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Ashwaubenon park board hears 2024 community center report showing higher use, new security and AV upgrades
Summary
Parks staff reported rising rental revenue and heavier weekday programing for the community center in 2024, noted recent capital upgrades including a full fire/security replacement and new laser projectors, and said supervisor Rachel Coller will leave at month end.
At its Feb. 17 meeting, the Ashwaubenon Park and Recreation Board received a 2024 activity and financial report for the village community center from David, a Parks and Recreation staff member.
The report said rental revenue rose in 2024 compared with 2023 even though staff reduced available rental hours on some Fridays and Saturdays. David told the board that a simple permit count (listed as about 385) understates use because many recurring classes — for example Taekwondo or line dancing — are entered as a single permit even though they meet 50–100 times per year. When staff count individual uses, David said, the community center recorded about 2,184 total uses in 2024, which he described as roughly six to eight different programs on a typical weekday.
Why it matters: board members said steady resident demand and higher weekday programing affect staffing and maintenance needs and support planned, small annual furniture purchases rather than one large replacement year.
Staff described several 2024 improvements and operational changes. The village replaced an older fire/security system with a new system monitored by Martin Security, removing the previous contractor CEC; David said the work kept only the building wiring and replaced panels, detectors and alarms so the facility now meets a code preference for separate fire and security panels. Board members confirmed the upgrade was paid from the village building maintenance fund. David also reported installation of higher-lumen laser projectors in January 2025 and said the new units should reduce recurring bulb-replacement costs and last roughly 10–12 years.
The board heard policy and operational changes aimed at lowering late-night problems: resident rentals now end at midnight, with nonresidents limited to 10 p.m.; nonresident deposits for the large room were raised from $500 to $1,000 and nonresident bookings are restricted to a shorter advance window (nonresidents may book up to three months in advance while residents may book farther ahead). David said those changes were implemented in 2024 and have reduced the number of late-night incidents and calls to public safety.
On staffing and programming, board members praised Community Center Supervisor Rachel Coller — identified in the meeting as the community center supervisor and senior coordinator — and were told she will leave at the end of the month. David credited Coller with building partnerships that increased program attendance and with expanding free “lunch and learn” style programs that now cap at about 50 participants. Survey results shown to the board listed overall ratings between about 4.6 and 4.9 (scale 1–5), and David said approximately $2,000 in security deposits were withheld during the year for late cleanups and related issues.
Board members and staff discussed cleaning coverage and the tradeoffs of using a contract cleaning service versus village staff; David said the village currently relies on in-house site supervisors and scheduled part-time staff to cover weekend rentals and that staffing differences can affect how clean a facility looks by Sunday for subsequent renters.
Quotes in context: David said the false-alarm frequency dropped after the security upgrade: "We switched from CEC to Martin Security," and later, "they ripped out the entire system that we had. All they kept was the wiring in the building." Rachel Coller was singled out by board members for the programming growth she led; a board member said, "she's done an outstanding job for us."
Looking ahead, staff said routine table and chair replacement will continue on an annual basis to spread costs, and the department will begin the process of recruiting a replacement for Coller. The board received the report; there was no formal policy change attached to the presentation.
Ending: The report framed the community center as a well-used village asset with modest capital needs and a near-term staffing vacancy; the board encouraged staff to continue monitoring rentals, enforcement of cleanup rules and the center’s budgetary implications.
