Work to be completed in 2018

By Bert Lehman

The enclosed shelter located in W.A. Olen Park in the city of Clintonville is in the midst of a remodel.

Parks and Recreation Director Justin McAuly updated the Clintonville Parks and Recreation Committee at a Nov. 28 meeting. He told the committee that the roof has been finished and new windows have been installed.

Remaining exterior work that needs to be completed includes installing side steel, soffit and fascia, and exterior electrical work, McAuly said.

Work to be completed inside the shelter includes electrical, insulation, covering the walls, kitchen, floors, and possibly prepping for a restroom.

McAuly said one of the main complaints about the shelter is it doesn’t have a restroom. Currently, those using the shelter have to walk a distance to get to a restroom.

Committee Chairman Steve Kettenhoven asked how long it would take to complete the renovations.

“[Work is] going to be done in-house, so a lot of it has to do with playground installation; we have two to three of them next year,” McAuly said. “And how the weather is going to be, I don’t know. We want to get it done in 2018. That’s our goal.”

He added that in 2017, the remodeling did not cause any interruptions to the renting of the shelter facility.

“During all of our remodels, we were still able to have rentals,” McAuly said. “We never closed the facility. We did [the work] during the week when we did not have rentals.”

Committee member Jim Supanich said he appreciates everything McAuly and his department has accomplished n 2017, but added he would like to see a completion date set for the shelter remodel.

“Things tend to get lost in the shuffle otherwise,” Supanich said.

“To be honest with you, I’m probably doing 90 percent of the work myself,” McAuly said. “That’s the other issue. I installed all the windows and helped with the roof and we’ll probably be doing most of the side steel.”

He added: “If I get more thrown on my plate, that’s going to delay things. I’d like to set a date. That would be a good goal, to push for that date and try to get it done the best we can. We also have to realize I’m going to be the knowledge in getting it done.”

Supanich said he understands the workload issue, but people in the community know the remodel is in the works and they want to know when it is going to be completed.

“If this drags out another year or 18 months, it’s going to look like just another project we never got to,” Supanich said. “And that’s not taking away from anything you have done because you have done a lot of good work and you have a whole lot of other things on your plate, but we need to get this finished.”

Capital project funds carried over
At the Dec. 11 Clintonville Finance Committee meeting, Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland requested the committee carry over $22,500 in capital funds from 2017 to 2018 for park improvement. Some of the funds would be used to complete the remodel of the enclosed shelter.

Supanich, who is also a member of the finance committee, said he had no problem with the carryover, but said that he was concerned the city couldn’t get a commitment from McAuly for a completion date for the remodel.
“If we’re going to carry this over, I’m going to have to demand this is done by the end of 2018,” Supanich said.

Eveland told the committee she discussed this with McAuly.
“He and I are discussing putting together an estimated timeline for all the projects he has going on,” Eveland said. “So that should address that issue to get you a completion date.”

Supanich said he appreciated that, but he wanted a guarantee the remodel would be completed by the end of 2018, not an estimate that it would be completed by then.

Supanich then made a motion to recommend to the city council that it approve a $22,500 carryover with the stipulation that the work on the enclosed shelter is completed by the end of 2018. The committee passed the motion. The city council approved that recommendation at its meeting the following night.