Q&A's for the community on Kayla's Playground
Over the past two days, many of you have posted comments on Franklin Today's Facebook page expressing concerns and venting frustrations regarding decisions made on Kayla's Playground. Based on this, it is thought that a FAQ regarding the project would be helpful, along with responses Franklin Today received from Mayor Steve Olson and Common Council President Kristen Wilhelm.
Why did the Playground move away from the Victory of the Lamb site?
The complications to address the private drive of the Church as a public access to the park in the rear of the site became a costly endeavor to solve. Water and sewer extensions for the entire length of the site, along with bringing those to the site down Loomis Road added more cost to the project. Parking needed to be sandwiched between wetlands, roads, the stormwater basin, the playground itself, the Church, etc. Due to this, parking stalls and the road width were needed to be made narrower, creating a variance that would require new holdups. The road design for a better turnaround at the playground would have needed DOT and DNR approvals, which were being pushed away by both state entities leading to a lack of a bus turnaround. Mayor Olson expressed frustration on the pushback publicly at Tuesday's Council meeting. Additionally, the MMSD land needed to be donated prior to beginning the project so the matching funds for the impact fees did not have to come out of the city's budget. And finally, the site went from a budgeted $600,000 to a $1.3 million total cost, and placed the park in a less-than-optimal public, accessible site that was pinched for room with a minimal pavilion size just to fit it all in.
Who made the decision to move Kayla's Playground from the Victory of the Lamb site?
Due to the above complications, Pastor Ben Kuerth and Michelle Runte (leader of Kayla's Krew) met, resulting in a letter composed to the Common Council that they were mutually agreeing to be open to other site locations for the playground. Runte and Kayla's Krew's Board felt Pleasant View Park was a fitting location for the all-inclusive playground destination. The final decision to remove Victory of the Lamb from the table took place at the Council level after the presentation of the alternative sites.
Why was Pleasant View Park not selected by the Council?
For those who didn't support the playgound going to Pleasant View Park, it was likely multiple reasons. Here's some I can think of off the top of my head. The road to Pleasant View Park was built beyond the suggested safe cul-de-sac length for a road with one terminus. The single terminus road goes through the center of many Evergreen Street residences, and while residents were reasonable when approached with a neighborhood park, they were less than thrilled with their street becoming heavily-trafficked for a regional destination located at the park. This was a continued hot topic over several years as the park was being proposed and constructed. Every large regional project that has come up since the road has been built has been suggested at Pleasant View Park. Examples of this include multiple tennis courts, the dog park and now Kayla's Playground. It appeared the Council's position was along the lines of why cause a neighborhood safety problem when there were other, more suitable and more accessible parks for consideration.
What was behind the decision on Froemming Park and Lions Legend Park being chosen as the primary and backup sites?
After viewing the pros and cons, Froemming Park was viewed as underutilized in a great location with an adequate parking lot and existing facilities that would only need few modifications. It also is easy to locate for residents outside Franklin, and has an adequate primary access road (51st Street) that can handle the increased vehicular traffic and buses. Franklin's County Supervisors expressed an interest in working with the city and Kayla's Krew to bring the project to fruition. The project could open new doors for partnership opportunities to bring additional park amenities that residents have been asking for without the need for Franklin to carry the funding burden all by itself. "A partnership project has the potential to become a win for the city, the county and the community." stated Council President Wilhelm.
The Lions Legend Park site was a backup motion made by Council President Wilhelm due to concerns that were stated at the meeting and later made clear by Mayor Olson when he responded to Franklin Today's questions about his concerns. "There is a lot of site specific work that needs to be done along with the usual city development processes that need to flow in an order," stated Olson. "There is a commitment to about 1600 people to build this playground as a community unifying effort in mid-September. Back-timing all the tasks that need to be completed as well as scheduling of the playground designer and their crew, we’re already late by a couple of months."
How did the project get so far behind?
It's been stated that complications in the above questions were holding up the progress. But another potential glitch could have been a desire by Mayor Olson to get the sewer and water lines down past the Victory of the Lamb site. Once the sewer and water reached this point, it would be more readily available to supply the TIF District currently being researched by the city for the Loomis & Ryan Road intersection and properties south. Alderwoman Susanne Mayer, whose district includes both the Victory of the Lamb and the proposed TIF locations, stated in an email to the Common Council that was later sent to Franklin Today. "In no way should this project be charged to any TIF we may approve. That was not the intention of the original agreement to be partners in this (Kayla's Krew) project," stated Mayer. "Any TIF decision came later and I believe delayed the receipt of the necessary data that is now coming before us this 11th hour." Alderwoman Mayer also felt that "there was a lack of leadership in moving this project forward on a timely basis."
With the project being set back and getting behind, Mayor Olson took to his Facebook page and stated that several members of the Common Council, "put the project in the hands of Milwaukee County." Olson further stated that he felt that "this was a huge setback for Kayla's Krew that just may kill the project." When asked by Franklin Today about those remarks, he replied, "Based on my close knowledge of the project timeline, fundraising and promotion efforts and site specific needs of the project I stand by my comment." Mayor Olson has since pushed his remarks about the situation to the "description" section of the video he shared about the playground, instead of being a primary status write-up shown above it.
In response, Council President Wilhelm told Franklin Today, "The remarks are misleading because there is a backup plan and there is 11 weeks to wait for the impact fee study so that a private organization's project can qualify to use city funding." She further stated, "It also places the project in the Mayor's hands, as the Council sets policy. It's the Mayor's job to be sure he and staff carry it out. Rather than criticizing, I would hope (Mayor Olson) would want to dig in and make it happen."