented its tentative redistricting maps at a public hearing Tuesday, May 17.
According to the 2010 census, the county’s population has grown to 52,410. The primary goal of redistricting is to have relatively equal populations in each district, along with contiguous boundaries. With 27 districts represented on the county board, the ideal district would have 1,941 residents.
Among some of the more noticeable changes occurred in District 16, District 20 and District 7.
In the past, District 16, represented by Supervisor Jack Penney, has primarily been comprised of the town of Lind and part of Dayton. Its population after the 2010 census was 2,159. The new map shows about half of Lind, nearly 12.5 square miles, going into District 20, located to the east. The population of the new District 16 has dropped to 1,970.
Penney said that District 16 will go from primarily representing the town of Lind and a single school and fire district to representing parts of three towns, two school districts and two fire districts.
“That will make things more difficult,” Penney said.
Another major change occurred in District 7. On the old county districts map, District 7 was shaped like an hourglass tilted slightly to the west.
District 7’s most notable feature could be seen at the intersection of Olson and Wasrud roads, where the boundaries of three separate districts converged. On the northwest corner was District 7 at the outskirts of the village of Iola. On the southeast corner was the part of District 7 that represented the town of Scandinavia. On the northeast corner was the part of District 8 that represented the town of Helvetia and at the southwest corner was the part of District 9 that representedSt. Lawrence. District 7 also included the village of Ogdensburg.
The new District 7 approved by the board is now completely contiguous. It includes all of the village of Iola and small parts of the towns of Iola and Scandinavia. Geographically, the district has dropped from nearly 17 square miles to 13.4 square miles.
The village of Scandinavia is totally within District 9, along with most of the town of Scandinavia and about half of the town of St. Lawrence and a third of Farmington. District 9 has expanded in size from 50.7 square miles to 64.2 square miles.
Ogdensburg is totally in District 17, along with parts of the towns of St. Lawrence, Little Wolf and Waupaca. It has been reduced in size from 64.5 square miles to 56 square miles.
At the public hearing, Supervisor Lloyd Mares objected to changes that were made to District 6, which has represented most of the town of Bear Creek in the past. Under the original plan brought to the board May 17, much of Bear Creek was moved into District 4.
Several districts in the county’s northeast corner have lost population, according to the 2010 census. Jason Buck, who spearheaded the redistricting plan, had attempted to compensate for lower populations in Districts 1-3 by basically shifting their boundaries to the south and west.
After Mares argued against breaking up the town of Bear Creek, the hearing was recessed for about an hour while Buck revamped the map.
The revised district boundaries gives District 6 a distinctive shape. On the east side it includes all of the town of Bear Creek and the northern two-thirds of the town of Lebanon. The district then continues as a jagged strip along the southern border of the town of Union, then includes the eastern half of the town of Helvetia. District 6 has been reduced in size from 90.6 to 86.6 square miles.
District 4 now includes most of the town of Larrabee, the southeast corner of Dupont and most of the town of Union. District 4 has grown in size from 40.4 to 62.7 square miles.
The redistricting plan will go next to the municipalities for ward creation and approval.
The Land Information Office has posted redistricting maps at the county’s website at www.co.waupaca.wi.us. In addition to a detailed countywide map, the site also provides a search site where individuals may enter their address to see in which supervisory district they are now reside. The search site can be found at http://public1.co.waupaca.wi.us/Clerk/index.html.