Village board approves letter of intent to buy property for sports complex

The Mount Horeb Village Board moved last week to approve a letter of intent to purchase 11.5 acres of land between Springdale Street and Commerce Drive for possible construction of a football field and sports complex. However, the letter does not bind the village to make the purchase, but tells the seller and other involved parties that they will make a good faith attempt to complete the purchase and complete the project.

Board attorney Bryan Kleinemaier clarified what the letter of intent means for the village. “We’re not approving the acquisition we’re not saying that we’re going to buy the property, basically we’re saying we’re going to work in good faith to see if this is a project we can work through,” he said.

Although the board has a financing option from a local bank through the end of the month, Kleinmaier said that timeline is too tight. “What I will tell you in my opinion is that is not feasible, there’s a lot of work that we need to do,” he added.

With a letter of intent deadline of June 30, 2023, the board has the option to do an appraisal, inspection, title work and any other research if they find it necessary. Kleinmaier said if the deadline comes around and the board has made progress but is still not ready, the seller is likely to grant an extension.

The construction of a football field is currently a requirement of the project, as the Mount Horeb Gridiron Club donated $50,000 towards its construction and helped raise about half of the purchase price of the land from donors.

In the joint session between the MHASD Board of Education and the Village Board an hour before Village Board meeting, the Board of Education said they were unable to contribute to the purchase of the land, but supported the idea of more sports facilities. They also cited a survey showing less than 50 percent support for most of the proposed facilities.

The decision to accept the letter of interest came after several commentors made their opinions of the project heard. Village resident and village plan commission member Peggy Zalucha said, “I want to make sure that the letter of intent does not send us down a road of no return nor does it imply approval by the citizens.”

Other commentors, many involved in youth sports, said field and gym space in the village is very limited, and an indoor pool nonexistent.

Village resident and president of the Mount Horeb Youth Baseball Association Mike Laesch said 150 youth baseball players are sharing three fields for practice and games. “Our kids are definitely cut short on that end of things,” he said. “We definitely need more field space.”

A resident and mother of student athletes said a pool would be beneficial to all generations of Mount Horeb residents. “Families with small children, swimming lessons, it’s a lifelong skill that will save your life,” she said. “High school kids can use it for rehab, cross training, it’s not just about swim team.” She also said a pool is likely the most relevant part of the project for the elderly as many use it for rehab and gentle aerobics.

The president of the Mount Horeb Basketball Club Kent Gilkes has overseen scheduling gym time for all the teams for many years. “It’s a complex and time-consuming endeavor because of the lack of gym space,” he said.

He said they have access to three gyms, and two of those are shared with the school which has priority, making those gyms sometimes unavailable until seven p.m. Gilkes said more space for many different sports allows for more tournament opportunities to bring tourist dollars into the community. “It can be a big money maker for us and other clubs as well; they can start to host more activities on the weekends,” he said.

It’s unclear just how much it would cost taxpayers to buy the land, build the indoor complex and outdoor fields. It has also not yet been estimated how much it would cost annually to maintain and run the property.

Village board trustee Brett Halverson said there is a chance the board purchases the land and nothing gets done besides the football field, especially if the school does not pass a referendum to help develop the land, but this letter is not final.

“We are not making any hard decisions right now, we aren’t locking ourselves into anything at this moment so I support this tonight but there are questions that need to be asked and we need to seriously think about what the timelines are – five, ten, fifteen years – before we commit ourselves to this,” he said.