The Reconfiguration Committee of Richland County reviewed a draft application for the Wisconsin campus redevelopment grant and discussed candidate projects, estimated costs and grant rules. County staff and a regional representative from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation joined the meeting to explain application and contract details.

Committee members said the work matters because the county must document eligible costs and community support to secure state funding that could help prepare campus property for redevelopment or reuse.

County staff laid out the draft list of items to include in the application. The items discussed and the amounts presented were:
- West-side bridge repair or replacement: about $600,000;
- Simon Center tennis‑court renovation: $150,000 (identified as the local match);
- Campus redevelopment outreach and an open-house engagement not in the original engineering agreement: $4,950;
- Highway Department quote for a road (to Hive Drive and Simon’s): $75,000.
Taken together those line items total roughly $830,000. Committee members and staff discussed holding off on a Simon Center parking lot item and on separating utilities until construction plans were firmer.

Representatives from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and staff explained several application and contract rules: costs must appear on the application to be eligible for reimbursement; projects already paid for before the application’s approval normally cannot be reimbursed; the typical contract period is two years (with flexibility and amendments possible); and state statute limits a single campus to no more than $2,000,000 in awarded funds. A WEDC representative described the community‑engagement documentation the agency expects: a letter of support from the city or town where the facility is located (a non‑financial “moral support” letter) to show municipal input.

Committee members asked procedural questions about reimbursements, amendments and timelines. WEDC staff said amendments are possible if the project scope changes during the contract period and that some projects have used amendments to extend timelines; the statute requires the county to submit a closeout summary within 90 days of project completion. The application process was already underway and staff were finalizing cost estimates for inclusion.

County redevelopment work discussed alongside the grant application included building assessments and potential relocations: Venture Architects noted building assessments for the ambulance building, Pine Valley and the Simon Center were in progress and proposed relocating UW Extension into vacant front space at the ambulance building, and co-locating Veterans Services adjacent to Health and Human Services so related services would be adjacent to ADRC. Those relocation and HVAC questions have preliminary budgets; the consultant said he would refine them.

The committee set a follow-up schedule to finalize the grant list and directed staff to gather additional contractor estimates (for example, for demolition, utilities separation and sidewalk additions) for the next meeting. The committee also scheduled a kickoff for the campus redevelopment consultant SEH on August 12 (a Teams meeting) and set the reconfiguration committee’s next meeting for Wednesday, August 20 at 5:00 p.m.