Town of Plover, Marathon County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

No primary source fetched this session names the public school district or districts serving the Town of Plover.

No major employer or employer roster for the town was found from a primary source.

The date the Town of Plover was organized was not found in a fetched primary source.

The municipality is the Town of Plover, a civil town in Marathon County, Wisconsin (Census county subdivision GEOID 5507363500; WI DOA code 37062). Its website styles it the "Township of Plover".

This Town of Plover (Marathon County) is not the Village of Plover (Portage County, 13,519 residents in 2020) or the Town of Plover (Portage County, 1,565 residents in 2020). The DOA carries all three as separate municipalities.

The town is governed by an elected town chairman and two supervisors, with an elected treasurer and an appointed clerk.

The town covers 36.0 square miles of land and 0.045 square miles of water.

The Census internal point for the town is near 44.977556 N, 89.30265 W, in east-central Marathon County.

The town's GNIS / ANSI feature code is 01583940.

The Town Hall is at 180771 County Road Z, with a Birnamwood, WI 54414 mailing address. The town has no post office of its own; officials list Birnamwood and Aniwa addresses.

The unincorporated community of Hogarty, on the Eau Claire River at State Highway 52 and County Highway Y, lies partly in the Town of Plover and partly in the Town of Harrison.

The Plover River crosses the town: Pine View Road bridges it west of Doolittle Drive.

GNIS lists Spring Lake (45.0103913, -89.2315162) as the named lake nearest the GNIS point for the Town of Plover within Marathon County. Whether it lies inside the town was not tested.

The 2020 Census counted 683 residents in the town.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates 681 residents as of January 1, 2025.

The town home page states a population of 686.

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of total population is 646, plus or minus 158.

The ACS 2019-2023 median age is 45.1 years, plus or minus 4.1.

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income is $78,750, plus or minus $16,634.

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes is $171,400, plus or minus $19,161.

The 2000 Census counted 686 residents in 229 households.

Tony Kautza is Town Chairman.

Peter Marien and Scott McRae are the elected town supervisors.

Valerie Parker is the appointed Town Clerk (715-581-4603). Connie Sippl is the elected Treasurer.

The chairman, two supervisors, and treasurer serve two-year terms, elected in the April spring election of odd-numbered years.

The Town Board meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. In April it typically meets the third Tuesday, after the Annual Town Meeting of Electors.

Monthly meeting notices are published in the Antigo Times and the Wittenberg Northerner weekly shoppers. Agendas go on the town website 72 hours ahead and on three bulletin boards: at the Town Hall, at State Highway 52 and Eau Claire River Road, and at Pine View Road and County Road D.

The September 2026 regular board meeting was moved one week, to September 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the Town Hall.

The town is under Marathon County zoning. A county zoning permit is required for any building project of 101 square feet or more, and a town building inspector handles new single-family and duplex homes.

At its July 14, 2026 meeting the board continued discussing whether to leave county zoning, with action due by January 27, 2027. Options discussed included reviving the town's old zoning code and comprehensive plan and forming a Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.

On July 14, 2026 the board reviewed draft Marathon County ordinance amendments on large electric energy facilities, an interim data center moratorium, and battery energy storage systems, and agreed it had no comments.

The proposed 2026 budget totals $499,089.68, with a general property tax levy of $286,921. Public works is the largest expense, at $302,889.24.

Town residents may rent the Town Hall for small private gatherings for a $75 fee plus a $75 deposit.

Each year the town holds an Open Book session and a Board of Review, generally between late April and mid-June, and an annual budget hearing in October or November.

A Sheriffs' Association Neighborhood Watch group meets from time to time at the Town Hall.

Marathon County's 2019 Uniform Addressing System assigned new addresses across its unincorporated areas, including the town, which explains the six-digit addresses in use.

In late summer 2026 the town dug out failing fill under Pine View Road at the Plover River bridge and planned a gravel surface, with blacktop expected the following year.

The board discussed seeking granite hauling and grading proposals from two local contractors instead of advertising for bids, saying it tries to share the work between both businesses.

The town maintains its own road equipment, carrying loans on a Case tractor and a John Deere grader in its budget. Public works is its largest spending line.

In 2026 the town requested bids for a Hatchery Road paving project. The Road Work page lists bids due May 14, 2026; the Announcements notice says May 12.

Fire protection and ambulance/EMS come by contract, budgeted at $58,650 for 2026. The contracted provider is not named in the budget.

Harter's Fox Valley Disposal collects garbage and recycling weekly on Thursdays. The Marathon County Solid Waste Department landfill is in Ringle.

Mike Ritter represents the area as Marathon County Supervisor, District 13.

Dells of the Eau Claire County Park, a Marathon County park where the Eau Claire River runs through a rocky gorge of cascades and waterfalls, lies in the Town of Plover.

Dells of the Eau Claire County Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the NPS export dates the listing July 5, 2016.

A snowmobile trail crosses Hatchery Road; the crossing is a standing item on the board agenda.

The town discontinued its public community gatherings for lack of attendance. No recurring festival was found. Recurring civic dates are the April Annual Town Meeting, a May roadside spring clean-up, and an October or November budget hearing.

Hogarty was named for John Crump Hogarty, who opened a trading post in 1850 and became first postmaster when the post office opened in 1881.

Marathon County bought 60 acres around the dells in 1923 for its fourth county park. The rustic stone bridge carrying County K over the gorge was built in 1927.