No free meeting space for Pigeon Lake district

Clintonville City Council declines to waive rental fee

By Bert Lehman

The Clintonville City Council took no action on a request from the Pigeon Lake Rehabilitation District to waive its rental fee for summer meetings at the Clintonville Community Center.

The district will therefore have to pay the rental fee.

Waiving the fee was originally discussed at the May 14 city council meeting. No action was taken then because council members felt they did not have all the information needed to make a decision.

The missing information was relayed to the council when it met June 11.

Alderwoman Tammy Strey-Hirt informed the council she learned that the district does not pay a rental fee to Fox Valley Technical College to hold its meetings at the Clintonville campus.

She added the district is not looking to permanently move its meeting location to the Clintonville Community Center, but rather hold meetings there temporarily during the summer.

“They couldn’t have their meetings at the tech for three months,” Strey-Hirt said.

Alderman Ben Huber asked if that would be every summer.

“I am assuming the tech has the same hours every year,” Strey-Hirt said.

Alderman Brandon Braden asked if city personnel would have to set up for these meetings.

“These groups basically do their own set-up,” said Clintonville Parks and Recreation Manager Justin Mc Auly. “We have storage here with tables and chairs and we wouldn’t do any set-up for them. They would set up their own tables and chairs.”

He added there would be a small utility cost to the city.

Alderman Brad Rokus asked how many organizations currently meet in city facilities without paying a rental fee.

Mc Auly said he does not know the total, but Waupaca County does not pay a rental fee.

Council President Mike Hankins said waiving the lake district’s rental fee was discussed extensively, and he is against it.

“While I appreciate the work of this district and I don’t have any problems with them, I’m concerned about going back the other way and setting a precedent after we went through extreme levels to get this established,” Hankins said.