October 16, 2015 at 1:36 p.m.
Controversial bike trail agreement postponed
EAU: 'It's pretty simple' Board: 'I think we're really close' Town: 'We have a bit of a fear issue'
Controversial bike trail agreement postponed
The bike trail maintenance agreement has been a source of controversy and division in the town, where some argue that the agreement gives too much control to the donors and others argue that the agreement is necessary to avoid burdening the taxpayers.
The agreement is meant to provide year-round maintenance, upkeep and repair of the portion of the bike trail within Manitowish Waters town boundaries for the lifetime of the donor, Elizabeth Uihlein. Uihlein has expressed interest in establishing a trust to continue to cover all maintenance costs indefinitely at the time of her passing.
Discussion of the bike trail maintenance agreement opened with the Uihlein's attorney, Larry Barry, delivering a letter to the town on behalf of the Uihleins that expressed the couple's desire for the plan to move forward.
"The Bike Trail agreement would ensure that the maintenance of the trail would not be a burden on the taxpayers of the Town," the letter reads. "We have agreed to considerable changes to the bike trail agreement in order to address concerns people brought forward. But enough is enough. If we can't come to an agreement on something this simple, which is such a win for the Town, then I question my involvement in future projects."
Several other attendees addressed the crowd gathered in the town hall. Opinions ranged from complete support of the current maintenance agreement to denial of the need for any maintenance whatsoever. The one thing everyone seemed to agree upon was that the bike trail has been good for the town. Opinions diverged, however, with respect to how the grass along the trail should be mowed, when and how frequently the leaves should be removed, and who should be responsible for establishing maintenance procedures.
The bike trail maintenance agreement was discussed at the Manitowish Waters planning commission meeting Oct. 6 and at a town board meeting Sept. 8. At the September board meeting, town board chair John Hanson apologized for erroneously signing an initial maintenance agreement before bringing it before the town board for discussion. At the time, the board decided that Hanson's signature was null and void and recommended that the agreement be discussed at the subsequent Oct. 6 planning commission meeting.
Commissioners determined that the agreement was fair and advised the board to more forward with the agreement, pending minor changes including an annual review of the maintenance and discussion between the town and the Uihleins.
At Tuesday's meeting, however, attorney Barry told the town that annual reviews were a "nonstarter" for his client.
Simple issue?
Board member Eric Behnke reiterated his statement from the last meeting that he believes the agreement is a generous proposal with the exception of only a small number of items with which he is not comfortable. He expressed frustration over the fact that he was not given the updated agreement until a mere two hours before the meeting and was prevented from speaking with fellow supervisors Hanson and Chuck Rayala III about the agreement.
"I just wanted to talk a little bit about how our town government works. Since (the Sept. 9 board meeting), the first chance that I had to talk to John or (board supervisor Chuck Rayala) about that was last week at the (planning commission) meeting," Behnke said. "If I called John, that represents a majority. The two of us represent a majority, and I can't call him and discuss the agreement with him."
Behnke said he thought the addendum discussed at the planning commission meeting, which included annual reviews of the agreement, was a "great idea" and was "really disappointed" that it was not part of the proposed agreement.
Behnke asked Hanson why the addendum was not part of the current proposal.
"Why are we not outlining the details for the maintenance, the blowing, the cutting of the trails?" Behnke asked.
"I can't respond to you other than at a meeting like this, and I know that, and so this is the first time I may have had a chance to respond to that, and I can't answer it because this is the first time I saw the agreement, too, today," Hanson said.
"Well, then this is what I want to do tonight: I want the three of us to do an agreement that we agree on and then we take that back to the attorneys," Behnke said.
After further discussion by the bard and the attendees, Barry addressed the board and the crowd again.
"I think it's pretty simple. right? Liz has donated millions of dollars for this bike trail," Barry said. "She plans to donate millions more, and in exchange for that, she wants some say-so about how the trail is maintained. That's it; simple issue. We did hear from the planning commission, there were two recommendations that we took back with us to work on into a new agreement. One of them was regarding signage. It was a non-issue from our perspective. We just felt like we needed to clear something, explain there was some signage we weren't aware of, non-issue. The issue regarding an annual maintenance agreement was, unfortunately, just a nonstarter with my client. She felt as though - as do I - an annual maintenance agreement is another opportunity for us to come up here and sort of ask for permission to maintain the trail again, and it gives the town an out. Liz doesn't want an out in this agreement. She's going to maintain this for the rest of her life."
Behnke said he does not see how the deliberation can progress if Mrs. Uihlein is not open to the addendum requiring an annual review and definition of the maintenance plan.
"I don't know if that's what he said," Hanson responded.
"Yes," Barry said. "Liz is not going to entertain that. So, I'm sorry, we're working in cooperation with the town. She has pledged to do that, as we all have. That's the best we can do."
Concerning costs
Dale White of Manitowish Waters Bike Trail Inc, the nonprofit overseeing the bike trail building, asked Barry to clarify article nine of the agreement.
"This basically just means that, by mutual agreement of Liz - or, if she passes away, her estate representative - and the town board, we can make additions, amendments or deletions to this agreement as it exists in this form," Barry said.
"So, if there's a change in some maintenance issue that needs to be addressed next year, we can go to article nine of and amend the contract?" White asked.
"This provides for that, yes," Barry said.
"One very important thing that a lot of you aren't listening to is that, when we maintain the trail, we aren't only maintaining it now, we're maintaining it for the future," White said.
White said he looked at the total cost of trail maintenance in 2015, including wages paid to EAU Holdings employees, townspeople and fuel. In 2015, $57,598 in wages were paid for trail work.
Next year, White said, a portion of the trail approximately from Powell Road to County Highway W will require replacement. The estimated cost is $131,000.
"We can't get grants for that?" attendee Jan Richter asked.
"We tried grants. We've gone that route," White said.
"Who's your grant writer?" Richter asked.
"It isn't the grant writer ... if you do a DOT grant, it takes you at least four years to accomplish what you're doing," White said. "This trail is getting dangerous."
White estimated next year's total costs related to the bike trail, precluding equipment upgrades, will be $211,000. The 2015 Manitowish Waters parks budget was $42,000, he said. If the town took financial responsibility for maintenance of the trail, "we (would) need to add approximately $200,000 to the tax rolls for the parks budget next year," White said.
Town has 'a fear issue'
Richter said "fear" is at the root of the problem.
"I think maybe some people here have missed the point," she said "We have a bit of a fear issue with some of the people in town that I've spoken to, and I think that's the root of the problem here."
"That's the problem here," she said. "Am I right? I mean, it's just kind of ... (Elizabeth Uihlein) has never stayed within the boundaries."
Another attendee, Jim Burger, spoke up.
"John, I don't understand," Burger said. "The same people who are talking about 'there's a fear about signing a contract' are the same people I hear that are complaining that they were worried about having to pay for the trail, so they wanted a permanent agreement so they wouldn't have to worry about it. Now I see a wonderful offer, and an agreement that's going to be paid for forever, and now those same people are asking for every T and every I to be dotted so they know what hours the trails are going to be maintained, how high the grass is going to be cut. Do you have that same agreement at the library? Do you have that same agreement at the airport? And did you have go through all this?"
Planning commission chair Dan Sleight stood and added his voice to those concerned that the agreement does not include an annual review process.
"That's the only thing we had come up with at the planning commission was an annual review of the maintenance, something that says that the town board is going to talk with representatives of Uihlein," Sleight said.
"We can certainly do that, that's cooperation," EAU Holdings Director Amy Kobussen said. "So 'cooperation' is in the agreement, I believe. So, obviously, that's what cooperation is all about."
"We can do it (review the agreement) tomorrow, next month, Christmastime," Randy Copenharve said. Copenharve is a director of facilities for EAU Holdings.
"Let's do it before the contract is signed," Behnke said. "I've never signed a contract and said, 'We'll figure it out as we go.' I've never done that for myself and I would never do that for the town. I don't think we're that far apart. I think we're really close. I think we want the same things, but we just want to understand what those things are, and I don't want to figure out what they are down the road. I want to figure it out before we sign a contract."
Behnke made a motion to schedule a workshop with EAU Holdings to "further define" section 2.b. of the maintenance agreement. That section defines the "ongoing purpose" of the agreement and establishes the time, place and manner of maintenance.
Hanson seconded Behnke's motion and it carried.
At press time, town clerk Dana Hilbert told The Lakeland Times that the workshop has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday Oct. 20.
The parties will meet at the town hall. No action will be taken and no comments will be solicited from the floor, but the public is welcome to attend. A special town board meeting will be held to sign the agreement pending approval by the town board and the donors.
Ryan Matthews may be reached at [email protected].
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