Milwaukee County says Franklin’s Rock Sports Complex still owes the county tens of thousands of dollars, but owner Mike Zimmerman insists all expenses are paid and agreements are respected.
“We’ve spent time and time with the county,” Zimmerman said in an email. “We said that all our past obligations have been fulfilled and we have shown it in the past. “
Scott Manske, the comptroller of Milwaukee County, discovered the discrepancy imaginable during an audit of a sports park operations and maintenance service agreement between Milwaukee County and ROC Ventures, the company that manages The Rock, which was in effect from September 2012 until February 2018 when a new agreement was reached.
The settlement provided for a steady annual payment of county revenue of $25,000. ROC Ventures paid the first year (2013) and agreements were reached with Milwaukee County Parks apologizing for the 2014-2016 bills due to innovations at the site, adding a berm, Manske said However, Manske also said there is no record of an exemption or payment through ROC Ventures for 2017.
Steve Taylor, executive director of the ROC Foundation and former Franklin City Councilman, showed that the $25,000 bills had been canceled and spent on landscaping such as planting trees and berms requested through the Village of Greendale and neighboring residents. between ROC Ventures and management they got $100,000 in gardening “instead of paying the $25,000 revenue stream for 4 years. “
Manske said the county also missed The Rock’s 2017 monetary report, which is key for him, as some other detail of the settlement indicated that if The Rock showed net profit, before taxes, Milwaukee County was entitled to 5% of the profits.
“Each of the years provided to us (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) showed a net loss of the source of income before taxes, so no potential source of income would have been payable to the county,” Manske wrote in a letter to Zimmerman.
However, Manske also questions the accuracy of some of the documents, noting that the Dec. 31, 2015 coin showed overall revenue in excess of $2 million, though it also shows a net loss after the year’s expenses. The 2016 monetary company reported operating income of $382,000. The sharp drop seemed questionable to Manske, and said it had not yet gained an explanation.
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According to the agreement Manske reviewed, ROC Ventures will award a $20,000-a-year contribution to youth outreach, but Manske only discovered contribution records in 2016 and 2017, which left 3 years without an account.
Taylor said the challenge lies between the original agreement and a new agreement that replaced it. “The agreement to give a contribution to the Boys and Girls Club of Milwaukee/Youth Programming went beyond what was required in the previous agreement, which it replaced through the 17-598 agreement,” he said.
Manske also questioned a $50,000 endowment fund for emergency maintenance that was instead used to plant on The Rock property. The fund will be reinstated in 2017, however, according to Manske, there are no records of it being returned to the county in 2018, but there are no payment records.
Manske sent a letter to Zimmerman requesting those recordings and answers to his questions, but by Oct. 27, he had won a reaction. Zimmerman told Now News Group he won the letter “a week or two ago” and said his reaction “was still ongoing. “
Manske submitted his report on the issues to the Milwaukee County Audit Committee on Oct. 20.
Seventh District Supervisor Felesia Martin said it gave the impression that the contractual agreement was made in “bad faith. “He added that this is not a remote issue, and said there is an “undercurrent” of developers making deals with Milwaukee County thinking they can do it. anything they need and the county will possibly not pursue them.
John Weishan, supervisor of the Sixteenth District, visibly disappointed at the Oct. 20 Zoom meeting, said the sale of the land where The Rock is located and the progression were designed to mitigate environmental hazards by maintaining a methane mitigation formula for the former landfill. that, he said, The Rock needed to put cash into a fund to pay for long-term repairs. Weishan estimated the payment at about $127,000.
“At the moment, The Rock hasn’t done their bills on time,” Weishan said. “In fact, they only made their first payment, only, for example, after some kind of harassment through the economic progress committee a few years ago. “
But Taylor said ROC Ventures “is up to date with the bottom of the methane mitigation formula. “Zimmerman said there is $392,238 in the account, though he claimed an overdue payment had been made in the past.
“It turns out (Weishan) is out of touch and continues to review to create a false narrative,” Zimmerman said, adding that a committee that includes Milwaukee County officials is meeting to review compliance.
Weishan also claimed that the assignment was not only designed as a task creator, but that Rock also had to meet the minority hiring needs the county was looking to see.
“They have not complied, at least in my opinion, with this requirement,” Weishan said. “I’m sure there are a lot of African-American supervisors who possibly would have based their vote on thinking this was going to be positive author of the task for the African-American community, and that didn’t turn out to be the case. “
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Zimmerman disagreed and said that component of the agreement had been respectable in its capacity.
“We have reputed the minority contract from our point of view, which states that we will have to do everything imaginable to rent a safe percentage of work,” he said. “For example, all public infrastructure works have been the subject of a public tender. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough qualified donations or concessions on some exchanges, so we may not achieve the county’s goal.
Taylor added that minority hiring needs for progression are “much closer than county figures show due to the laziness of county staff at the time who did not calculate and exempted giant portions of the allocation where no minority businesses were eligible to apply. “
Overall, Zimmerman said many of those allegations are “old, unfounded (sic) and with remedies. “
“Frankly, it would be more useful for them to look at paintings with progression and the city of Franklin than to oppose (us),” he said. “Their efforts have resulted in countless Milwaukee County resources and taxpayer money to (a) witch hunt. “
Weishan said The Rock’s monetary woes added to the considerations expressed through Franklin’s citizens about the sound and tranquility of the complex. He said the City of Franklin met expectations and made no effort to address the considerations.
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Milwaukee County had thought about taking a physically powerful exam at The Rock with approximately $50,000 set aside in the budget; however, after the county asked for proposals in April, it found that the cost of the exam could exceed $300,000. registered proposal without further action being taken.
“Noise and careful study/audit are a waste of taxpayer cash and human resources due to the fact that there is a progression agreement with the City of Franklin that is legally binding (regarding those issues),” Taylor said.
The audit committee meeting is scheduled for December 8
Contact Erik S. Hanley at (262) 875-9467 or erik. hanley@jrn. com. Like us on Facebook and Twitter on @ES_Hanley.
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