Claire Abbott, a Hortonville resident at 326 North Polk Street, and Judy Peterson of 104 North Lakeshore told the Village of Hortonville board during public comment on Sept. 4 that the proposed Memorial Square Park design should be rethought and that the village’s money might be better spent on repairing an existing parking lot and addressing erosion near Otter Creek.

Abbott said she has followed the park plan and “after seeing some more of it at the last meeting, I felt like the design could be stronger. And, I think the cost, the $300,000 plus cost is not well spent on a design, the current design, I guess.”

Peterson told the board she found “a little outrageous the amount of money you guys wanna spend on that,” and asked that the village instead consider repaving a back parking lot behind Otter Creek. She said she previously paid to have her area paved and was told the village would finish the rest; that work has not happened. “That money could be used for that,” Peterson said, and she described erosion and washed-away stone in the public area behind the river.

Administrator Nathan and Director of Public Works Aaron responded with timing and planning details the board has been developing. Nathan said the village is sequencing the parking-lot work behind the park to avoid damage from machinery used for river or stream restoration, and that the likely timeline for the back parking-lot work is 2027, with the connecting trail possibly pushed to 2028 depending on Main Street reconstruction timing and funding.

Why it matters: neighbors framed the question as one of priorities and stewardship of limited public funds, noting both the visible erosion along the river and the uncertainty of how a large design expense will fit with other infrastructure work already planned.

The board did not take action on the Memorial Square Park design at the Sept. 4 meeting; a resident later noted that the park concept never passed through the public facilities committee, saying a meeting of that committee would be an appropriate venue for further discussion and for downtown business owners to weigh in.

Looking ahead, residents and trustees discussed scheduling a public facilities meeting to revisit the park master plan and to evaluate the combined needs of the playground, splash pad and any proposed shelter or pavilion so design work does not box the village into an unworkable configuration.