The Twin Lakes Village Board has agreed to a memo of understanding with the Aquanuts water ski show team aimed at resulting in significant improvements to the area of Lance Park where the team holds its summer shows.
The MOU was approved by unanimous voice vote with all members presented, including Trustee Aaron Karow and President Howard Skinner attending by phone.
Plans developed by the Aquanuts call for the seating area to be reconstructed to be larger and parallel to the lake shore instead of curved, install a new main pier, upgrade electrical and shoreline reconstruction, install sound towers and upgrade landscaping.
The MOU says the estimated $400,000 cost of the project will be funded by a $100,000 from village park funds, a matching grant from the Clinton Family Fund and money from the Aqaunuts raised by fundraising and donations of labor and materials for the project.
The village funds — collected as fees on new development — could only be used for park improvements, village officials said.
Aquanuts officials have said the show section of the park would still be available for use by other organizations holding events there.
The vote came after lengthy discussion by the board and some members of the public at a special meeting of the board Tuesday.
One big change introduced into Tuesday’s deliberations was the timeframe for the project.
The Aquanuts had sought an aggressive schedule that would have the infrastructure aspect of the project completed before Memorial Day, with landscaping taking shape over the summer.
But concerns by village officials surfaced that sufficient review of the project be done. Village engineer Greg Droessler issued a report on April 3 after reviewing plans that raised some areas where more details were needed. Some replies to that report were supplied by the Aquanuts just before Tuesday’s meeting.
Trustee Ken Perl argued the original timeframe jeopardized other events this year held at the park each summer, such as Libertyfest, Rock the Lake and Cornfest because landscaping work would have large areas of the park unwalkable.
“I don’t see how this landscaping cane be done in time,” Perl said.
Some citizens also expressed concern about moving forward with the project, especially on the original timefarame.
Aquanuts representatives eventually said they were open to a later timeframe for the project, starting after Labor Day and finishing by mid-May 2026
The Clinton Family Fund required the matching money from the village as well as a long-term commitment from the village to the Aquanuts being able to use the park.
The Village Board settled on a 15-year term for the Aquanuts use of the park in the MOU.
“It’s not a perfect document, but its just a memo of understanding,” Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald said. “I’m OK with moving forward with this.”
