Even as the public debate over the two Confluence Project referendums raged, a small group was quietly meeting to make plans for how the proposed downtown performing arts center would be operated. The Confluence Council Task Force, which was appointed last fall by the Eau Claire City Council, held its last regular meeting March 26.

The panel, chaired by businessman Bob Krause, delved into the nitty-gritty of how the community-university facility would run, such as how UW-Eau Claire and community arts groups would share the space. (The two entities would rent each others’ parts of the arts center as necessary.) In addition to approving bylaws, the task force picked the individuals who will serve on the Confluence Council itself.

Those members include Mike Rindo of UW-Eau Claire; Eau Claire City Manager Russ Van Gompel; Ben Richgruber, executive director of the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center; professor Alan Rieck, chairman of the UWEC Music and Theatre Arts Department: Linda John, executive director of Visit Eau Claire; Stuart Schaefer of Commonweal Development; two community members, Mel Breed and Vicki Hoehn; and a not-yet-selected representative of the local arts community Ann Sessions of the Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild, who was selected April 4 to represent the local arts community.

In addition to helping convene the Confluence Council’s first meeting, the task force plans to release revised operating budget estimates for the performing arts venue later this month. At the March 26 meeting, Richgruber said preliminary savings of about $200,000 had been found in the roughly $1 million annual operating budget proposed in a study released last year by VenuWorks, which was hired to prepare a business plan for the facility.