County, school at odds over bill for improvements

A dispute between Ozaukee County and Sugar Maple Nature School officials over who should pay for improvements at Hawthorne Hills County Park is going to the lawyers.

At issue is $63,000 in site improvements the county made, including road paving and construction of a heated pump house to accommodate the school that opened in the park last fall.

The county Natural Resources Committee last week directed that County Corporation Counsel Rhonda Gordon, the county’s top attorney, get involved in the “negotiations.”

“I’m not sure what there is to negotiate. They were added for the school,” county Administrator Jason Dzwinel told the committee. “We’ll have Rhonda review the agreement.”

The school, which conducts classes outdoors for about 100 students in all kinds of weather, consists of a 70-by-120-foot one-story building containing eight classrooms, one of which is used for offices for an administrator, nurse, counselor and speech pathologist.

It is located on a five-acre “exclusive parcel” near the park’s maintenance building and a campground being developed immediately to the west.

The school moved from its former home at Riveredge Nature Center in the Town of Saukville.

Asked for comment, school Director of Communications Cindy Raimer said the memorandum of understanding with the county makes it clear the expenses are the responsibility of the county.

She deferred further comment to Dustin Teske, president of the school’s Governance Council.

Teske declined to answer questions from Ozaukee Press but issued a statement on behalf of the council:

“Like all long-term, collaborative partnerships there are times of disagreement. As Governance Council for Sugar Maple Nature School we have a fiduciary duty to protect the school. We believe the memorandum of agreement with the county demonstrates some items that have been billed are not our responsibility.

“In our opinion, this disagreement does not affect our relationship and we appreciate an open dialogue with the county now, and long into the future.”

Dzwinel echoed a similar sentiment.

“Once things are clarified, I’m sure we’ll have a great relationship going forward,” he said.

The agreement between the school and the county calls for the school to make annual payments totaling $375,666 through 2029.

The memorandum of understanding, which was approved by the county in December 2023, calls for the county and school to share the use of a nearby maintenance building, bathrooms and showers and parking lot and, in case of severe weather, offices and other rooms.

The school may also rent the building’s kitchen and common area and the H.H. Peters Youth Camp in the park.

The school also has access to about 80 acres of woods and trails.

Other conditions of the memorandum  include:

• The county must complete site development items such as building an access road, a parking lot next to a pickup and drop off spot at the school north of the maintenance building.

• It also must provide electric service, water supply, WIFI access and keep roads clear of snow and trees and maintain roads.

• The county is to complete additional site development items “as requested by the school at the school’s expense.”

An amendment to the agreement last year also says the school will be responsible to pay for a new drinking water well and its permitting plus pay for installation of a three-phase electrical service and new natural gas service.