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October 21, 1999
A meeting of the Ozaukee County Park Commission was held Thursday morning,
October 21, 1999 at 8:30 AM at Mee-Kwon Golf Course with the following committee members
in attendance: Ted Egelhoff, Ralph Port, Dave Albert, Clarence Boesch, Ron Schowalter,
Steve Groom and A1 Krier. Also present were Bill Knight, Ozaukee County Park Commissioner
and County Board Chairman, Leroy Bley.
The minutes of the September 16, 1999 meeting were
read and a motion was made by Dave Albert seconded by Steve Groom to approve the minutes
as read. The motion carried.
Payroll listings for the periods
ending September 11, September 25, and October 9, 1999 as well as vouchers from
the dates of September 16 to October 19, 1999 were reviewed and a
motion was made by A1 Krier seconded by Ralph Port to approve these items as presented.
The motion carried.
Bill Knight started the meeting with the introduction of an October 7,
1999 letter from Bob Wilke of the City of Mequon asking permission to place rifle
sharpshooters in Virmond Park during the months of January thru March, 2000 to
control the deer herd in that area. Bill said the park could be closed at the time of day
the sharpshooters were in the area, but noted that there might need to be a change in the
park ordinances to allow such a practice. Although the committee took no action on the
matter it was thought the Corporate Counsel Dennis Kenealy should review the request to
determine if any other areas of concern were apparent to him.
Bill Knight also presented a letter from the American Red Cross
concerning the purchase and placement of heart defibrillators in public
places such as the golf course pro shops. No action was taken on the subject at this
meeting.
Next began a lengthy discussion regarding the placement of an additional
sheet of ice somewhere in the county to support the increasing demand being made
of the facility at Carlson Park. John Wachs and Guy Goslin of the Ozaukee Ice Center
presented a study made of construction costs for a new sheet of ice to be located at the
present Carlson Park site and at an entirely new site in the county. Guy noted that the
ice time shortage they had described at their last committee meeting in July had become
even more critical now that the season had begun. Local high school practice times are now
slotted at 5:00 AM and 10:00 PM during the school week which is far from ideal. They said
the study they were presenting was developed by the same architect as had worked on the
first phase but that a different general contractor had been involved in the study.
According to the study, total estimated project costs for expanding on the present site
were $3,594,315 versus a projected $4,786,912 at a new alternate site. The increase was
explained as land acquisition, new utility costs and reconstruction of other common uses
such as kitchen facilities. An accompanying profit and loss projection showed that
acquiring much more than $500,000 in additional debt at either site would not be
profitable. However, assuming an additional debt of $500,000, the difference in funds
needing to be raised would be $3.1 million at the present site versus $4.3 million at a
new site. John said the Ozaukee Ice Center operates presently on pretty much of a break
even basis. As expected the conversation turned toward how the project could be financed.
John repeated his statement from the July meeting in which he said last time it took a
year to raise the $2 million needed, but that because of numerous large one time
contributions received for that new venture from foundations and corporate sponsors
outside Ozaukee County, he had serious doubts about the ability to raise that kind of
money a second time. The question was brought up of Ozaukee County donating 1/3 of the
$3.6 million with 1/3 being borrowed through the county at lower interest rates available
to the county and the remaining 1/3 being raised by the Ice Center. There was concern
expressed about the possibility of the county board approving such a request even though
it was noted that this program is very beneficial to the entire county. It was suggested
that the school boards of the various schools using the ice be approached to contribute,
but again some doubt surfaced if that could be a viable source of revenue. Although no
formal action was taken the committee felt strongly about keeping the expansion at the
current site due to the economics involved in operational savings and absence of land
acquisition costs. John and Guy were thanked for their thorough presentation and were
invited back to a future meeting with any new financing concepts and were asked to gather
information on how a recent similar project in Waukesha County had been financed.
After some discussion regarding the former Wayside Park
land located adjacent to Highway LL northwest of Port Washington, a
motion was made by Ron Schowalter, seconded by Clarence Boesch to donate the land to the
City of Port Washington with the deed restriction that the land be used only for park
purposes. That motion carried. That motion followed an inquiry from the City of
Port Washington and the desire of the committee to have that land remain as park land.
Bill Knight reported the Virmond Park shelter building
is under construction with the sewer service installed. Some delays had been experienced
with the availability of the laminated beams used in the construction, but otherwise the
project is doing well.
The committee felt that no action should be taken on the proposed new clubhouse for Mee-Kwon golf
course until January of next year when year end golf revenue figures are available for
study.
Bill Knight noted the Tendick Park parking lot had been installed and
a temporary sign announcing the park will be erected soon.
Regarding the WEPCO Urban Line Trail, Bill Knight said
a response from the State of Wisconsin is being awaited so that contract negotiations
could begin with Earth Tech, Inc., the selected engineering firm for the project.
Bill Knight noted the Parks Department annual budget adopted by this
committee last month was passed by the finance committee with a few funding timing changes
for the new Tendick Park.
The committee next talked with Joe Dorfler, the
concessionaire at Mee-Kwon golf course regarding the concession contract for the upcoming
2000 season. It had been widely understood that Joe had chosen not to return next year,
but Joe contended that he never really said that officially and that he really did want to
come back next year. He noted that golfers who had not been at Mee-Kwon during the last
few course construction years, were returning now. Concerns were expressed about Joe's
operation at Mee-Kwon including timely operation of a beverage cart on the course,
installation of a grill on the "turn" from the front nine to the back nine (Joe
admitted he had "dragged his feet" on that suggestion this year), and
installation of a larger TV in the lunch counter area. Joe said he had a beverage cart on
the course at all times except Monday night, and that he would put in a grill to serve
golfers making the "turn". A concern over lack of early morning coffee in summer
can probably be worked out by the pro shop employees serving the very early golfers until
Joe's employees arrive. It was noted that a 1998 P&L statement had not been received
but would be available for review at the next committee meeting. No formal action on
renewing the contract for 2000 was taken.
Accounting changes involving transfers of funds for
eight accounts as recommended by the county accountant were reviewed by the committee and
a motion was made by Clarence Boesch, seconded by Ralph Port to approve those transfers as
presented. The motion carried.
With no further business to come before the committee, a motion to adjourn was made by Clarence Boesch and
seconded by Ron Schowalter. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned.
A1 Krier, Secretary
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November 18, 1999
A meeting of the Ozaukee County Park Commission was held Thursday
morning, November 18, 1999 at 8:30 AM at the Hawthorne Hills Golf Course, with the
following committee members in attendance: Ted Egelhoff, Ralph Port, Dave Albert, Clarence
Boesch, Ron Schowalter, Steve Groom and A1Krier. Also present were Bill Knight, Ozaukee
County Park Commissioner and County Board Chairman, Leroy Bley.
The minutes
of the October 21, 1999 meeting were read
and a motion was made by Steve Groom seconded by Clarence Boesch to approve
the minutes as read. The motion carried.
Payroll listings for the periods ending October 23, and November 6, 1999 as well as vouchers from the dates of October 20 to
November 12, 1999 were reviewed and a motion was made by Dave Albert seconded by Clarence
Boesch to approve these items as presented. The motion carried.
Bill Knight read a thank you note received from the Racine Boy Scout Troop 1391 thanking the county for
allowing them to use the Peters Youth Camp during their visit for Flag Day ceremonies.
Bill Knight also mentioned he had attended a bluff
stabilization meeting held recently at Concordia University.
Bill Knight reported the representatives from the Ozaukee Ice Center would not be attending this
meeting as they were becoming more involved in exploring fund raising potential and may
appear at our January meeting.
According to Bill Knight, the City of Mequon was successful in their
pursuit of a grant for their bike trail improvement project but reported no word had been received from WI DOT as
to the timing for negotiating with a contractor for our county wide trail.
After some discussion, a motion was made by Clarence Boesch, seconded
by Steve Groom to recommend to the finance committee that the county expense the
registration, travel and lodging and per diem expenses for Bill Knight to attend the Golf Course Superintendents convention to
be held in New Orleans, LA in 2000. The motion carried.
The Tendick Nature Park parking lot has been installed and will be plowed during the winter months, Bill
Knight reported. The park will be available for cross country skiing and hiking and the
trails will be marked for winter use. A brief discussion was held on how to mark the park
boundaries so the public knows what areas are accessible.
Concerning the Mee-Kwon clubhouse
project it was decided to talk further with officials from
Washington County to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of their relatively new
clubhouse and then to have an architect attend our January meeting to discuss in more
detail what type of structure can be designed for Mee-Kwon.
The committee discussed the restaurant
franchise situation at both golf courses and some discussion was
raised about the possibility of having county employees operate the restaurant facilities.
After some further discussion However, it was decided that there were far more advantages
in having the restaurant franchise operated by non-county employees as is the case now.
Bill Knight said he had a follow-up discussion with Joe Dorfler since our last meeting
with him in October, and that Joe promised that 2000 would be his last year at Mee-Kwon.
Bill said there were already several promising possibilities for Joe's replacement at
Mee-Kwon. Further, Joe also said he would live up to the improvements he promised the
committee at last months' meeting. In summary, a motion was made by Ralph Port seconded by
Steve Groom to allow Joe Dorfler one more year as the Mee-Kwon clubhouse concessionaire.
The motion carried with Dave Albert opposed.
Relating to Virmond Park, Bill Knight noted the shelter building is erected and completed with the final
acceptance meeting to be held tomorrow morning. He emphasized that there would be no
sharpshooter deer hunting in Virmond Park as was preliminarily discussed last month.
The committee next discussed a request received from Scott Gosse, Town
Administrator for the Town of Cedarburg who wanted to discuss the possibility of the Town
entering a lease with the county for about 6 acres of county owned land along Cedar Creek in the NW corner
of Section 10, Town of Cedarburg on which the Town wants to construct some canoe launches.
After some discussion and noting that the park commission had no plans for use of the
land, the committee considered the possibility of donating the land to the Town of
Cedarburg so it could be used for recreational purposes. It was suggested some research
should be done into the original deed to the county to see if there were any restrictions
placed on the use of the land and with that information a decision could be made on how to
allow the Town to build a canoe launch.
Dave Albert questioned the formula used to determine the paid by the golf course concessionaires to the
county for use of the county facilities. Bill Knight said the fee was loosely based on 8
cents per golfer using each particular course. In general the committee felt it was being
well served by Pat Landrum at Hawthorne Hills and hoped Joe Dorfler would live up to his
promises for the 2000 year at Mee-Kwon. In the discussion that followed some thought was
given to raising the rent fee or making it uniform at both courses, but after some
discussion and realizing the current situation was working satisfactorily, a motion was
made by Ted Egelhoff seconded by A1 Krier to allow the 2000 rents to remain the same as
1999, that is $3,200 for Hawthorne Hills and $3,500 for Mee-Kwon. That motion carried with
Dave Albert opposed.
With no further business to come before the committee, a motion to adjourn was made by Clarence Boesch
seconded by A1 Krier. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned.
A1 Krier, Secretary
After the formal meeting, several of the committee members viewed the
Washington County public golf course at Hartford, WI for the purpose of seeking advice on
features for the potential new clubhouse construction at Mee-Kwon.
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December 16, 1999
A meeting of the Ozaukee County Park Commission was held
Thursday morning, December 16, 1999 at 10:00 AM at the Ozaukee County Administration
Center Room 117 with the following committee members in attendance: Ted Egelhoff, Ralph
Port, Dave Albert, Clarence Boesch, Ron Schowalter, Steve Groom and Al Krier. Also present
were Bill Knight, Ozaukee County Park Commissioner and County Board Chairman, Leroy Bley.
The minutes of the November 18, 1999
meeting were read and a motion was made by Clarence Boesch seconded by Steve
Groom to approve the minutes as read. The motion carried.
Payroll listings for the periods ending
November 20 and December 4, 1999 as well as vouchers to December 16, 1999 were
reviewed and a motion was made by Clarence Boesch seconded by Steve Groom to approve these
items as presented. The motion carried.
Following last month's meeting Bill Knight reported that Scott
Gosse from the Town of Cedarburg said the Town was interested in accepting the Ozaukee
County owned 10.57 acre parcel along Cedar Creek to fulfill their desire
to construct canoe launches. Bill reported he had checked the original deed to the county
and found there were no restrictions attached to the original donation to the county. It
was felt donating the land to the Town of Cedarburg would be in keeping with the intent of
the original donation that the land be used for park and recreational purposes. Since this
item was not listed as an agenda item, no action was taken, but it was suggested that this
subject be placed on the January agenda for possible action on the Town's request.
Bill Knight reported discussing the marking of the public
property lines with Don Tendick in the new park area and also discussing
future park planning with him. Bill said both subjects met with Don's approval. Bill said
he hoped to have RFP requests available in January for submitting grant fund applications
for the park improvements.
The committee gave its approval to the planting of a
tree and erection of a placque in Waubedonia Park in memory of Gary Gundrum, a
land conservation committee employee who passed away unexpectedly in November. The Land
Conservation Committee would review a proper site for the memorial and be responsible for
the cost of the project.
Andy Holschbach Ozaukee County's Land
Conservation Director was present at this meeting to inform this committee of the land
conservation department's plans for preservation of natural areas in the county and to
seek co-operation with the park commission in making decisions on the potential use of
some of the lands to be acquired in the future. Andy said the main goal of the program is
to acquire land sites within the county that are available from willing sellers who prefer
to see their lands preserved from development and cherished for future generations to
enjoy. Andy reminded the committee of the Natural Areas Plan adopted by the County Board
in 1998 that called for the county to eventually purchase up to 10 sites in the county for
preservation. Andy said some of these lands might be suitable for future county parks and
said he wanted to establish a line of communication with this committee to let them know
when the potential for acquisition of park land might become available. It was noted that
some potential donors of land prefer their land be preserved more as natural areas as
opposed to parks. In conclusion, it was decided to have Andy prepare a list and map of
recommended sites to be acquired so this committee could have a better understanding of
what lands may become available in the future.
Dave Albert requested the committee devote some time at the next
meeting to begin to establish long term goals and objectives for the
parks committee. It was noted that this type of planning would be needed eventually for
the spring 2000 update of the County's Park and Open Spaces Plan with SEWRPC. Leroy Bley
noted that the county's new administrator should be involved in this type of long range
planning.
Al Krier reported on a December 7 preliminary scoping meeting
with the WI DOT, the county highway department and Earth Tech, Inc., the intended
engineering firm for the new WEPCO Urban Line Trail to be constructed in
2000. The meeting sought to develop guidelines for the project so Earth Tech could develop
a bid estimate for the project. Earth Tech hoped to have an estimate available before the
end of this year for review and presentation to WI DOT for approval. It was noted that
serious consideration is being given to combining the construction projects of the City of
Port Washington and Village of Grafton into our portion of the trail and having the work
done as one project throughout the northern portion of the county using the combined grant
funds from the all three municipalities.
The committee discussed the Mee-Kwon clubhouse
construction project and noted that an architectural firm selection should be done in
January so the project gets started on a timely basis. Dave Albert said he would like to
see Joe Dorfler's 2000 concessionaire contract for Mee-Kwon Golf Course presented at the
January meeting for review.
In response to a request to reclassify the accounting
of some department expense items, a motion was made by Dave Albert, seconded by Al Krier
to reclassify $25,000 from Golf Course Reconstruction to Grounds Maintenance; $5,000 from
Bank Charges to Golf Course Clubhouse; and $2,500 from Worker Comp Claims to Building
Repair and Maintenance. The motion carried.
Bill Knight noted the Virmond Park shelter has
been completed.
With no further business to come before the committee, a motion to adjourn was made by Steve Groom seconded by
Ralph Port. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned.
Al Krier,
Secretary
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