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COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE -Minutes 020921CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES February 9, 2021 5:15 PM Muskego City Hall W182 S8200 Racine Avenue CALL TO ORDER Mayor Petfalski called the meeting to order at 5:21 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Alderpersons Wolfe, Terrence, Kapusta, Engelhardt, Hammel, and Madden. Also present: Public Works & Development Director Kroeger, Public Works Superintendent Beilfuss, Rec. Program Manager Dunn, City Attorney Warchol, and Administrative Assistant Crisp. Absent: Alderperson Kubacki PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE Ms. Crisp stated that the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting law. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Alderperson Madden moved to recommend approval. Alderperson Engelhardt seconded; motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES November 10, 2020 Alderperson Wolfe moved to recommend approval. Alderperson Kapusta seconded; motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Discussion regarding Park Arthur Baseball Field Development Mayor Petfalski gave a brief background of the Park Arthur Baseball Fields 1, 2, & 3. There has been a drainage problem and redoing the three small baseball fields at Park Arthur is part of the 2021 capital budget. The cost of field prepping prior to each game was cost prohibitive and that cost was passed on to the baseball organizations. When AstroTurf was first suggested as a possibility, the cost was estimated at $100,000 to upgrade. At that time we talked about the baseball organizations paying for the upgrade – we would front the money and they would pay it back over 10 years. Mr. Beilfuss, Mr. Kroeger, and Ms. Dunn started talking about what it would take to get AstroTurf. The numbers came in at $135,000 per field - higher than we expected. However, benefits for Turfing the fields does away with the prep costs as foul lines are built in, fields are good from April 1 – October 31, and games can be played even in the rain. Instead of the City paying for it upfront and the baseball organizations paying us back, they came up with a plan where the organizations would pay a turf fee. The spreadsheet prepared has three tier levels with Muskego home teams paying $100 - $150 per date/field. On a Finance Committee Minutes 2 February 9, 2021 traditional field the cost is $175. Non-resident league teams would pay between $200 - $250 which is comparable to The Rock Sports Complex. If done right, over 10 years we could not only pay for the turf, but we could pay back the cost of the whole field. Mr. Kroeger stated that field prep bids for grass fields are at $175 and another at $300 per game and it is going up. Estimated annual maintenance cost for turf would be alternated $3,000 one year and $9,000 the next year. Life spans for turf is 8-12 years. At that time, they would have to be re-carpeted. Wear areas can be handled by the DPW crew. The maintenance price includes a seasonal turf manager. Mayor Petfalski stated that we want to keep the cost down for our home teams. However, this is going to be the only facility between the Rock and Madison so the potential for outside teams to use this for tournaments and to be able to charge them a premium which would be less than the commercial places. It would be easier to get bids to prep the smaller fields. We could use the excess revenue to help prep other parks. Ald. Terrence is in favor of this plan. This is a benefit for the groups using the fields. He sees this as a win even if we don’t get our money back over 10 years as it will draw outside communities to our City. Ald. Wolfe asked about warranty. Mr. Beilfuss said there is an 8 year warranty. He mentioned that his staff would be able to handle upkeep. Ald. Engelhardt in favor of the concept and questioned whether the field prep would be totally eliminated and wondered about the vulnerability for vandalism. Mr. Beilfuss stated that a camera will be added on one of the foul poles. Mayor Petfalski stated that Ald. Kubacki mentioned that he supports this plan at the medium tier. He continued that the goal regarding pricing is to make it affordable for our home teams and maximize the revenue from the external teams. Ald. Wolfe is in favor of using a hybrid between the low to medium. The consensus is that we will move forward with turfing the three fields at Park Arthur. Mr. Kroeger said they would begin the work on July 19, cutting the baseball season short just a couple of weeks, to have the fields ready for Spring 2022. COMMUNICATIONS AND ANY OTHER BUSINESS AS AUTHORIZE D BY LAW None ADJOURNMENT Alderperson Wolfe made a motion to adjourn at 5:20 p.m. Alderperson Madden seconded; motion carried. Minutes taken and transcribed by Christine Crisp.