Park Committee — Minutes

ORGANIZATION: Park Committee DATE OF MEETING: March 17, 2026 MEETING PLACE: Town Hall, N5589 Commerce Rd, Onalaska, Wisconsin TIME OF MEETING: 7 PM CST PURPOSE OF MEETING: Regular meeting Draft Minutes AGENDA: 1. Called to order 7:00pm, in attendance: Betty DeBoer, Scott Cooper, Justin Brandau, Emy Monroe. Absent Ben Bockenhauer. 2. Motion to approve agenda Brandau/Cooper, pass 4-0 3. Motion to approve minutes from Feb meeting by Brandau/Cooper, pass 4-0 4. Public comments (3-minute limit) - none 5. Emy reviewed and committee discussed function of committees in governance of towns as defined in state statute. 6. Motion by Cooper/Monroe for Holmen Youth Baseball (HYB)to get approval for ball field use and to have priority for their schedule. MVP is also approved to use the ball fields, but they will need to adjust their schedule to work around HYB. HYB is to work with MVP to use Apple Valley. MVP’s options are to move one of the T/Th age groups to M/W at either Apple Valley or Strawberry Commons. Priority scheduling is awarded to HYB and BP because of their investment in field maintenance throughout the season and because they provide equipment to the parks, both at their group’s expense. Passed 4-0. Also diiscussed need for new forms with clear deadline and clearer instructions that insurance form must be included in order to be considered . 7. Discussion and possible action on updating the Town Park Plan, including, but not limited to UWL involvement, current status. Park plan is essentially updated regarding park descriptions and statuses. Demographic data from 2020 census could be used to update the town information and work from the 2023 Parks Committee may need to be added to get all action take to date accurate. Scott reported that the contact he worked with previously on collaborative efforts at UWL left the university. Scott will check if new UWL faculty member is interested in getting UWL students involved with writing grants and/or any aspects of the Park Committee’s updating of the Town Park Plan. Committee will update park plan to get grants. Discussed possible grant sources such as the La Crosse Foundation. Committee members will review the Town’s Park Plan that was updated in 2023. Betty will highlight all that needs to be updated. Emy will update the demographics. Plan is to first update the basics of the Town Park Plan, reprioritize and recommend to the board what to fund, and seek grants. 8. Discussion and possible action regarding status of the Park Tree guide/plan. Discussed need for procedure for offers of a tree donation. Betty reported that a community member who expressed interest in joining the Parks Committee may be interested in taking leadership on a tree donation policy. Members noted that diversity of trees, size of trees and other relevant factors need to be considered. Betty introduced resident, Amy Kothe, master gardener, who is interested in joining the Parks Committee. Motion to open the floor Monroe/Cooper, passed 4-0. Amy reported she lived in the Town for 10 years but is longtime resident of Onalaska, is semi-retired, lives in Heritage Hills area and became interested in getting involved when she noticed the nearby park could use some more attention. She taught locally at a community college and is aware of how to find volunteers to help with projects. 9. Motion to recommend to the town board to appoint Amy Kothe as a member of the Parks Committee. Monroe/Cooper, passed 4-0 10. Motion to adjourn at 8:10pm, Cooper/Monroe, passed 4-0 Submitted by Emy Monroe