November 20, 2018 at 4:55 p.m.
Lake Tomahawk board hears building questions
DeMet: 'It's all up to the voters'
Lake Tomahawk board hears building questions
Back in October, town chairman George DeMet updated the board on the community center expansion idea he first brought to the panel in April.
Al Szymanski with MSA Professional Services had put together drawings of the proposed addition, he announced.
"It's approximately a 900-square-foot addition," DeMet said then, referring to the drawings that included floor and site plans. "It would contain offices, a small vestibule entrance and a bathroom and a heating system."
Szymanski didn't have a cost estimate for the addition, but DeMet said cost information would be available to the public when electors vote on the addition at a special meeting Nov. 28 following the town's budget hearing.
Last week, during the public comment portion of the meeting, Terkelson said he had concerns pertaining to the proposed addition.
"But my first question is 'Why?'" Terkelson said.
"Well, you've been in our office and that's pretty much the reason why," DeMet said, referring to a small office space in the southeast corner of the building.
"I've been in your office and I look at the floor plan and I see your office," Terkelson said. "What are your trying to achieve by having more square footage? Just more square footage or ... what are the objectives of this?"
DeMet said it gets crowded in the current office.
"It's very difficult for the clerk or myself to carry on a conversation with somebody else who comes in there," he said. "During tax time, it really gets crowded."
"Agreed," Terkelson replied.
"Granted, that's only a month out of the year or two months or whatever happens," DeMet continued. "But it's been an idea, not just by this board but by previous boards that we really need to do something about it."
Storage is another issue, DeMet said.
"We've got stuff piled up on the stage in the gymnasium that could be filed away somewhere but we don't have room for it," DeMet said. "Our storage room is what used to be the shower for the gymnasium. You walk in there and you can't even turn around. There's file cabinets and maps that are shoved up in the corner and everything. We would like to take that out of there."
If the expansion is approved, the town's current office space would likely become a storage unit, he added.
With the new office space, there would be approximately 30 feet between the town chairman and the town clerk's working spaces, enough room to conduct individual conversations with other people "without interrupting the flow of business in the town office."
Terkelson then asked if a study of the community center's utilization had been completed.
"No," DeMet responded.
"Why not?" Terkelson asked.
"(It) costs money," DeMet said. "And we know what the utilization is. I mean, what's there to study? The gymnasium gets used on a regular basis, the town office is the town office."
"How many hours a month is the gymnasium used?" Terkelson asked. "Or the basketball court?"
"The building itself and the gymnasium gets used quite a bit," DeMet said, noting the space is used for everything from weddings to meetings.
According to DeMet, there was conversation at one point about moving the town offices into the community center's meeting room, where town board meetings are held and other community organizations such as the Lions Club hold their meetings, but there were objections to that idea.
"So, what's the alternative?" DeMet asked. "There are very limited places to add on to this building, because of the layout."
The proposed addition involves "minimal expense" and is the easiest way to accomplish the town's goals, he added.
"And, like I told you earlier, it's all up to the voters," DeMet said. "Come Nov. 28 at our budget hearing and then the special electors meeting following that, it will be presented and electors will get to vote on it. Whether they allow us to go any farther on this."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected]
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