3-4-20 fdl councilmember says city is making mistake with alternate lakeside park master plan

A Fond du Lac city councilmember says the council is making a mistake when it comes to altering plans for Lakeside Park that she fears will end up costing taxpayers a lot of money down the road.   Kay Miller supported the council’s original plan to replace the existing park pavilion and says a business group has mischaracterized how that  new pavilion would have been different from the existing facility.   Unlike the existing pavilion,  Miller says the new pavilion would have truly been a multi-functional building.  “Anybody that went to the park could go in.  We would put a revolving museum in there with art work.  There were three opportunities for rentals in there, concessions, and it would go to the back of the building with that beautiful Centennial Plaza that was to be donated through the Kiwanis,”  Miller told WFDL news. Miller says prior to the first council meeting in February  she and councilmember Karen Merkel approached representatives of the business group seeking a compromise.  Miller says the proposed compromise was to construct a restaurant and balcony on the second floor of the new pavilion.  “We had $3.2 million in our budget that was already approved for that design.  We would have needed additional money, but if they (business group) had $4.6 million pledged?   We were basically told if we build and replace that pavilion, that the $4.6 million goes away.”   Miller says she is upset that the city has already wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars by changing course at the last minute.  “The money we spent on a feasibility study, the original plan, now we spent money on the architectural design for the new pavilion, so we’re out that.  Now we’re going to spend money on a new feasibility study that may or may not happen,”  Miller said.    Miller says her biggest concern is the potential overall cost to taxpayers and how the city will pay for it.  “The city could be looking at budgeting greater than what they initially budgeted in a quicker time frame instead of taking their time.  We were doing our due diligence.   We had promised our first committee that we were going to do things at the park every year.  I feel this could be a bigger budget coming forward to the city and the taxpayers.”   The business group has proposed donating money to build an amphitheater, ice rink and parking lot on Oven Island and restaurant and history museum on the lighthouse peninsula.  While the group points out the plan only develops four percent of the park, Miller says her concerned is Oven Island and  the lighthouse peninsula are two of best four percent of the greenspace in Lakeside Park.  “There’s a lot of greenspace in the park.  But obviously that’s the best four percent.  In the feasibility study it would be nice to know what is the DNR’s point of view on it.”