By Ben Rodgers
Editor

HOBART – It took some financial chess, but a new park in Hobart will be built soon without any additional borrowing.

The village board approved a hodgepodge motion at the Tuesday, May 15, meeting to complete the Centennial Centre public space park, located at the intersection of Centennial Centre Boulevard and Larsen Orchard Parkway.

The motion also called for the lighting of public use spaces and TID No. 1 roads, Larsen Orchard Parkway, Centerline Drive and Stella Court.

“At the end of the day we get the park, we get lights on the streets, we haven’t borrowed anything, and it has no impact on the village’s tax levy,” said Aaron Kramer, village administrator.

The approved motion pieced together four bids and two different funding sources.

The bids included a park development contract to Martell Construction for $227,360, the purchase of eight stone benches from Peninsula Stone of Kaukauna for $6,025, a contract to Bodart Electric Services for $185,655 and the purchase of lighting from by Viking Electric Supply for $112,407.

The funding will come from the remaining proceeds of TID No. 1 borrowing to the Centennial Centre public space project, with the remainder needed to complete the project out of the TID No. 1 undesignated reserve.

Kramer said village staff checked numerous funds looking for a reserve fund for this project, but they could not find anything.

The funding was originally set up for this at a time in between administrators for the village.

“That was the clue that sealed this for us and made us stop looking,” Kramer said. “There was no money set aside anywhere for this.”

The park will feature an arch the village has in storage and that needs to be constructed, decorative plantings, a decorative sidewalk, benches, a large circular center area and grass planted by seed.

“If this is approved we want to get the project rolling, especially with the sidewalk, the arch and the benches,” said Lee Novak, senior project manager with Robert E. Lee & Associates, the engineer and overseer for the project.

The motion passed unanimously with Trustee Tim Carpenter absent.

The board also discussed naming the park, but decided it would entertain that idea down the road.

In other news, the board accepted the 2017 comprehensive annual financial report prepared by Schenck.

“We’re pleased to indicate from compliance of laws and regulations, we do not identify anything we’re required to relate to the village board,” said David Maccoux, shareholder with Schenck.

Maccoux also reported no problems financially for the village and the way it keeps records.

“The financial records of the village are maintained at a high level,” he said.

The board also approved a certified survey map for the planned storage facility on North Overland Road.

The CSM will subdivide the parcel into two.

“The site plans were crafted knowing this was going to take place,” said Allyn Dannhoff, director of neighborhood services. “So the site review committee did take into account suggested property lines.”

The division of the lots is so the storage company can keep different types of storage on different lots, he said.