Minutes of the
January 8, 2008
Chairperson
Brustad called the meeting to order at 6:03PM. Committee members present were
Brustad, Pamela Toshner, Lanny Neider and alternates Ron Pearson and Leslie
Hall.
Agenda Items:
1)
Approve
minutes of the last meeting. Motion (Ron Pearson/Elaine Brustad) to strike
“Northern Waters” from Section 5 of the October 17, 2007 minutes and insert
“Solon Springs” and to approve the edited October 17, 2007
1)
Begin
Phase 2:
Provide direction to the Town Board about building a new Community
Center (all members should consider/research the following list for the January
meeting)
A.
Identify stakeholders
B.
Identify improvements
C. Identify separate areas needed for specific
use
D.
Alternatives for current building
E.
Additional uses for community center
F.
Location
G.
Size
H.
Public needs
Pearson
shared his written response and ideas to the list above. The updated version is attached.
Neider
added that stakeholders were all the people in Barnes, and specific
stakeholders included the Conservation Club, Barnes/Eau Claire Lake and
Potowotomi Property Owners Associations, the ATV and snowmobile clubs, garden
club, and quilting club. The committee
is planning for the next 50-75 years, not just for the immediate
community. Barnes Area Historical
Association (BAHA) participation/presence would increase the community aspect
of the building. The committee should
emphasize inclusion of these groups and get their feedback.
Chairperson
Brustad shared the feedback she had received from the insert in the property
tax bill. Six or seven of about ten
people were opposed, and three or four were supportive. A couple of the supportive folks wanted a
community pool. Seasonal residents
seemed more opposed. Hall interviewed 23
people, and the majority didn’t understand the need for a new building. Four were for it. The recommendation for a new community center
would need to be thoughtful and articulate (i.e. a good case needs to be
made). Toshner has heard some grumbling
about it. The group discussed whether a
new community center would be contrary to the low-key character of Barnes and
could potentially change the population.
Most members thought this would not be the case.
The group
agreed that a large meeting place was needed.
In recent years different groups and events have dispersed to places
other than the Town Hall. The committee
needs to determine if those groups/events would return if a new community
center existed.
3) Develop
Phase 2 Conclusions. The Phase 2
detailed conclusions are in Pearson’s attached document. General conclusions include: 1) the
stakeholders are everyone; 2)
integrating BAHA is important; and 3)
public feeling towards a new community center is mixed.
Agenda Items for Next Meeting at
6:00 p.m. on February 5, 2008.
1)
Approve
minutes of the last meeting
2)
Update
on Bayfield County Extension Agent and consultant contacts (Toshner)
3)
Discuss
Phase 3 details with SEH (Brustad)
Motion (Ron Pearson/Pamela
Toshner) to adjourn the fifth meeting of the
Respectfully
Submitted,
Pamela
Toshner,
Secretary
for the Committee
Dated this 11th
day of January, 2008
The following document was
presented to the committee by Ron Pearson in his evaluation of the Phase II
items.
Phase II evaluation
Prepared by Ron Pearson (Revised January
9, 2008 to reflect comments of committee members at meeting after discussion.)
Objective:
To provide direction to the Town Board regarding possible building of an
entirely new Town Community Center Complex.
A. Stakeholders: Those who have a vested interest in various
functions within the new Complex. This
basically includes all Town Residents, Officials, Committee Members, and
Property Owners.
Entry into building would be by way of a reception
area counter with receptionist (who would assist officials with typing, filing,
copying, phone call directing, verify meetings, direct visitors, etc.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1. Town Officials: At lease six dedicated offices for Town use.
·
At least four large separate office rooms with glass windows in
doors for security(but not fishbowl effect!) for main business functions of
Secretary/Treasurer; Town Chair; County Assessor and other County
functionaries; board members to store materials and work on committee projects,
and use by special committee members to store materials and conduct preliminary
business functions; Constable, with secure vault/storage.
·
Secure Underground or other totally secure Fireproof
and Weather proof Vault/storage room for town records.
·
Large main meeting room to conduct town business.
2. Town Citizens and Groups: At least three or four multifunction rooms
for the following activities/stakeholder groups. Rooms would be designed for monitoring activity
and security and would be accessed through main reception area location. Each multifunction room would have lockable built-in
storage as well as file cabinets to be assigned to groups using that room.
·
Exercise room with swimming pool for use by seniors
and others when lakes are too iced over or otherwise inadequate for use (such
as was the case at Tomahawk Lake swim beach this year).
·
Craft Club. Multipurpose room with large tables and
storage and good lighting with storage area and sink for cleanup.
·
Computer use/classes. Multipurpose room with wireless internet
connection (WiFi) and computers to be used for e-mail
and other public uses by town residents.
CheqTel can provide setup and WITC can provide
computers for classes to be held for this.
·
Library and Comfortable Reading room with
comfortable chairs and good lighting. Dedicated multipurpose room. Jim Trojanowski, Director of the Northern
Waters Library Service ( [email protected] ),
said that rather than a complete branch library which would require a full time
librarian, a local lending library could
be set up. In addition, computer access could be made
available so citizens with NWLS library cards could order books to be delivered
in a manner such as is in use at the Solon Springs
Library. A separate T-1 line would be
needed if there was a dedicated connection to NWLS system.
·
Senior Meals.
I envision a full kitchen in which hot fresh meals would be prepared
daily for seniors rather than being brought in from
·
Medium sized multifunctional meeting room for Birthday
& Seasonal Parties/Banquets, Receptions.
Connected to kitchen or could be same decorative room as senior meals.
Public functions would be for no charge, private functions might incur fees.
·
Educational Groups, Lectures, Political forums
debates, such as done by the League Of Women Voters
and AARP. These would be held in the
main meeting hall of the town.
·
Book Club could meet in Library or other multifunctional
location.
·
BAHA.
Display cases or areas for rotating collections provided for seasonal
and timely presentations. Educational
functions could be presented in main meeting hall or one of the multifunctional
rooms depending on anticipated attendance and purpose. Storage and archival functions would be in a
location to be built by BAHA or perhaps converted from the existing town hall
since it apparently has limited historical significance. By
this type of arrangement, full time curators would not have to be hired and the
use of volunteers to work on various aspects would be more economical.
·
Fire/EMT groups.
Multipurpose room use or meeting hall if large group meeting
anticipated.
·
Recreation Committee. Multipurpose room use or town office space.
·
Town Health Fair.
Use of entire area and all multifunctional rooms.
·
Medical exam area in one of the private
multifunction areas that can be closed off with shades, screens, etc. This could be used by the Nurse who does blood
pressure screening as well as visiting medical personnel who might be induced
to provide occasional area services if available secure space is provided.
·
Conservation Club
·
Quilters
·
Property Owners Association
·
Other town groups and organizations
B. Improvements needed for energy efficiency verses what is in current Town
Hall.
·
Full insulation in new structure will save on
heating and cooling expense.
·
Better security brought about by receptionist and
windowed rooms.
·
Newer lighting fixtures would be more energy
efficient.
·
Planned off-street parking
·
Better layout will create more convenient use of
offices and multifunction rooms.
·
Careful planning and landscaping would help keep
the up-north flavor.
·
Single ground-level footprint would be handicap
accessible as our population continues to age.
·
Full kitchen could provide inducement for larger
entertainment groups to rent/use Town facility.
·
Secure storage of Town records.
·
Privacy for Town functions such as assessor or tax meetings.
C. Separate
areas for specific use
·
These areas are explained up above in A.
D. Alternatives
for current building
·
One was mentioned above; sell, lease, or otherwise make
arrangements to allow the BAHA to use it as storage or archival purposes.
·
Move it and convert it into storage shed.
·
Remove it to provide adequate parking for the
·
Sell/lease it for a retail store village shopping
center super store of small shops. We
need a shopping mall complex.
E.
Other Town’s
uses: to be looked at
F.
Location. North of the current town hall beyond the ice
rink area would be good. This would
allow a woodsy setting and adequate parking.
G.
10,000
square feet
H.
Public feelings:
Most I have contacted appear to feel that a new building is needed for
town offices and that a community center should be part and parcel of it.