Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting - June 25, 2026
Parks & Recreation Committee Meeting - June 25, 2026
The Parks & Recreation Committee of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, met on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 5:30 PM in Council Chambers. Chairperson Cummings presided. All four present members (Cummings, Brey, Norell, Dunbar) participated; Alderman Reckelberg was excused. The committee approved consent items, received project updates, and authorized donations for the skatepark and zoo education exhibits.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval (26-0563): The committee unanimously approved the minutes from the May 28, 2026, Parks and Recreation Committee meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments, either in person or via Zoom.
Discussion Items
Park Project Updates (26-0560)
- Parks & Recreation Director Brock Wetenkamp reported on four active projects:
- Silver Creek Stream Restoration: Total grant funding of $945,000 received. The low bid for construction was $654,000. Construction window opens July 20 (due to Great Lakes tributary timing) and is expected to be completed by September 11.
- Lincoln Park Zoo Wetland Boardwalk: Construction ongoing; boardwalk delivery delayed. The contractor expects completion before the Zoological Society’s grand opening event on July 18.
- Miracles Park X-Sports Skatepark Phase 3: A public-private partnership funded by a grant from the West Foundation, $20,000 raised by the skatepark group, and a $100,000 city budget match. Demolition of old ramps scheduled for this weekend; construction will begin mid-July with completion by the end of August. ACE donated labor for deconstruction.
- Red Arrow Park: On track for a July 4 opening. Asphalt paving starts tomorrow. The planned open-air shelter under the event space was found unfeasible due to poor soil conditions (footings required digging 8+ feet to reach native soil, near water line). The committee discussed pivoting to renovating the existing outdoor pavilion/bathroom building instead. Members expressed support for this shift, noting it may be completed this year and allows time to plan a future shelter. Committee members thanked the parks department for collaborating with the community on the skatepark project.
X-Sports Donation Tube Request – Phase 3 Skatepark (26-0561)
- Director Wetenkamp requested authorization to use funds from the X-Sports donation tube for Phase 3 of the skatepark. No specific dollar amount was stated in the transcript, but the motion was to approve the use of donation tube funds. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
Zoo Donation Tube Request – Bioactive Vivariums (26-0562)
- Kelsey Kirk, Education Director at the Lincoln Park Zoo, requested $1,000 from the zoo donation tube to convert the education center’s animal tanks into bioactive vivariums (self-sustaining ecosystems with live plants and cleanup insects). She noted that this would eliminate annual costs of $200–300 for substrate and 40 hours of labor for cleaning, reduce stress on sensitive amphibians, and improve animal welfare. After discussion, Alder Dunbar proposed increasing the authorization to $1,200 to provide a 15–20% contingency and allow for an additional tank. Director Wetenkamp supported the increase. The committee unanimously voted to approve up to $1,200.
Key Outcomes
All three motions passed unanimously (4-0, with Reckelberg excused):
- Consent agenda approved.
- X-Sports donation tube funds authorized for Phase 3 skatepark (no specific cap mentioned).
- Zoo donation tube funds authorized up to $1,200 for bioactive vivariums.
- The committee expressed no objection to the proposed pivot at Red Arrow Park to focus on renovating the existing pavilion building rather than constructing an open-air shelter under the event space. No formal action was taken on this item; it will be revisited in future meetings.
- Meeting adjourned at 5:51 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Are you ready to go? All right, it's 5 30, so we'll call the Parks and Rec Committee meeting for June in order. For roll call, we have everybody here except for Aldo Alder Ruckelberg, who is excused. And then so we'll move on to public comments. Is there anybody here that would like to speak on anything germane to the parks and recreation committee? Going once. Going twice. Miles, you want to speak? I think anything about parks? No? All right. Here's the opportunity. Okay. Anyone online? Still more time, Miles. Any equipment you want to see? Okay. Then public comment is closed. We don't have any presentations on the docket for tonight. Uh so we'll move on to the consent agenda. Is there anybody that wants to remove anything from the consent agenda? Seeing none, then we'll be looking for a motion to approve. So moved. Okay. Second. And a second by Alder Bry. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. And pass unanimously. So we'll move on to our discussion and action items. The first item is 26-0560 updates for updates on park projects. And Brock, go ahead. So we just thought with uh having a few parks projects started and a couple coming up soon that would be given update based on where we're at with these and how things are going. So I am gonna save red arrow for last. So Silver Creek Stream Restoration. So this is a project we've been trying to get going since I started 2021. I remember we took a walk out along the stream, and there's some really bad emotion on the banks, and you know I was with um uh consultant, and I say, you know, how can we get this done? And she thought, you know, we could find some grants and get we could we would do this fairly fairly well without really impacting the city's budget. So fast forward five years later, we have um we have nine hundred and forty-five thousand dollars in grant funding for this project. We set some of that on design and permitting and all those things. Um we're at the point where we did put this out for bid. We got a favorable uh number back. So six hundred and fifty-four thousand, I believe, was our BIM amount. Um so that was you know well within what we were looking for, or maybe some other costs for maybe parking restoration things like that. So um yeah, and construction management costs. But but at this point, we are going to start um constructing in June 20th. Um the week of June 20th. Uh you might wonder why so quickly. Well, our construction window on a Great Lakes tributary is July 20th.
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