City Council Reviews CIP
Marshfield Communicates OnFocus: The full City of Marshfield Common Council had their first chance to review the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) at its April 24th meeting. Concerns were raised about the delay in funding for the pool replacement project.
“I was disappointed the pool got pushed back to 2020 again,” stated Alderman Jockheck. “I would like to see us reallocate some of the funds towards that project, to sort of spearhead and get that project accomplished sooner rather than later. Last year it was 2019, this year it is 2020, and if we don’t have a discussion about this it will be pushed off to 2021. And that pool is at 85 years old. One day it is not going to start and we will be like Rapids and we will have to make a pool replacement decision under the gun.”
Alderman Jockheck also made a proposal for how to fund the pool project:
“I would like to throw it out for discussion, for the calendar year 2019 and 2020, that we cut back on the roads to 1.5 million and put the difference towards the pool and get that done. I am not putting that in the form of a motion at this point at all but we really need to do something to get the kick start and get the pool done.”
Alderman Earll raised concerns over the fundraising, stating, “What is the public willing to put into this? I think that until that is settled based on what he told us we cannot do much here on the council. I think a lot of that depends on the money.”
Alderman Earll also raised another concern over using street funding to fund the pool project.
“I think this is not a high priority compared to fixing streets. Taking that money away and fixing a pool that is only used three months out of the year compared to streets that are used 12 months of the year,” he said.
Alderwoman Spiros mirrored Alderman Jockheck’s concern over the pool issue, stating, “I am going to echo concern about the length of time the pool has been pushed back, too. I toured the pool, I was on the pool committee and have seen the condition of the pool. Last year when we toured it they were not sure how long the pool would last. I would not be surprised if it did not last the season. I do not know where the funding would come from. I would like to see an aggressive campaign to raise funds.”
Parks and Recreation Director Justin Casperson informed the council of the current state of the pool project and what hurdles lay before them.
“In 2017 the pool project was going to be borrowed, for there were no private donations,” he said. “In 2018, that changed to about a 50/50 split and that is where it is now. We have to figure out strategically how we are going to tackle the fundraising. I believe the community is aware
that we are looking for donors and a capital fundraising campaign. We do not have a champion or stakeholder that is going to take us to that point.”
Final approval of the CIP will be at the May 8th Common Council meeting.
