Oconomowoc council reviews Village Green design, contractor bids and $1.2M funding gap

City staff presented updated designs, contractor bids and a funding plan for the Village Green renovation and boardwalk at the City of Oconomowoc Common Council meeting on Feb. 4.

City staff member Jason Herzog said the project team had run two public information meetings, an online poll and multiple design reviews and that the bid package reflected recent work with the architectural board. “I just kinda wanted to bring you up to speed with our project at the Village Green,” Herzog said during the presentation.

The council heard that the city received six bids; Elite Builds submitted the low bid and was among the lower-cost bidders on alternate items. Herzog said the top four bids were tightly clustered, within roughly $40,000 of one another, and that alternates covered a northward continuation of the boardwalk.

Laurie (city staff member, finance) outlined funding that the city is proposing to assemble. She said the city previously approved $1,000,000 from TIF No. 4 for gateway infrastructure and that $595,000 in park impact fees are available for the bathroom structure. Laurie reported about $400,000 is available from tourism fund balance, $250,000 in TIF No. 6 for boardwalk construction and $500,000 from that same TIF for parking/street work. The Oconomowoc Downtown Business District has committed $100,000, and staff is pursuing a WEDC grant of about $50,000. After those sources, Laurie said there remained, in the planners’ worst-case scenario, a funding gap the staff initially calculated at about $1,700,000 that would be covered by additional borrowing; after a proposed reallocation of $450,000 in street funding, Laurie said the gap dropped to about $1,200,000.

City staff analyzed borrowing to cover the remaining shortfall as a 10-year loan for planning purposes. Laurie presented a straight-line example of roughly $211,000 per year in debt service, which staff said would raise the city’s levy rate by about five-hundredths of a mill and would equal about $23 in annual tax on a $430,000 home under that conservative estimate.

Council members pressed staff on specific elements: materials and lighting maintenance, removable planters versus fixed concrete barriers for parade safety, bench types and vandalism risk, and construction staging to avoid the council’s summer events. Alderman Shellpepper and others questioned whether benches should be bolted or made of concrete for vehicle-impact resistance; Herzog and staff said mobile planters with forklift pockets were included as an option in the contract.

Several aldermen, including Alderman Rosic, urged removing two alternates that would extend the boardwalk across property known as the “rock pit” and instead reserve that connection for future developer-driven work, arguing it would reduce borrowing and preserve a public-benefit argument for future TIF incentives if private development occurs. Rosic said he feared a prolonged legal challenge over easement validity could jeopardize a costly, fully built connection.

Attorney Riffle recommended staff continue efforts to acquire an easement across a neighboring parcel and discussed an appraisal only if the council wanted to pursue acquisition now. “We have been directed by staff to get an appraisal. I have we have not signed the appraisal agreement. Cancel that immediately. We will not incur any cost, if we're not going to get an appraisal,” Riffle said, and he advised a friendly acquisition process to preserve future options.

Chamber of Commerce representative Sarah Ninman urged the council to move forward, saying she spends “60% of my professional day working on events downtown at the Village Green. I spend 80% of my life downtown. It is really a huge attraction,” and called the plan a community asset despite the cost.

Staff requested direction and said they intend to bring the Village Green project back as an action item at the council’s next meeting in two weeks. Herzog described a phased, accordion-style construction schedule for 2025 that would confine larger work outside major events and limit disruption during peak public uses.

The council did not take final action on the project at the Feb. 4 meeting. Staff will continue to refine costs, pursue grants and donations, work on naming-rights and private contributions, and continue the easement-acquisition process before the vote.

Ending

If the council votes to approve the contract and financing at its next meeting, staff said construction would be staged through the summer with the goal of completing the main park improvements that season; any timeline and final budget will be included in the formal action item the council will consider in two weeks.