Town of Germantown

March 1, 2021

Dear Town of Germantown Landowner,

I am writing you today to make sure you are aware of some exciting news about renovations to Germantown Park in the Town of Germantown.

The need/plan to develop started years ago and has been included in documents including the 2017 Town of Germantown Comprehensive Plan, the 2003 Town of Germantown Impact Fee Needs Assessment, the new 2020 Public Facilities Needs Assessment and Impact Fee Study of Town of Germantown and was adopted into the Juneau County Recreation Plan.

We contracted with MSA Professional Services to design a park plan. After looking at the anticipated funding, the park plan was broken into three phases. This will help to avoid the need to borrow for Phase 1 and seek further funding for future phases so Germantown would not be liable for an expense beyond its means.

The plans are great, but how is it going to be paid for?

Phase 1, totaling $1,067,967, will be paid for by a $432,785 Stewardship Grant from the State of Wisconsin, $342,000 in collected Impact Fees (from home building in developments), $13,000 in designated park funds and $280,091 in future impact fees from roughly 327 new homes from the approximately 1,000 that are planned.  There is NO planned tax levy increase and no future tax dollars should be needed.  Phase 2 totaling $632,037 and Phase 3 totaling $274,355, can be pursued as funds, such as grants, become available.  We will also explore new ways to have the park generate revenue as renting of the park shelter has done in the past. 

What is in Phase 1? A new beach with handicapped access, canoe/kayak launch and storage, multiuse trails in the park, an enlarged parking area for cars/ATVS/UTVS/bikes, a new restroom building, bike repair station, pet stations through the park, additional picnic tables, remodeling of the original bathroom, remodeling of the existing shelter, fishing nodes, replacement of the current bridge and benches by the lake.   

Maintenance of the park will be handled by the Public Works Department which already mows the much of the park and maintains the current bathroom (Closed last year due to COVID-19). Insurance has been estimated by an underwriter to increase by $500 for the beach. The park budget will increase from the current $5,000 to $10,000.

The next step is for us to get additional public input on the park, after which the Town Board can discuss and take possible action on moving forward. If we choose not to move forward to develop the park, we will lose the ability to invest $432,785 in grant dollars into the Town of Germantown.

We will be holding a virtual meeting to review input to the park at 5:30 p.m. on March 23^rd. We ask that you send your input in advance so we can group common ideas as not to be redundant. Please email Susan Ganther @ [email protected] by March 22^nd.

I look forward to reviewing your input.

Sincerely,

Gregg Haunroth

Gregg Haunroth

Chairman