Gov. Jim Doyle kicked off his 7th annual Up North tour with a stop in Rhinelander today, visiting the firehouse to hand out two Recovery Act checks designed to stimulate the local economy.

The first check, for $460,000, will be used to upgrade the firestation. “I learned this is one of the oldest fire departments in the state, started back when firemen were paid about 50 cents an hour.”

The second check, for $32.9 million, will be used for constructing the city’s new wastewater system. The wastewater plant, Doyle said, is the kind of infrastructure project the stimulus money was designed for. “I believe it’s the biggest single project in the state of Wisconsin,” he said.

The grant comes from a pot of about $17 million Recovery Act funds earmarked for improving infrastructure around the state, Doyle said. “The state of the art plant here fulfils one of the focuses of the Recovery Act. It’s a green project that will cut the discharge of phosphorus into the Wisconsin River by more than 70 percent. And it will create more than 350 jobs right here in Rhinelander.”

Mayor Dick Johns clarified earlier that the $32.9 million refers to the total cost of building the new wastewater treatment plant, and that the Recovery Act money actually provides only $16 million. The remainder will come from city taxpayers.

Doyle referred to his announcement made on Monday that he will not seek a third term. With a nod toward Libby Burmaster – the state’s former Department of Public Instruction superintendent and now the new president of Nicolet College – Doyle said that maybe he should follow her example: retire, move up north and find a new job.

Doyle paid tribute to the behind-the-scenes players who helped secure Recovery Act money for the Rhinelander projects, mentioning U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen and State Sen. Jim Holperin in particular.

He also praised local leaders for moving ahead quickly on submitting applications. “If you hadn’t done all that work,” he said, “years of work, you wouldn’t have been ready when the call came. It was hundreds of people working together and the state and local level that made this happen.”

Referencing the public works projects built by the CCC and the WPA during the Great Depression, Doyle said he hoped the infrastructure projects being built around the state now with Recovery Act funds will be appreciated by future generations. “Big or little, I hope these are projects people can say in 20 or 30 years that these were great projects.”

Tomorrow and Friday Doyle will visit Conover, Lac du Flambeau, Eagle River and Minocqua.