Wausau parks committee urges finance to keep three pools open, reject $45,000 study on splitting parks management

The City of Wausau Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously Oct. 6 to ask the finance committee to keep all three municipal pools open next summer and to recommend that a proposed $45,000 study on whether the city should withdraw from the current county-managed parks arrangement not be funded.

Committee members said the proposed study repeats work the committee concluded last year and would divert scarce funds from existing services. “I can’t support this again because of the fact that this…is wasteful wasteful spending,” Alder Rasmussen said during the meeting.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the finance committee for its third budget session. Chair Larson opened the meeting and Jamie, the parks director, provided an overview of items in the proposed budget that affect parks and forestry.

Why it matters: Committee members said the three pools are high-use amenities built with long-term debt and provide programs for different age groups. Several members said rotating or closing a pool to save roughly $30,000 to $60,000 would be unpopular with residents and would not meaningfully reduce the mill rate. Alderman Rasmussen and others noted near-record pool attendance last year and the continuing debt service on the pool projects.

Budget details presented by Jamie, the parks director, described a cost-to-continue budget that included: a projected roughly 4% budget increase for the department tied to county-directed wage adjustments; a vacancy savings of about $44,000 for city and $44,000 for county because an administrative position will not be funded; a department target to identify $149,000 in cuts; and specific options the director had proposed to meet reductions. The director said two pool-related options were included in the proposal: closing a pool entirely (approximately $60,000 in savings) or keeping all three pools filled but opening only two to the public per day (approximately $30,000 in staffing savings). The director emphasized the city would not save on water, chemicals, or maintenance by rotating the pools because all pools would be maintained operationally to support lessons and programming.

Committee members also pressed budget items the parks department had proposed or that appear in the mayor’s budget: an approximately $12,000 reduction (later described as a slightly larger reduction) to the department’s small projects fund that had previously been about $110,000; elimination of eight dumpsters at park sites (with specific removals proposed at Scofield Park and Oak Island to address illegal dumping); potential delay of wharf docks installation; and temporary shutoff of decorative fountains (the 400 Block fountain and RiverLife “leaper jets”) as short-term water-cost savings. The parks director said the RiverLife leaper jets are roughly $17,000 in annual water use and the 400 Block fountain about $20,000.

The committee briefly discussed a possible household urban forestry fee modeled on Madison’s program. Jamie said Madison charges about $7.59 per month and that a $2-per-month fee in Wausau would reduce the urban forestry levy by about 50%; a $3-per-month fee would cover the urban forestry program entirely and remove it from the levy (an estimated $600,000). The director characterized these fee ideas as options rather than proposals currently scheduled for adoption.

Several members reiterated that the committee had already reviewed whether to separate city parks from the county arrangement and found no verifiable savings once startup costs and specialized staffing were accounted for. “We determined last year already…that there was really no way to quantify or verify the alleged savings that would be gained from splitting up the departments,” Alder Lukens said. Alder Lukens and others also criticized the lack of prior notice to the parks director and the absence of CIP (Capital Improvement Program) review for new spending over $25,000.

Motion and outcome: Alder Rasmussen moved to ask the finance committee to (1) fully fund all three city pools for the coming season and (2) refuse the mayor’s request for $45,000 to study separating city parks from the county arrangement. Alder Watson seconded the motion. The committee voted unanimously to approve the recommendation; the motion was forwarded to the finance committee.

Next steps: The parks department will implement whatever budget the finance committee and full council approve. Committee members asked staff to monitor cuts such as dumpster removals for litter and illegal dumping impacts and noted that small-project carryover or year-end savings could be considered later through the finance committee if needed.