Cross Plains pool committee restarts fundraising push, asks for letters of support and assigns outreach roles

The Village of Cross Plains pool committee on a recent meeting agreed to restart a capital fundraising push for a proposed community pool and to organize outreach to businesses, teams and residents to demonstrate community support.

Committee members said the Stingrays swim team met with the subcommittee and will compile a list of team-specific items — lane lines, starting blocks, a scoreboard and similar equipment — and provide cost estimates. The team told the committee it is "very confident that they will be able to cover those costs," and members said the Stingrays would also leverage local business contacts to solicit donations.

The committee discussed logistics for using the Stingrays' 501(c)(3) designation to accept gifts but agreed the swim team would confirm limits on holding funds and the duration for which they could retain donations. Members said the village would also examine how other municipalities handled fundraising custodianship.

Members assigned task leads: Jen agreed to coordinate business outreach and work with the Chamber of Commerce; Emily will coordinate directly with the Stingrays and team families; and the committee will collect letters of support to present to the village board. A participant offered to collect submitted letters and assemble them in a packet for the board.

The committee set an initial target to collect as many letters as possible by a March 20 deadline and discussed using upcoming local events — including a Memorial Day raffle and the village-hosted conference — to boost visibility and solicit support. Committee members also agreed to add a page to the Village of Cross Plains special projects section to host concept images and background materials so the public can review prior studies and reports.

On fiscal planning, the group asked Cameron to have the finance committee study projected operating and maintenance costs for a pool so board members can evaluate long-term impacts alongside capital fundraising. Committee members referenced peer communities and earlier concept estimates as background — noting prior estimates discussed by the group ranged from roughly $4.5 million to $6.5 million for varying facility scopes, with one example cited at $5.1 million plus $1.4 million for a slide — and stressed those figures are conceptual and not final budgets.

Next steps included drafting a letter template, building a contact list (businesses, alumni, and partner municipalities), confirming a collection address or project email, and returning to the committee with peer-community examples and a proposed donor-recognition framework such as naming tiers. The meeting ended after the chair moved to adjourn; a voice vote or formal tally for the motion was not recorded in the transcript.

The committee did not take any formal votes on project authorization or budget allocations during this meeting; it focused on organizing outreach and preparing materials to show the village board that community support exists.