(Authored by Tom Wilson and Dawn Craig)
- What do you believe the voters intended for the Town to do with the Koulias house when they (the voters) approved the purchase?
The plan from day one was to remove the house. It was part of the presentation at the August 2012 Special meeting when the electorate approved the purchase and additionally specified in the Knowles Nelson grant application of 2013 used to help purchase the property. This grant supplies funding for nature-based outdoor recreation. Uses such as indoor recreation space in the Koulias house are not allowed on Stewardship-funded properties. (See #3 below.)
The Jacksonport Parks Committee (JPC) has hosted various public discussions since then, including a series of public forums in 2015 which resulted in the Lakeside Park Master Plan. Discussions and resulting plans include the house being removed.
- What do you believe has been the Town Board’s direction on how to proceed with the house?
The Town Board has discussed this at public events, acknowledged it with the letter of support for the 2012 Knowles Nelson application, and consistently voted to “sell the house” including a vote earlier this year.
- What do you believe are the DNR restrictions on the use of the Koulias property and house based on the Knowles Nelson grant used to purchase the property?
The DNR additionally specifies the following regarding the property and house on this webpage: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/stewardship/grants/Terms.html .
Here is a quote from the webpage above:
- “Only outdoor recreation uses are allowed. Uses that cannot be categorized as nature- based outdoor recreation are not allowed on Stewardship funded properties. This means no fire stations, streets/highways, civic centers, libraries, museums, water towers, swimming pools, soccer fields, indoor recreation facilities, communication towers, landfills, ”
- Additionally, 75% of items stored on the property must be for park operation and maintenance equipment. This fact is not on the webpage above but was mentioned to the JPC by Chris Halbur, our DNR Stewardship grant contact in Green
- There are no restrictions to selling the house. As stated, the application addressed the sale of the house, and the Knowles Nelson funding, along with the other grants specified the house would be sold/removed. The Knowles Nelson has stated that they will require 50% of the sale price of the house. For example, if someone pays $10,000, the town will need to return $5,000 to Knowles
This stipulation from the DNR is in regard to all waterfront properties:
- Regarding clearing brush/foliage below the ordinary high water mark, a 30 foot wide path per property is allowed to be cut. This fact is reflected in the Lakeside Park Master Plan which leaves the shoreline in the new property mostly untouched to conform to this
- How much of the Koulias property purchase was paid by the DNR grant and how much from Town funds?
The purchase price for the property was the assessed value of $765,800.
Land value: $634,600
Buildings (house, cottage, and two garages) value: $131,200 Closing costs: about $20,000
The source of the dollars are as follows:
$785,000 Total Cost
$355,000 Wisconsin Knowles Nelson (DNR) grant (2013)
$ 55,000 Wisconsin Coastal Management Grant
$300,000 Private Grant
$ 75,000 Town of Jacksonport Dollars
- If the current DNR grant under consideration is approved what improvements will it pay for in the Park?
The current plan, presented and approved by the Electorate at the April 2016 Town of Jacksonport Annual Meeting, prioritizes these items:
- New Restroom and Sanitation System Sanitation System – max. $100,000
Restroom/Changing room with flush toilets – max. $120,000 (estimates as low as $75,000)
- Entrance/Parking improvements – Lake Park Drive – $70,000
- Entrance/Parking improvements – Highway 57 on added property – $35,000
- 10’ Path to connect new property to original park property – $22,500
- Landscaping $5,000
- Design, engineering, and construction (10% of the project) $35,250
This plan utilizes a $100,000 private grant already obtained, along with local pledges of $28,000 from Jacksonport organizations and individuals, plus donations from individuals toward the grant, fundraised monies on hand, for a total project cost of $387,750. The Knowles Nelson request is for half of that cost – $193,875.
The Electorate pledged at the 2016 April Annual Meeting up to $50,000 towards the grant application, $25,000 per year from the 2016 and 2017 $100,000 per year increase in the tax levy.
Assuming the Town receives the 2016 Knowles Nelson grant, all of the improvements listed above with an estimated total value of $387,750 can be completed in Lakeside Park.
- What is your plan for the house and why does it benefit the Town more than the alternative?
The JPC and the Town Board voted to sell and remove the house earlier this year. This plan benefits the Town more than the alternative because it addresses the use of indoor and outdoor space requested by the public and required by the use of the Knowles Nelson grant to acquired the property. It also uses no new tax dollars to do so and provides comparatively low future maintenance expense.
- Use of Indoor Space: The plan to add a new stand-alone restroom and changing room fulfills a long range plan affirmed by the Town in the Town of Jacksonport Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, the Jacksonport Land Use Plan as well as the 2012 Five-Year Parks Plan which all document a desire for a restroom/changing room facility to serve the beach in Lakeside
While the Kontext plan makes note of the savings of refurbishing the house versus a new facility with “similar features,” the key “similar feature,” indoor recreation space, is not allowed on Stewardship-funded properties (See #3 above.) nor would it be funded by Knowles Nelson Stewardship grant.
- Use of Outdoor Space: Removing the house (along with moving the garage which is already in progress) leaves the area open for natural, recreational uses such as picnicking, relaxing out of the sun and exploring nature which is a priority identified by the Town in not only the documents mentioned above, but also in the 2012 Knowles Nelson grant application as the anticipated use of the Koulias property. Additionally this space could provide an opportunity for Maifest and CherryFest
By contrast if we keep the Koulias house using it as a restroom, the large structure, mostly unused, will block the view of the forest around it. (For information about potential uses of the Koulias house, please see item 3 above.)
- The JPC, Town Board and Electorate-approved plan voted on at the April 2016 Town of Jacksonport Annual Meeting and used to create the 2016 Knowles Nelson grant includes a new restroom/changing room at a maximum estimated cost of $120,000 for a custom-designed structure.
By contrast, refurbishing the house will cost more than its assessed value and is estimated between $175,000 and $200,000 if completed.
- Funding sources for building a new restroom/changing
The mission of the Knowles Nelson Stewardship program is funding outdoor recreation. The grant will provide up to half of the cost of all “funded” items. For the proposed restroom/changing room building, for example, if the cost is $120,000, the grant will provide, up to $60,000.
By contrast if the cost of installing restrooms in the Koulias house is accurately estimated at
$60,000, the town could use $30,000 of any Knowles Nelson grant towards the potentially
$200,000-plus project.
The JPC, Town Board and Electorate-approved plan used to create the Knowles Nelson grant application is already funded and has an added tax impact of $0. (For more details please see question 5 above.)
- Future Maintenance Costs. The cost for maintaining the smaller, newer restroom/changing room will be less than the cost for maintaining a larger, older
- The original intention of the Koulias property acquisition was to provide more public access to Lake Michigan. What kind of pedestrian access and viewing corridors can be created on the Koulias property under your plan for the house?
The current grant includes a new asphalt path through the park available as an assessable path to transport all from the added parking lot near highway 57 to the shoreline. This path would likely meander toward the lake through the area where the Koulias house and garage currently exist and end near the restroom/changing room and the current beach.
Picnic tables and benches could be located in the area where the Koulias house exists now, and minor, unpaved trails could lead from the asphalt path to the wooded Lake Michigan shore on the south end of the park.
The Lakeside Park Master Plan includes a wooden assessable path to the lake. While that may be desirable it is not funded at the moment. The JPC would come back to the Electorate in the future to identify the priority and desirability of that option. Such a path would be allowed with the DNR regulated clearing allowed below the high water mark.
- How does your plan match the approved concept plan and have you received indications from the DNR that it will be permitted under the grants?
The plan incorporates a prioritized subset of the concept plan, all of which are permitted by the grant. Those priorities are:
- Restrooms/Changing Rooms and associated sanitation system
- Entrance and Parking Improvements
- Integration of the new portion of the park with the original portion via an accessible path
- Safety and Lighting
- Picnic tables and Benches
- How much will it cost Town taxpayers to fund your initial improvements, what will the ongoing operating costs be and are there any offsetting revenues?
The Town portion approved by the Electorate in April 2016 is $50,000 – a portion of the capital drive in the current budget.
Ongoing costs for the seasonal restroom are calculated at $3300 more per year than current expenditures for the pit toilets based on input from Fish Creek, Liberty Grove and Baileys Harbor.
Any revenues generated in the park must be used for park maintenance and improvements. The JPC has discussed locating a kayak or other concessionaire in Lakeside Park and the Planning Committee has supported that concept. That cannot happen until more parking is available, but ultimately may more than offset the added expense of operating flush toilets rather than pit toilets in the park – the $3300 added expense per year referenced above.
- Why is your plan the best for long term and why should the voters approve it?
- The plan presented at the April 2016 Annual Meeting and approved by the Electorate conforms to the requirements of the first Knowles Nelson grant used to purchase the property by including allowed indoor space – restrooms – and improved use of outdoor space. The portion of the park where the Koulias house exists now will be available for picnicking, relaxing out of the sun, a path to connect the old and new sections of the park and lakeshore access – nature- based outdoor recreation in other
- The current plan will cost less initially and in the future. The cost for all of the items included in the Knowles Nelson grant will be available to the Town, assuming we receive the grant, for an investment of $50,000, already pledged by the Electorate at the April 2016 Annual Meeting. The smaller, new restroom building should require little to no maintenance for many years after it is completed. Without the Knowles Nelson grant, the stand-alone restroom in the Electorate- approved plan is estimated at a maximum of $120,000 while refurbishing the house is estimated at $175,000 to $200,000.
- The plan is based on documents approved by the Town Board such as the Jacksonport Land Use Plan, the Jacksonport Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan and the 5-Year Jacksonport Parks
- It is also based on recommendations by many townspeople and consultants that adapting and reusing the house would cost more than it is worth, recommendations confirmed by the Kontext report. These recommendations caused the Town initially to plan to remove the house and to consistently affirm that initial
- The townspeople of Jacksonport over the summer of 2015 provided additional input to create the Lakeside Park Master Plan with an independent local consultant who specializes in park planning. The resulting plan has as its top priority one building – a restroom/changing room – along with other items needed for Jacksonport to provide access and potentially increase traffic in the park and Town Core such as parking and a path to the restroom/changing room and the beach. This path would also provide the possibility of foot paths to the wooded shore on the Koulias property and perhaps eventually assessable paths if the Electorate wishes to add
The Electorate voted in April 2016 to fund this year’s 2016 Knowles Nelson grant application after hearing the prioritized list of items which are included in their grant. Their vote moved the Town forward in the direction the Town documents and forums lead, which is to work toward building a new restroom/changing room in Lakeside Park with flush