Marquette broaches idea of turning over Wetlands Centre operations to county conservation
The city of Marquette has broached the idea of turning over operations, and potentially even ownership, of the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre to Clayton County Conservation. The facility opened less than 10 years ago. (Times-Register file photo)
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
The city of Marquette has broached the idea of turning over operations, and potentially even ownership, of the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre to Clayton County Conservation.
Mayor Steve Weipert, addressing the topic at the city’s Dec. 14 council meeting, said he approached Clayton County Conservation first.
“I asked if they could have some input, if they had staff who were willing to come down and help with things or if they could use some of our staff at other projects they have,” he explained. “We talked to [Clayton County Conservation Board Executive Director] Jenna [Pollock] and she didn’t think that was a bad idea. She said she’d have to run it by her board. Then we met with the Wetlands Centre board and discussed it with them. This is just a very beginning discussion on things.”
“There are a million things we have not gotten answers to—how will it work, how won’t it work, how upset will people be in town?” he added. “The Clayton County Conservation Board may still call us up and say, ‘Nope, we don’t want anything to do with this.’ They may say, ‘Yes, we’re interested and would like to move forward and have some public meetings and see where it goes.’ Then they could propose it to the county. To give anybody an answer tonight on any one subject is going to be hard to do.”
Resident Tracy Melver, who will be a member of the council starting in January, took issue with how the idea was proposed.
“You kind of went about it backwards, did you not? Shouldn’t the council give direction to look at this?” he asked.
“It should have started with the Wetlands Centre board. They’re in charge of all property and staffing,” said Wetlands Centre Director Alicia Mullarkey. “That was one source of frustration, but we’ve worked through that.”
Weipert said the council is aware of the situation. He felt Clayton County Conservation was the logical place to start.
“It’s not like we left you out. If they had shown no interest whatsoever, then it’s like, what’s the point? But if they said, ‘Yes, we do kind of have interest in it,’ then we went to the Wetlands Centre Board,” he stated. “Personally, I was looking for a way to keep it open.”
If the city does not fund the facility, which is less than 10 years old, and it has to close for several months in the winter, Weipert said Mullarkey would become a part-time employee.
“You’ll have no benefits and I’m sure you will look for a better paying job where you do have benefits,” he told Mullarkey. “Then we’re going to be in a cycle of we’re going to get a new director, and that one will stay a year or two, and then we get a new director, and things will become a nightmare.”
“So fund it,” responded Melver. “I think the people of this town would be a little upset with the fact that we would even consider giving away a million dollar property, in my estimation, just because we don’t want to fund the operation of it.”
Melver, who also previously served on the council, noted the funds spent cleaning up the Wetlands Centre property and the work put into obtaining grants. Citizen tax dollars are also on the line, he added.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea for the county to run it, but look into a 28E agreement. If they’re afraid they’re not going to have a say in it, put it in an agreement,” Melver said. “I think the city should always retain ownership of that building.”
Mullarkey cited the Wetlands Centre project donors as well. Between $90,000 to $100,000 was raised locally for construction.
“Those people who contributed to that need to be considered in this conversation too,” she said.
That is why public meetings will be held, according to Weipert.
“Just because it was mentioned that Clayton County would like to own it, operate it, doesn’t mean that’s going to happen,” he stated.
“We need to get public input no matter what we decide to do on this. We’re looking at the long haul, what’s going to benefit the Wetlands Centre,” added council member Dave Schneider.
Mullarkey said she also felt it was important to look at the long haul and the city’s long-term plan for the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre. In her six years as director, she said there’s been a continual fight to obtain funding.
“If you don’t intend to fund operations at the Wetlands Centre fully, that will determine where we go with this,” she said. “I want to make sure everyone is at the table and getting input from the people who know the most about what goes on out there.”
Mullarkey noted that, if Clayton County Conservation was to assume more of a role, the intent would not be to change Wetlands Centre operations.
“They value what we do there, what contributions have been made,” she said. “Of any organization in the county, the conservation board is in line with our mission. Their mission is to do environmental education.”
Weipert said all the city can do now is see where the conversation goes.
“If it starts to go farther, we’ll have public meetings. If I ruffled anyone’s feathers, I’m truly sorry,” he stated. “I just thought it was an important enough thing to start it. And nothing may even come of this.”
