09/07/12 To float or not to float was the big question at the Culver Park Board Meeting on Wednesday September 5th. The meeting, which went over 2 hours long, was mainly about the VFW pier project. The Culver Park Board had previously voted to send out quote packages to several businesses and then to open the quote process to all who had an interest in bidding the project. When the time came for the quotes to be voted on Park Board Member Tammy Schaeffer expressed her desire to table the issue. Ed Behnke another park board member stated that they had been working on this for the past 10 years and did not see the point in tabling the quote process. Schaeffer said she needed to do more in her research and was not even sure if the floating pier was what was needed.
WTCA correspondent Rhonda Reinhold asked Park Board member Schaffer if after 10 years of research “did she have no faith in the past Park Boards”? In response she said she had made a hasty vote in the past with the A, B and C piers. “The dimensions were off and let’s just say I am wiser.”
Representatives from several of the business’s that had submitted quotes were in attendance to see if they would get the job. Brian Morten from Thru Flow was asked by board member Patty Stahlings if an all season floating pier was the best option for the community. Mr. Morten responded, “No it is not. It is not how much ice that you have but the ice build-up that you have.” He went on to tell the members “The next time you put out for quotes, know what you want. These guys put a lot of time into this and this guy (referring to Mr. Spence) came from Wisconsin. Next time know what you want before you put out for a quote.”
After much discussion and questions back and forth from board members and vendors, a work session was scheduled for September 27th so that the board can decide what kind of pier they think is best for the community. The three choices are a standard pier, a floating pier, and/or a pier with both standard features in the beginning and floating as the water deepens. The quote process will then begin again.
Rhonda Reinholt Correspondent
