Crescent plan commission looks for ways to engage residents

The plan commission for the Town of Crescent has been tasked with many things, one of which is to find ways to better communicate with townspeople. At this month’s meeting, there was some discussion regarding the town’s website and the possibility of engaging residents via social media.

Originally, the commission had intended to have Karl Jennrich or Scott Ridderbusch from the county zoning office come to talk to the plan commission regarding zoning within the town. In 2007, the town had voted to adopt Oneida County zoning, but all lands in the town remain as general use. 

There had been some concern of late regarding that designation, and if portions of the town should be zoned differently. However, neither Jennrich nor Ridderbusch was able to make this month’s meeting. The hope was that one or both would be available for the August plan commission meeting. In lieu of that discussion, the commission took up other business, part of which was communication.

Plan commission member Nina Baum brought up the website in a discussion about engaging people in activities and recreational opportunities within the town. The idea was to create some sort of interactive map that website visitors could click on to learn about trails and recreational opportunities. This would include items such as the three launch ramps within the town, Town Line Park, the Heal Creek trails, which are near the town’s border, and the trail around Hanson Lake. She led the commission in a discussion about what that map might look like.

“Are we thinking of something that just kind of showcases the space and we have pinpoints of things like boat launch, recreation trail, park?” she asked. She said it could be set up in such a way that visitors to the site could click on each point of interest and a pop-up would offer more information.

Commissioner Jim Altenberg said he would like to see pictures as well, so people could get an idea of what a launch ramp looked like, for example.

Baum said that, in order to do any major updates to the website such as this, it would need to be in the town budget. She said she understood that the town kept the same web service provider because of the small cost associated with the current agreement, but she said it may be worth looking into an alternative provider, should the town agree to website upgrades.

“That’s one thing that I have wanted to bring up, is updating our web presence,” Baum said. Commissioner David Holperin asked Baum what she felt upgrades such as an interactive map page may cost, as she had experience in that area. She said she felt as though it could be near $2,000 for an interactive map such as the one the commission had been talking about. For a map that would be a simple PDF with information about each point of interest, she said she felt it would run only a few hundred dollars. She said she would contact the web provider to get an estimate. At that time the plan commission could decide on a course of action and then bring their ideas to the board for approval. 

From there the web presence idea moved to a Facebook page. Not only would this page allow the town itself to better interact with constituents, Baum said, but it would be another way to possibly find more people who might be interested in sitting on the plan commission. This topic came up at last month’s meeting as well with chair Pazdernik stating he would like to see commissioners from all four corners of the township, rather than have a committee stacked with just residents of Crescent Lake, for instance. 

Pazdernik asked Baum if setting up a Facebook page for the town was something she could do. She said she could have it up and running within 30 minutes. Pazdernik said he would approach the other board members about the idea. Baum said she would be willing to take one of the admin roles on the page, should the board agree to leverage social media as a way to interact with and engage town residents.

In the meantime, commissioner David Holperin asked all of the commissioners to keep in mind the need for more commissioners and to bring him any ideas they may have, or to reach out to those individuals themselves. 

In the discussion of recreation, the idea of a park at the town hall was brought up. Commission chair Mike Pazdernik said a former board member had done all of the leg work and brought forward bids for equipment for a children’s park at the town hall site. As the board changed over, however, the idea was dropped. He said he would check to see if the former board member still had possession of the information she had gathered. This park, if it were built, could also serve as access to the Heal Creek trails. 

Altenberg said areas such as that, where the town could partner with other towns, the county, or even trails groups could go a long way toward finding grant funding from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The state, he said, looks more favorably on projects where multiple partners are engaged and interested. This was something the plan commission would consider as they continue to discuss parks and recreation within the town. 

The next meeting for the Town of Crescent plan commission was set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 6. Holperin said he planned for someone from the county zoning office to be in attendance and asked the other commissioners to email him any questions they might have so the zoning office could have some answers ready for the town at that meeting.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].