RIVER FALLS – At the Nov. 28 River Falls City Council meeting, two local business owners asked the council to consider small businesses when allowing chains to build in town.

Olivia Barwick, who owns Waystone Coffee Co. on Walnut Street, has been in business since March 2022.

“I have worked hard for seven months to rebuild the space with my husband to fit our shop’s needs as much as we could,” Barwick said.

She has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and steady growth since opening. But she’s worried.

“However, with the addition of three chain coffee shops in River Falls within a year, I worry that the work I’ve done will be for naught,” she said. “These businesses look at housing developments coming into our city and assume we need these chains, not considering that we as small businesses are already here serving our community.”

The chains make more in day than she could hope to make in a month and don’t treat employees well, she said. She’s worried the chains will force her to close her doors because she can’t afford to compete with them when it comes to wages and insurance.

“I’ve never had a council member come to my shop and ask me how business is,” Barwick said. “I have never seen a council member at our chamber meetings to talk with us about our needs … If we are going to keep local businesses and River Falls alive and thriving, we need to see that our local representatives care not just about us, but the community members we serve and hire.”

Melissa “Mei Mei” Abdouch spoke next in solidarity with Barwick. Abdouch owns Mei’s Mei’s Cookies & Creamery on Elm Street and at one point almost closed her doors due to rising costs.

“As a local business owner, I’m additionally impacted in the way that Olivia mentioned beforehand,” Abdouch said. “It would be very helpful to see some of your faces at some of our meetings to hear what is important to us and what can help us sustain our businesses within the community.”

School zones

The council amended the city’s traffic control map to add four “Begin School Zone” and four “End School Zone” signs near the newly constructed Renaissance Charter Academy, located at 1355 Sunshine Lane, southeast of the Cemetery Road and Wasson Lane roundabout. The city will also add a speed limit sign with the existing “End School Zone” sign at 1223 W. Division St. near Westside Elementary.

The school zone near the Ren will extend 200 feet east of school property along Cemetery Road, 200 feet south and north of the school on South Wasson Lane and west along Cemetery road up to the River Falls High School zone.

To address speeding concerns on West Division Street near Westside, a 25-mph speed limit sign will be placed next to the existing “End School Zone” sign on the north side of the street.

A traffic study conducted by the city engineering department found that approximately 20% of vehicles in that area exceed the speed limit by 5 mph or more.