La Crosse committee votes Thursday on Copeland Park fishing pier grant money, making Elsen full-time city clerk

There are 22 items on the Finance and Personnel Committee agenda for La Crosse on Thursday night.

Included in that agenda is a closed session for a collective bargaining update — which no action was taken during the January and February meetings.

The committee meeting begins at 6 p.m.
The full agenda can be viewed by clicking here.
Watch the meeting by clicking here.
To comment, email [email protected] — call 608-789-7510 (press 5) — or come, in person, to City Hall (mask required)

Also on the agenda, a couple items pertaining to La Crosse’s city clerk. It looks as though interim city clerk Nikki Elsen could be getting full-time status, beginning April 21.

Another resolution appears to give the mayor the authority to appoint a clerk, instead of it being an elected position.

The committee will also take up whether to accept a $27,500 grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a fishing pier at Copeland Park.

Funds must be matched from the city’s Parks and Rec. Department in order to accept the grant from the Sport Fish Restoration Fishing Pier program.

Also on the agenda is reallocating $375,000 for tree and lighting projects in the Powell-Poage-Hamilton neighborhood.

The proposal is to increase lighting funding by $100,000 to $350,000, and decrease the money for trees by $50,000 down to $25,000.

The $50,000 difference in funding appears to be coming from a 2019 lighting project that came “under budget,” costing $536,650.57. A balance of $161,650.57 would be made available.

Also, the committee will vote on the wages for added positions of police intern and police reserve at $7.25 an hour.