The Village of Wind Point contracted with Jeffrey Sanders of Community Planning & Consulting to assist with completing the Village’s first Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan! The purpose of the plan is to take an inventory of existing outdoor recreation amenities in the Village and to identify opportunities and strategies for future improvements. The resulting plan follows a format prescribed by the Wisconsin DNR for CORPs. By having a CORP, the Village will become eligible for certain grant programs to help fund projects.
Plan Adopted June 14, 2018
The final draft of the Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP) was presented to the Village Board at the regular meeting on June 14, 2018. The final draft included revisions recommended by the Parks, Recreation & Facilities Committee at their meeting on May 14. Thank you to all who submitted feedback on the initial and final drafts of the plan.
The Village Board adopted the CORP unanimously on June 14 – click here to view the adopted plan. Village Board members acknowledged there were many people in favor of adding a bicycle/pedestrian lane to Lighthouse Dr., while others pointed out the logistical issues with adding such a lane to a narrow road. The Board decided that as a matter of public safety this topic needs to be explored further to determine what solutions are possible. A recommendation was added to the CORP to study bicycle and pedestrian safety issues (for the Village as a whole). Although a bicycle lane between Shoop Park and The Prairie School was not provided on the approved version of the CORP, it is possible to add such a project to the CORP at a later time if a feasible solution is identified. The Village will be required to update the CORP at least once every five years.
The plan provides a list of recommendations that may be considered by the Village Board at a future time, but the Village will not be required to implement any of the recommendations. Many of the plan’s recommendations involve enhancements to the Wind Point Lighthouse grounds and the addition of multi-use pathways in the Village.
Public Participation
A major component of the planning process is public participation. Feedback for the plan was gathered from both an outdoor recreation survey and at a public workshop. The survey was available online and at the Village Office between January 24 and February 3, 2018. There were a total of 167 survey responses, or 21.4% of households in Wind Point.
The public workshop was held on February 15, 2018 at Wingspread. More than fifty residents, landowners and Village officials attended the session. Participants engaged in a visioning session intended to identify community strengths and park & rec needs. The visioning portion of the meeting was followed by a prioritization phase during which attendees placed adhesive dots onto the wall graphic adjoining the ‘Needs or Wants’ for which they each placed the highest value.
Consultant Selection Process
In October 2017, the Village accepted proposals from planners to assist with completing a Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan for Wind Point. Proposals were received from Community Planning & Consulting (Green Bay), Ayres Associates (Madison) and Vandewalle & Associates (Milwaukee). The Village selected Community Planning & Consulting based on the related experience of Jeffrey Sanders and proposed fee of $7,160 being the lowest of the three proposals.