Waukesha - There will be no new lights at Frame Park at this time.
That was the decision of Waukesha's Finance Committee after it voted 3-2 against the request to have a new lighting system installed at the park, located at 701 E. Moreland Blvd.
It was unanimously approved at the Parks, Recreation & Forestry Board at its June 6 meeting but it needed to get approved by the Finance Committee and then by the Common Council.
The estimated cost was $205,000 but four groups were going to donate a combined $27,000 to the project. The Waukesha School District and Carroll University had already pledged $10,000 each, while Catholic Memorial High School was going to give $5,000 and the Waukesha & Pewaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau was set to donate $2,000.
General Obligation Bond funding was going to be $105,000 after $73,000 impact fees.
The Parks, Recreation & Forestry Board said the last upgrade was in the early 1980s and in the last three years, there have been significant electrical system problems. They indicated the infrastructure is outdated.
One of the goals of the project was to meet current lighting standards for high school level play and to have colleges play there as well. But this project will have to wait or be revisited at another time with it getting shot down by the committee.
In other news Tuesday night, the committee is putting Mayor Jeff Scrima's request to have any city project that exceeds $50 million go to a referendum on hold.
The current project that is this price tag would be the purchase of Lake Michigan water. The estimated cost of that is $164 million.
The Committee said it wants to study state statues further and will revisit the topic at its July 26 meeting. The Ordinance & License Committee will discuss the mayor's request at its July 25 meeting.