WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council discussed the new recommendation from the Recreation Board regarding the alcohol policy for the new Community Center opening next week.
The new “intergenerational facility” will hold amenities common for community centers, including multipurpose event rooms, club rooms, a fitness center, and a gynmasium. This will provide services for community members of all ages, and be the headquarters for the Senior Center and Recreation Department.
However, a major sticking point to facility procedures is whether or not alcohol will be allowed on the property, as many feel that alcohol is not conducive to healthy living—an important goal of the Recreation Department.
Originally the Recreation Board submitted the first draft of policies to the City Council which would have completely banned alcohol from the property—which was a unanimous decision based on the mission statement of the Board. At the September 10 meeting, the City Council requested that they reevaluate the policy as this would prevent many organizations from holding their events at the new facility, which would cut potential revenue that the city could generate from renting out event space.
The Recreation Board reconsidered the policy at their meeting on September 30, voting 4-2 to make a new recommendation to the Council stating, “The Waupun Community Center maintains an alcohol-free environment for regular operations. Private events may request to offer alcohol, but no sales of alcohol may be conducted during their events.”
The City Council discussed the new recommendation at the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, October 8.
Alderwoman Kambria Ledesma first gave an explanation of the decision. As a member of the Recreation Board she was involved with discussions on the policy and pushed for them to reconsider their original stance.
She reiterated from the previous meeting that while not all members of the Recreation Board are strictly anti-alcohol, they did not feel it fits the mission of the Community Center as it stands. She also said that their priority is to get the new facility up and running before considering specific policies that won’t take effect for several months.
“Because the Center isn’t open yet, and we don’t know what it’s like to operate—we don’t even have our hours of operation set—there’s just so much up in the air that we just want to get the facility open, and we can come back to this later,” Ledesma said.
Alderman Dan Siebers said that regardless of their decision the policy would have eventually made its way back to the City Council, pointing out that the Board knows that the Council can override the policy if it decides to do so.
“This is about as far as we can ask them to go,” Siebers said. “The thought here as it was presented—let’s get it open for six months, let’s gauge the rental interest, and at that time the Council can make a different decision or it can go back to the Park and Rec Board.”
Alderman Jason Westphal then asked Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Kaminski to comment on the decision.
“After a lot of discussion about it, the Board really wanted to host those baby showers, bridal showers, Christmas parties, family gettogethers—and have that space for those types of events,” Kaminski said. “The larger events where alcohol might be sold, they were still on the fence about.”
One such event that this is referring to is the Rotary Club Beerfest, an annual fundraiser event benefiting REACH Waupun where attendees can purchase tickets to taste-test a wide variety of locally crafted beers. This event was previously held in the City Hall Auditorium and Go-Dutch Solutions, but event organizers have expressed interest in using rooms at the new facility.
Alderman Mike Matoushek asked if purchasing a ticket would get around the “no sales” rule, such as in Beerfest, or if events could give out raffle baskets that might include alcoholic beverages. City Attorney Dan Vande Zande believed that tickets would not be allowed under the current wording, but that raffle baskets might be if not opened on-premises.
Matoushek also pointed out that alcohol sales are allowed at the park shelters during events, of which West End Park is kitty-corner to the Community Center property. Ledesma said that while the Community Center is new and exciting, there are other opportunities for such events and not everything has to go into the new building.
Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz joined in to add that the City should consider a public survey, saying, “With the number of people I’ve talked to, everybody feels they should be allowed to offer alcohol. And I’m not situated either way, I like this resolution to it, but at the same time we’re turning down good revenue for that building.”
“This building is a multi-use, multi-generational building for the community, it’s not just a health and fitness building, and part of the usage of this building was that it was going to be put out to the community as a rental,” Alderman Westphal said. “And if community-based organizations are going to use alcohol sales as a fundraiser at their gatherings, I don’t see why we would restrict that.”
The Council further discussed the matter, but ultimately agreed that the policy should be revisited in the future. City Administrator Kathy Schlieve also pointed out that the gymnasium will have a restriction on liquids, essentially limiting it to bottled water to protect the floor surface.
No action was taken as it was a discussion-only item on the agenda. No survey will be released, but the Council will reevaluate the policy after six months of operation.
“Just on behalf of the Council and the Mayor, thank the Board for all their hard work,” Alderman Siebers said. “We passed the rest of the policy intact with no issues. So they did a lot of hard work as a group, so try to be as respectful to that group as possible.”
The facility will hold its first day of operation on Monday, October 21 after moving from the old Senior Center completes this week. Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop will be giving a community update session there the following day, Tuesday, October 22, at 1PM.
The gymnasium and other multipurpose rooms in the new facility are not not expected to be rented out for private parties and events until Q1 2025 at the earliest.
The City Council also passed the lease agreements for the Waupun Food Pantry and REACH Waupun, both of which will move into spaces on the east side of the building. The Waupun Food Pantry will pay $2,500 per month in rent to the City with an additional $500 per month maintenance fee, plus all utilities metered to the rented space. REACH will pay $1,000 per month for rent and $250 per month in maintenance, plus utilities. The lease agreements for both begin on November 1, 2024 and will be valid for five years with the option to extend for terms of two years under the same contract.
