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Frequently Asked Questions

Public Works and Garbage/Recycling

Garbage is picked up weekly on Tuesday or Wednesday. Tuesday: Addresses located South of 5th St.  Wednesday: Addresses North of and on both sides of 5th St. Recycling alternates areas each week but is picked up on the same day as your garbage. Please refer to the Garbage and Recycling calendar/map to see your pick up schedule. When a holiday falls during the week, pick up days are delayed by one day through the rest of the week. You can pick up a garbage pick up schedule and recycling brochure at the City Clerk's office, 106 W. Division St.
Call GFL Environmental at (715) 669-3868 to request a second garbage cart be delivered to your address. There is a cost of $85 for a second cart.
Contact GFL Environmental at (715) 669-3868 to schedule pick up. Cost is $75/per item and is paid by the resident. These items will not be picked up without prior notification to GFL.
Unfortunately, we do not pick up branches that you trimmed or pruned. We simply do not have enough manpower to do this. However, we will pick up small branches that come down due to high winds or storm damage. This pickup will be accomplished as our workload permits.
Call the Director of Public Works at (715) 743-5678 and report the location address, if possible. The repair request will be faxed to Xcel Energy. Please allow up to 4 weeks for repair to take place.

Licensing

First, if you have not done so, you must complete a Responsible Beverage Server course. Courses are available online. Learn2serve is one course. It can be found at http://www.learn2serve.com/wisconsin-beverage-server/. After completing the course, bring the certificate of completion to the City Clerk's office during regular business hours, and complete an Application for Operator's License. The application will be presented to the Common Council for approval at the next meeting. It is your responsibility to check the status of your application. You will not be notified when your license is approved. Cost of a bartender's license is $15.00, payable when you pick up the license. All operator's licenses issued by the City of Neillsville expire on June 30th of each year. To prevent your license from expiring, a renewal application must be completed and returned to the City Clerk's office by June 15th for approval by the Common Council.
Dog licenses are available through the City Clerk's office. Any dog kept in the City of Neillsville, and over five (5) months of age, must be licensed on or before the dog becomes five (5) months of age, and annually thereafter. Annual licenses may be purchased between January 2nd and March 31st of each year. License fees are $3.00 for spayed or neutered animals, and $8.00 for intact animals. A $5.00 late fee will be assessed to the license fee if you fail to license your dog(s) by March 31st. Licenses will not be issued without proof of rabies vaccination.

Sewer Department

If this just happened, call the sewer department at (715) 743-3592 during the hours of 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After hours, call the non-emergency police number (715) 743-3122 and report a sewer emergency. If your sewer has been draining slowly for weeks, and has finally stopped running, or if you were doing laundry and the water came back up in your basement, please call during the business hours listed above. Once reported, sewer department employees will check the city sewers for backups. If there are no backups, it will be your responsibility to call a plumber of your choice or rent a sewer snake to clean out your sewer line. Remember: Any time you call a plumber, you are responsible for the costs. It is better to have the city check first.

  1. Tree roots in sewer lines. The City of Neillsville currently does not allow root killer with copper sulfate to be used according to the directions on the bottle.

  2. Flushing grease down the drain. Lard, butter, bacon grease, deep fryer oil - all of these solidify somewhere in the line and block the flow of water. Please allow these items to cool, and dispose of them in the garbage.

  3. Flushing anything other than toilet paper. Flushing items other than toilet paper is the number one reason for sewer rate hikes! Kleenex, baby wipes, facial wipes, paper towels, napkins, shop towels, tampons, sanitary napkins, diapers, bandages, Swiffer sweeper pads. None of these are flushable, even if they are labeled as such. They cause blockages in the sewers because they do not break up. I also see a lot of non-biodegradable items - condoms, toilet wand brushes, washcloths, 5-hour energy drink bottles, tampon plastic applicators, plastic bags, toothbrushes, etc. The wastewater process works like a stomach - if you could not digest it, neither can the wastewater plant.

This electrical panel is part of a sewer lift station. (White lights are good - they mean the power is on. Red lights and buzzers are bad.)During business hours, call the sewer plant at (715) 743-3592. If you do not get an answer at the sewer plant, call the city clerk's office at (715) 743-2105. After business hours, call the non-emergency police number, (715) 743-3122, and tell them there is an alarm sounding, and where the panel is located. The police will dispatch a wastewater operator to the alarm location. This alarm sounding is considered an emergency. Don't be afraid to call! If the alarm is not reported, homes in the area could experience a basement backup.

Parks

The restrooms open in May and close in October, weather permitting.

City parks open at daylight and close at 11:00 p.m.

The skate park opens as soon as the asphalt and obstacles are clear of snow and ice.

Call the Parks Director at (715) 743-7071, or use the online reservation form. Shelter reservations are $30.00 each. This covers rental, set up, electric and clean up.

Anyone can use the ball fields in city parks, as long as there are no league or city program games or practices scheduled for that time.

Cemetery

Contact the Cemetery Sexton at (715) 743-7071 to set up an appointment to view a map of the cemetery and tour the area(s) you'd like to see before choosing a site.
After you choose the site best suited for you, the Cemetery Sexton will begin the paperwork and collect the payment. Grave sites are currently priced at $350 each.
Contact the Cemetery Sexton at (715) 743-7071, or the City Clerk's office at (715) 743-2105 for this information. We can also email or snail-mail you a map of the cemetery, with specific locations highlighted. Or, call the Sexton to set up an appointment to be guided to your loved one's grave site(s).
Summer decorations/flowers must be removed by October 1st of each year. Fall or winter decorations/flowers must be removed by April 1st. Any decorations that you plan to keep or use again should be removed. Any flowers or decorations left on the grave sites after October 1st and April 1st will be removed and destroyed.

Water Department

Call the City Clerk's office at (715) 743-2105. They will get your information and contact utility personnel to read the water meter and set up an account.
90% of leaks are found at the toilet tank. To test the flapper plug, remove the lid from the toilet tank, and mark the water level in the tank with a pencil. Shut off the water supply to the toilet. Come back 10 minutes later. If the water level has not changed, the flapper is not leaking. If the level drops below the pencil mark, the flapper plug is leaking and should be replaced. If the water level in the toilet tank is at the top of the overflow tube, a leak may be occurring there. The float that controls the water level in the tank should be adjusted so the water level in the tank is at least 1 inch below the top of the tube.
1 cubic foot of water = 7.48 gallons of water.
Contact the water department at (715) 743-3991 during regular hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.), or at (715) 743-3122 (Police Dept) after hours.