Walworth County park staff report cleanup progress, pilot robotic mowers

Walworth County parks staff told the Park Committee on Sept. 14 that storm cleanup across county parks and campus is largely complete, and that the department is piloting robotic mowing technology to reduce routine mowing hours.

"We've got 43,000 and some change left in what our spending is, which is about 10.2%," said the parks presenter, summarizing the September operations report and saying staff aim to reduce that balance to about 2.5 percent by year-end. The presenter said the department is field-testing a robotic mower at the sheriff's office and plans to deploy a larger fleet next year to free crews for other projects.

The committee heard an introduction of the department's newest groundskeeper, Chase, who described his background in local lake association work and time at UW–Madison. "I did 9 years for one of the associations on Lake Geneva and then bounced around a little bit," Chase said, adding he joined Walworth County to be closer to home.

Staff described recent work at Lakeland School to meet new safety and security guidelines, completed mulching at the government center and campus, and trail cleanup at White River Park; they also said a few deep trails remain inaccessible until equipment access is restored. The team noted collaboration with vendor Midwest Prairies for burns and other seasonal services.

Committee members praised visible improvements on county properties and asked for follow-up photos and progress metrics in future packets. Staff said the department is creating monthly budget breakdowns and KPIs to show available funds, major projects and spending pockets going forward.

The committee took no formal action on the operations report; staff will return with continued budget monitoring and implementation updates.