Board of Park Commissioners
and Finance Committee
Joint Meeting, May 2, 2007

1. Roll Call

Board of Park Commissioners

Present: Chairperson Freckmann, Barber, Glodosky, Hall, McDonald, Okonek, Sorenson, Trzebiatowski, Wiza

Excused: Bahling

Absent: Curtis

Finance Committee

Present: Acting Chairperson Moore, Hanson, Stroik, Walther

Excused: Molski

Also Present: Mayor Halverson, Director Schrader, C/T Schlice, C.J. Robinson, Chris Diehm, Matthew Kovalaske, Wendy Kovalaske, Nina Mairs, Ald. Slowinski, John Kedrowski, Tom Donnelly, Cathy Dugan, Tiffany Wilhelm, Mark Hilliker, Jennifer Williams, Danielle Andrews, Jami Gebert, Kathy Schwarz, Peggy Rentz

2. Approval of the April 4, 2007 Parks Commission Minutes (Parks Commission)

Motion was made by Hall, seconded by Barber to approve the minutes of the April 4, 2007 meeting and place them on file.

Ayes - all; Nays - none. Motion Carried.

3. Recommendation on 2007-2011 Long Range Room Tax Plan (Long Range Room Tax Committee)

Director Schrader said he first wanted to thank all those who took the time to apply for the funds and the Room Tax Committee for all the hard work that went into this.

Director Schrader outlined the process the Room Tax Committee followed to make these recommendations. He described what they did at each of the seven meetings over the last six months, he said they reviewed how the previous Room Tax Committees reached their recommendations, they updated the application forms and allowed ample time for projects to be submitted. They followed the seven values that had been adopted by the Committee to rank and rate the projects, and two of the eighteen applications were eliminated. Meetings were set up where representatives of each of the remaining projects were notified and sent a list of questions and a time to appear before the committee and answer the questions. Finally the Committee put together the recommendation on how much money would go to each project. He said there were instances where the Committee allocated money for a feasibility study, meaning the project seemed worthwhile but more information was needed, and the plan is to fund with reserve funds as they become available. He also said there was more money in 2007 because there was a carry-over of about $160,000 plus the $100,000 for 2007, each year there is an increase of about $5,000 to $10,000. He went on to say we don't spend the money until we have it and whatever additional is accrued is put into a reserve fund and the reserve funds are used, for example, to purchase open space if desirable property becomes available or if a worthy, "hot" project comes up. He said the reserve is also added to if a project comes in under budget or for any reason the funded project didn't take shape. He added the Committee will review projects again in 2010.

Director Schrader also referred to the recommendations where it showed the percentages that were followed for allocations of different types of projects or events.

Parks Commission Chairperson Freckmann said the Board and Finance Committee would take the comments and recommendations a year at a time beginning with 2007 going through 2011. After this a motion from the Parks Commission would be called for and amendments could be made. The Finance Committee would make their motion after that.

He reminded the Board and Committee that if recommendations were made to increase funding for any projects, that same amount would have to be taken from another project that same year.

2007
Mark Hilliker of the Children's Museum said they would like to ask for an additional $10,000 because that is what a feasibility study would cost, about $15,000 to $20,000. He added while the Children's Museum may not bring overnight guests to the City, it is a constant in the community and improves the quality of life. He said attendance has doubled in the last three years. He would like to ask for the increase and based on those results talk about using reserve funds in future years.

Ald. Trzebiatowski said he would like to see more funding for the .150 Celebration which is a big draw for many former residents who live all over the country. He said it is a real celebration of our City.

Ald. Barber questioned funding such as the dock for the Canoe/kayak landing and when we would pay for it and Director Schrader said we pay when the dock is ordered and shipped and he said we will own the dock. This is similar to the way we handled the funding of the Ice Hawk Ice Arena. We gave the association funds to purchase the compressors, and the city actually owns the compressors, through an agreement drafted by the City Attorney. He said if we were to fund the Portage County Youth Soccer facility, the city will have to work something out with them.

2008
Ald. Stroik referred to the Train Roof Project and asked if we can allocate more money if we hold off awhile and Director Schrader said any recommendation can be made tonight, that the Committee decided this is what they will recommend to fund at this time, but it is up to the Parks Commission, Finance Committee and Common Council to finalize the Long Range Plan.

Ald. Trzebiatowski said he applauds the efforts of the Friends of 2713 for their successful fund raising efforts.

Ald. Barber said the train project is a long running project and he often sees people visiting that site, he would like to see the roof be paid for and at some point he would like to see a sign advertising the train on the south side.

John Kedrowski, Chairperson of the Friends of 2713, said they have had some substantial donations from the private sector and would like to see the City show these people that those donations were appreciated by helping to preserve the train. He would like to see a quality ceiling put in.

2009
Ald. Barber asked about the matching funds policy and Director Schrader said we match what a group raises up to a certain amount.

2010
Ald. Hanson referred to the roof project for 2713 and asked if we could put aside enough in reserve funds to complete the ceiling. He added that pigeons are causing a problem without a ceiling. He would like to see the ceiling completed with soffit and an entry to the attic.

Director Schrader said the breakdown for the completion of just the ceiling including soffit and attic entry would be $12,500 for the ceiling, another $12,500 for the soffit, and $500 for the attic entry. He said the other part of the requested $63,300 was for such things as bricking the columns and decorative brackets and so forth.

Ald. Wiza suggested waiting until 2010 to do this project with potential for matching funds and Kedrowski said that would work, it would give them additional time to raise more funds.

Discussion followed on taking the 2008 money and putting it into the 2010 reserve for this project or making an allocation of the amount to complete the ceiling in 2010.

2011
No questions or comments for 2011.

C.J. Robinson said he would like to say the Room Tax Committee did a lot of hard work at their meetings to reach these recommendations.

Ald. Barber wondered why some projects received much larger percentages of the amount they asked for and Director Schrader said the decisions weren't based on percentages but the seven values.

Discussion followed on how to free up money and act on reserve money as we get further into the five years. Ald. Moore reminded the two groups that if they allocate additional money in any one year they have to decrease the same amount from another project in that same year.

Board of Park Commissioners Motion:
Motion was made by McDonald, seconded by Hall to approve the Recommendation on the 2007-2011 Long Range Room Tax Plan.

Amendment was made by Wiza, seconded by Barber to take the 2008 funding of $10,000 from the 2713 Roof Project and use reserve funds of up to $35,000 in 2010 to complete the portions of the 2713 Roof Project which includes the ceiling, soffit and attic access panel.

Ayes - all; Nays - none. Amendment to the Motion Carried.

Amendment 2 was made by Hall, seconded by Wiza to allocate the now surplus amount of $10,000 in 2008 to the Children's Museum feasibility study.

Ayes - all; Nays - none. Second Amendment to the Motion Carried.

Freckmann called for a voice vote on the original motion and the amendments.

Ayes - all; Nays - none. Twice Amended Original Motion Carried.

Finance Committee Motion
Motion was made by Hanson, seconded by Stroik to approve the Board of Park Commissioners twice amended motion as shown above.

Ayes - all; Nays - none. Motion Carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

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