Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Henry Vilas Zoo Commission  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Tuesday, December 7, 2021  
7:30 AM  
A. Call To Order  
Others present: Ronda Schwetz, Joseph Darcangelo, Kristin Moala, Supervisor Melissa  
Radcliff  
A motion was made by ERICKSON that the December Zoo Commission meeting  
be called to order at 7:32 am.  
5 -  
Present  
Supervisor CHUCK ERICKSON, TAG EVERS, JEFFREY GUNDERSON, SARAH  
JUSTUS, and MICHAEL PETERSEN  
2 - JONATHAN BECKER, and ANNE ROSS  
Excused  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
2021  
MIN-480  
Attachments: 2021 MIN-480  
A motion was made by JUSTUS, seconded by GUNDERSON, that the Minutes be  
approved. The motion carried by a voice vote.  
C. Action Items  
D. Presentations  
None  
None  
E. Reports to Committee  
SCHWETZ gave an update on Zoo Lights. Timed-ticketing is working very well. Our  
community night was very successful. We have generated just over $200,000 from the  
event so far.  
Our concessions RFP closed and it is now in the review process. The Zoo will be taking  
over the operation of the carousel. We are excited about the direction we are going. The  
new contract will start in April 2022.  
The CLR stakeholder planning meetings will be coming up the week of January 17, 2022.  
The Zoo Commission will be invited. The Zoo will be reaching out to other stakeholders,  
including neighbors, for those meetings.  
The Herpetarium is now open. The primate building and Aviary remain closed. Our animal  
vaccines are almost done being administered. We are hopeful we will be able to open  
buildings once the face mask mandates are done.  
The remaining lion cub, Ansel, got a SSP recommendation to move in spring. This is  
really good news. He will have his own pride with this move.  
Zoo attendance as of November 1 was at 650,000. In 2020 because of COVID we only  
welcomed about 291,000 guests and we are back up to pre-COVID numbers now.  
Donations for the year are up. We have collected about $325,000 in donor tubes on  
grounds, which was up significantly from 2020.  
DARCANGELO will provide a year in review at the next Commission meeting.  
F. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
The next meeting will be held virtually on January 11, 2022 at 7:30am.  
G. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None  
H. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None  
I. Adjourn  
A motion was made by JUSTUS, seconded by PETERSEN, that the Zoo  
Commission meeting be adjourned at 8:01am. The motion carried unanimously.  
Respectfully submitted by Kristin Moala, pending approval by the Zoo Commission.