By JAMES KATES, Bugle Managing Editor

Treyton’s Field of Dreams is still a work in progress.

Whitewater Parks and Recreation Director Matt Amundson told the Common Council on Tuesday that the city hopes to begin awarding bids this spring for the baseball park. The project honors Treyton Kilar, a 6-year-old Whitewater boy who was killed by a drunken driver in 2010.

If built as envisioned by a city consultant, the facility in Starin Park would cost more than $1.5 million, including items such as parking lots, a shared-use path and a pavilion.

But the final cost is likely to be much less, because the cost figures from city consultant Strand Associates do not account for donated labor and materials. Elements of the project also may be eliminated or built in stages.

“I feel that we’re very close,” Amundson told council members, adding that the project had been “a grass-roots, community-based effort since day one.”

Amundson said he hoped to secure bids this spring to have solid numbers to show to donors. About $824,000 is available for the project at present, including city funds, money from community donors and outside grants. A $75,000 grant request for field lights is under review.

City Attorney Wallace McDonell said Amundson would serve as a sort of “general contractor” on the project, coordinating donors and volunteer workers on each part of the park while trying to keep expenditures low. Bid documents can be written to reflect these uncertainties, McDonell assured the council.

McDonell noted that the city would have to be especially careful with “prevailing wage” requirements, which specify that if any workers on a given element of the project are paid, then all labor must be paid at a rate that is typical for the area.

He raised the option that the pavilion, which would include restrooms and concession stands, could be built by a local service club and operated privately.

Amundson said Treyton’s Field, in conjunction with UW-Whitewater athletic facilities, could solidify Whitewater’s brand as a destination for “sports tourism.” Starin Park already has three baseball diamonds, and Treyton’s Field could host championship games for tournaments, he said.

A four-field complex in Waupun, built at a cost of $2.2 million, has become a major draw there, Amundson said. Visitors “obviously spend money in town,” he said.

It is uncertain what, if any, construction on the project will occur this summer. Amundson said parking lots would need to be finished by June 1, because it would be difficult to build them during the park’s busy season in June, July and August.

In other action Tuesday, the council:

• Approved an $8,400 contract with APCO International to study staffing levels at the Police Department’s dispatch center. Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher said the center often has just one operator on duty, posing hazards during times of multiple emergencies and possibly increasing response times for police and rescue squads.
•  Approved the purchase of a new Ford Taurus police squad car from Whitewater’s Ketterhagen Ford for $24,880. A competing bid from Ewald Automotive of Oconomowoc was $367 lower, but council members decided the slightly higher cost of buying locally was justified.
• Set its next meeting for Thursday, Feb. 21, because Tuesday, Feb. 19, is the day of the primary election.

By JAMES KATES, Bugle Staff Writer

      Jefferson County will move ahead to purchase the former Countryside Home as a site for a new highway shop, supervisors decided Tuesday.

      The County Board voted 19-9 to authorize the purchase of the 60-acre site along County Highway W including the old county nursing home, which has been vacant since 2002. The old nursing home will be demolished, at a cost of perhaps $700,000 to $800,000.

      In its place will rise a new highway shop to replace the current shop, which was built in 1937 and rebuilt in 1950. The shop is “landlocked” on its current site along Puerner Street in Jefferson and does not have adequate room for equipment and materials storage, said County Board Chairman John Molinaro.

      A new shop will cost perhaps $16 million, Molinaro said, although plans have not been finalized. Once the county buys the Countryside site from its current owner, the Bank of McFarland, the first step will be to secure bids for demolishing the old nursing home.

      The county will pay for the new shop by issuing bonds that will be paid back over perhaps 20 years, Molinaro said.

      The new shop will house trucks, plows and other equipment, a repair shop, offices, locker rooms and a cafeteria for workers. It will include storage space for salt and tanks for mixing brine that will be used to de-ice winter roads.

      The county’s purchase of the old home is contingent on the City of Jefferson rezoning the site for industrial use.

      Supervisors have been looking at various sites for the new shop, including the old county farm property adjacent to the Countryside site.

      Supervisor Jim Mode told the board Tuesday that the board had to weigh the wisdom of putting up about $1 million to buy the Countryside site and demolish the home against the possibility of keeping the county farm and selling it for about $1.5 million in the future.

      Mode ultimately voted against the plan to purchase the Countryside site.

      In another matter, County Administrator Gary Petre outlined the 2013 budget for board members. The budget, drafted by Petre and amended by the board’s Finance Committee, includes a $120,185 increase in the tax levy, or 0.45 percent.

      The increase is the maximum allowed by state law.

      Supervisors may propose amendments to the budget, but they also must specify what to cut to pay for any additional costs. A public hearing on the budget is set for Oct. 23, and the County Board is expected to give final approval to the budget on Nov. 13.

      County property-tax revenue will account for about $26.8 million of the overall $65.8 million county budget. The remaining money comes from state aid, fees and fines, and the county sales tax of 0.5 percent.

      The county tax rate will rise slightly, to about 4.14 mills, but because properties have lost value in the current real-estate slump, the amount collected will be less than half of 1 percent higher than this year, Petre said.

      In other action, the County Board:

• Approved a resolution calling on the state to enforce sales-tax collections on online purchases. Because the county collects a 0.5 percent tax on top of the state’s 5 percent sales tax, such a move would benefit the county.

• Approved $110,000 in additional aid to Riverfront Rental LLC and Chicken’s Riverfront LLC to aid in recovery from the 2008 flood. The funds come from the federal Department of Commerce.

• Voted to lower the speed limit to 45 mph on County Highway J from the intersection with State Highway 89 eastward about half a mile, at which point it would fall to 35 mph until its intersection with Collins Road in the City of Jefferson.

By JAMES KATES, Capstone Managing Editor

     An attempt to provide more parking for UW-Whitewater students, faculty and staff is not pleasing everyone, members of the Whitewater Common Council were told Tuesday.

     Councilwoman Stephanie Abbott said some at UWW were disappointed to see Prince and Prairie streets fill up with parking meters after the approval of a memo of understanding between the university and the city.

     “I was surprised to see both streets completely lined with parking meters and not a single permit parking spot,” said Abbott, who is also a UWW student.

     Approved by the council in June, the 10-year agreement provides for the leasing of 122 city parking spaces to the university for $40,000 a year, set to rise to $45,000 a year in 2017.

     The university removed meters from campus lots and reinstalled them on the streets. Parking on Prairie Street is $1 an hour. Parking on Prince Street is 25 cents an hour.

     UWW officials say the move has created more overall parking for university employees and students. Interim City Manager Cameron Clapper told the council that removal of parking meters on campus had created 147 more stalls for permit parking.

     Abbott said the new metered spaces on the street often were empty, and that student parkers were being pushed into the Starin Park neighborhood.

     The metered spots on Prince and Prairie streets formerly offered free parking, which filled up early in the morning.

     City Attorney Wallace McDonell promised to look into Abbott’s complaint that parking meters at 164 N. Prairie St. may violate an ordinance designating the address as a no-parking zone.

     After the meeting, Abbott said that “the university is now the decision-maker on this issue” and that she did not anticipate further action on the city’s memo.

     In other action Tuesday:

     • Karen Coburn, a member of the city’s Planning & Architectural Review Commission, spoke during the public comment session to invite citizens to an educational forum about the emerald ash borer.

       The insect, which has been found within 20 miles of Whitewater, can kill ash trees by tunneling under their bark. Ash trees are common in cities, including Whitewater.

      Speakers at the forum will tell homeowners and woodlot owners how to protect their trees from the invasive beetle.

      The forum will be held Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Timmerman Auditorium at Hyland Hall on the UW-Whitewater campus.

      • Matt Amundson, the city parks and recreation director, warned council members that air-conditioning units atop the Municipal Building had reached their estimated 15-year lifespan and would soon need replacing.

      Coils on the units may have been damaged by improper power-washing, he said. A consultant to the city has recommended replacement of the units rather than ongoing repairs.

      • The council approved fire and rescue contracts under which city crews respond to emergencies in towns surrounding the city.

City manager forums set

     Meanwhile, the public is invited to meet the five finalists for the city manager position this Friday.

     A public reception will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Whitewater Innovation Center, 1221 Innovation Drive. At 6:30, a public forum will be held in the Whitewater Municipal Building’s Community Room. The public is invited to submit questions for the forum, which will be carried live on the city’s cable TV channel.

     Besides Clapper, the finalists are Edward Gil de Rubio, former city manager in Trinidad, Colo.; Richard Johnston, town administrator/clerk at Clayton in Winnebago County; Jeff Kooistra, former city administrator/clerk in Waukee, Iowa; and Paul Moderacki, village administrator in Mukwonago.

     The candidate chosen will replace Kevin Brunner, who resigned in July to become central services director/highway commissioner for Walworth County.

     The council hopes to choose the new city manager on Saturday after a final round of interviews.