Part Two

Last week we reviewed the Callaway Village Board special meeting held on Aug. 17, in which community members were invited to share their thoughts and inputs with the board and Pool Committee regarding a proposed bond resolution. About 60 Callaway residents took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and make comments to the board prior to the special meeting held in the Community Center.

Village board member Lawrence Paulsen is chair of the Pool Committee, and led the hour-long community discussion. He was joined at the meeting by the other members of the Pool Committee: Lori Pandorf, Abe Hinman, Carla Kimball, Henry Moore, Brenner Beavers and Kendra Meyer. This week we will share more of the questions, concerns and responses from that meeting.

Community member and school board president Liana Hrupek shared some of her experiences when it comes to residents coming together for the betterment of the community. “We started the Callaway Community Foundation with the building of the community center, and the park, which were done mostly from donations. Every donation given to a project like this that goes through the Foundation is tax deductible. I’ve lived in Callaway my whole life, except when I was in college. Everybody wants young families to come to town, and we have to do things to continue to bring those families,” she said. “The more we can donate that could be a tax break for people that have the liquid funds to do that, we need to do that.”

While some may think recruiting new families to a small community like Callaway is not an issue, teacher and Pool Committee member Abe Hinman shared information to substantiate the importance of the conversation. “We recently had a Callaway Education Association meeting and it was asked how many teachers were going to retire within the next five years, and 75% of the hands went up. So that is going to be a big influx within the next five years of young families coming to the community. So that’s just another thing to think about,” said Hinman.

One resident agreed that it is important to do all we can to recruit those young teachers, but shared concerns about where those families may choose to live if the property taxes in Callaway are raised to fund the pool bond. “Property taxes are a huge factor when buying anywhere, so as you are looking at taxing this you need to think about what people are going to do,” she said.

Village Board Chair Mark Kimball said that is an issue the board has given considerable thought to, and reminded those in attendance that the more donations are given the lower the bond will be - and therefore, the lower the taxes will be.

There were also several citizens who reminded the crowd that this project will not be getting any cheaper if the Village chooses to put it off. “We were told the cost would go up another 10% every year,” Kimball added.

Village Board member Ken Pitkin was asked to share his insights as a long-time business owner in the community, and he happily obliged. “When they did anything to the hospital it increased our revenue, because we sold more. When people come to the community, even coming to the hospital, we get lots of residual business off of that,” said Pitkin.

Callaway District Hospital CFO Caleb Poore verified Pitkin’s statement that more than 77% of people who visit the hospital and clinic are from outside of Callaway and Oconto. “Those people stop, and we have an opportunity to capture that money. We aren’t going to pay for this by creating revenue. We are going to invest in our community.'

“All the town board is going to do tonight is say we are not going to make that decision. All we are going to do is give permission to this Pool Committee to put it on the ballot. And you know who gets to decide? You all get to decide,” Pitkin continued as he pointed across the people in the room. He also reminded the people that the Village has already saved nearly a half million dollars toward the project.

The biggest concern that was shared by residents is the cost of the new pool. “We don’t disagree with you. We don’t like the numbers on that board any more than you do,” said Paulsen. “In our minds it’s negotiable and we are going to work on that.”

Paulsen said that if the bond issue passes in the November election, the Village would be looking to immediately secure some funds to purchase materials and get prices locked.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Village Board unanimously approved a resolution to put the question of a pool bond at just under $4 million on the November election ballot.

Contact Ellen Mortensen at ellen@syndicatepub.com

From left: Callaway Pool Committee members Lori Pandorf, Henry Moore, Abe Hinman and Lawrence Paulsen, along with Village Board Chair Mark Kimball, answer questions about the proposed pool bond during a special board meeting on Aug. 17.