RHINELANDER - Printpack's expansion moved one step forward tonight when the Rhinelander City Council extended city limits.

The city is buying about 40 acres of private property from the Town of Pelican to house Printpack's new factory.

The factory uses a huge volume of water to operate, but the Town of Pelican can't meet those needs.

That's why the new factory needs to be within Rhinelander city limits.

To approve the purchase without public input, a two-thirds vote is required.

The city council unanimously approved this one, but that doesn't mean residents won't get their say.

They were able to present their concerns at an earlier plan commission meeting. City administrator Blaine Oborn says residents will have input on more detailed design plans later this summer.

Right now, it was most important to get plans moving forward.

"We want to be competitive and stay competitive, and in order to do that, we had to get into this facility quick," said Printpack's plant manager Pat Marquart. "We're running outdated equipment currently, the new facility will be all state-of-the-art. So we'll be able to compete with our competitors a lot quicker."

The site is on Highway 17 near Lincoln Street.

Printpack is waiting for DNR permits to come through before they break ground around September 1st.