MONROE - Plans to build a trailhead facility in Twining Park with the use of a DNR matching funds grant got no further Thursday night, as members of the Visitor and Promotion Board voted against borrowing money from the city of Monroe.
Board members Matt Urban, Richard Thoman and Jan Lefevre voted against a motion to accept $125,000 from the city, to be repaid over the next five years, to provide the matching funds. Randy Gobeli was absent.
But all-terrain vehicle (ATV) owners offered their labors toward the matching funds, even though they prefer a facility on the other side of town - one that would promote the Historic Cheesemaking Center on Wisconsin 69.
About 20 people, many with interests in the Green County ATV Club and the Historic Cheesemaking and Green County Welcome Center, attended the meeting.
Two of the main concerns were the lack of facilities on the southern end of the city, and the underutilized Welcome Center.
Don Noble, trailboss for Green County ATV Club said he receives about five to 10 calls a week from people asking where they can camp when they use the Cheese Country Trail.
"I have to send them to Lafayette County," he said.
Noble said his club's ultimate intention is to get ATV riders to set up their $40,000 to $70,000 camping "rigs" near the trails in Monroe and, after riding all day, "come back 'home' and spend their money in Green County."
But Mayor Ron Marsh explained that much of the land on the south side is wetlands, which "takes it right off the grid," he said, for use as a trailhead facility.
Marsh said other spots in the area are too small to accommodate parking, dedicated to other uses or are privately owned.
One option Marsh has started to develop is to move a gazebo, donated by Menards, to 21st Street to be fixed up and landscaped for use as a shelter, to be close to the Welcome Center.
Ryan Wilson, a member of the Business Improvement District and Monroe Main Street, agreed the trails on Monroe's south side are in need of camping, bathroom and parking facilities. But he said, "There are (other) grants that would fund that to a greater extent than what we're talking here."
Twining Park represents an entry in the community from the north, he said.
"Badger State Trail is different from Cheese Country in that it's in its infancy; it's not used a great amount right now, but that usage is going to grow in the next 10-15 years," Wilson said. "What we're trying to do here is create a high-end entryway for the next 10-15 years. DNR seems to be thinking in the same way."
While Marsh stated the DNR was more interested in a year-round facility, ATV club members noted that they would not be using the facility much.
"ATV people can't get to Twining Park," Noble said. "Maybe once or twice this winter ... too much snow."
Noble said ATVs are allowed on the Badger State Trail from Dec. 1 through March 15, when there is less than four inches of snow and the temperature is 28 degrees or less.
Jim Glessner, executive director of the Welcome Center, spoke to the board about the Center's present work.
"The Welcome Center is accessible," Glessner said. "Last year we had 5,000 visitors. Within two days (of the Badger State Trail opening), we were selling trail passes as fast as I could get my hands on them."
Glessner agreed that parking at the Center was limited, but he made two suggestions for sites that could be used for extra parking near the center. One is city-owned land just south of the center, which Glessner said could be made to accommodate another 12 parking spots. The other is entering into an agreement with Leisure Lanes to use some of its lot for overflow parking.
Glessner pointed out that the Welcome Center sends "tons of people" to businesses in town for overnight accommodations.
"At some point in the future ... somebody is going to have to put some funds into the Welcome Center," he said about the center being run by 50 volunteers.
Some board members did not see the trailhead structure as fitting with the board's previous guidelines for qualifying for funding.
"The first thing we always ask is, will this generate an overnight stay," Lefevre said. "We don't know if people on their bikes are staying here. How can we justify this?"
Urban also questioned whether the facility was an appropriate use of funding.
"We've always worked very hard to use this as a marketing fund, to draw people" to Monroe, he said.
"I think we can come up with a win-win situation," Urban said. "Something that is a benefit to downtown, a benefit for Badger State Trail, a benefit for the official verses unofficial trailhead. I'm still not convinced there's not an opportunity to partnership."
Board members Matt Urban, Richard Thoman and Jan Lefevre voted against a motion to accept $125,000 from the city, to be repaid over the next five years, to provide the matching funds. Randy Gobeli was absent.
But all-terrain vehicle (ATV) owners offered their labors toward the matching funds, even though they prefer a facility on the other side of town - one that would promote the Historic Cheesemaking Center on Wisconsin 69.
About 20 people, many with interests in the Green County ATV Club and the Historic Cheesemaking and Green County Welcome Center, attended the meeting.
Two of the main concerns were the lack of facilities on the southern end of the city, and the underutilized Welcome Center.
Don Noble, trailboss for Green County ATV Club said he receives about five to 10 calls a week from people asking where they can camp when they use the Cheese Country Trail.
"I have to send them to Lafayette County," he said.
Noble said his club's ultimate intention is to get ATV riders to set up their $40,000 to $70,000 camping "rigs" near the trails in Monroe and, after riding all day, "come back 'home' and spend their money in Green County."
But Mayor Ron Marsh explained that much of the land on the south side is wetlands, which "takes it right off the grid," he said, for use as a trailhead facility.
Marsh said other spots in the area are too small to accommodate parking, dedicated to other uses or are privately owned.
One option Marsh has started to develop is to move a gazebo, donated by Menards, to 21st Street to be fixed up and landscaped for use as a shelter, to be close to the Welcome Center.
Ryan Wilson, a member of the Business Improvement District and Monroe Main Street, agreed the trails on Monroe's south side are in need of camping, bathroom and parking facilities. But he said, "There are (other) grants that would fund that to a greater extent than what we're talking here."
Twining Park represents an entry in the community from the north, he said.
"Badger State Trail is different from Cheese Country in that it's in its infancy; it's not used a great amount right now, but that usage is going to grow in the next 10-15 years," Wilson said. "What we're trying to do here is create a high-end entryway for the next 10-15 years. DNR seems to be thinking in the same way."
While Marsh stated the DNR was more interested in a year-round facility, ATV club members noted that they would not be using the facility much.
"ATV people can't get to Twining Park," Noble said. "Maybe once or twice this winter ... too much snow."
Noble said ATVs are allowed on the Badger State Trail from Dec. 1 through March 15, when there is less than four inches of snow and the temperature is 28 degrees or less.
Jim Glessner, executive director of the Welcome Center, spoke to the board about the Center's present work.
"The Welcome Center is accessible," Glessner said. "Last year we had 5,000 visitors. Within two days (of the Badger State Trail opening), we were selling trail passes as fast as I could get my hands on them."
Glessner agreed that parking at the Center was limited, but he made two suggestions for sites that could be used for extra parking near the center. One is city-owned land just south of the center, which Glessner said could be made to accommodate another 12 parking spots. The other is entering into an agreement with Leisure Lanes to use some of its lot for overflow parking.
Glessner pointed out that the Welcome Center sends "tons of people" to businesses in town for overnight accommodations.
"At some point in the future ... somebody is going to have to put some funds into the Welcome Center," he said about the center being run by 50 volunteers.
Some board members did not see the trailhead structure as fitting with the board's previous guidelines for qualifying for funding.
"The first thing we always ask is, will this generate an overnight stay," Lefevre said. "We don't know if people on their bikes are staying here. How can we justify this?"
Urban also questioned whether the facility was an appropriate use of funding.
"We've always worked very hard to use this as a marketing fund, to draw people" to Monroe, he said.
"I think we can come up with a win-win situation," Urban said. "Something that is a benefit to downtown, a benefit for Badger State Trail, a benefit for the official verses unofficial trailhead. I'm still not convinced there's not an opportunity to partnership."