Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Heritage Park is one of two parks in Shawano County managed by an outside organization. The county’s outdoor recreation plan proposes establishing park management agreements with the Shawano County Historical Society, which oversees Heritage Park, and Shawano County Arts Council, which manages the Mielke Arts Center.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski One of the high priorities in Shawano County’s recently adopted outdoor recreation plan is to replace the playground equipment at Shawano Lake County Park.
The Shawano County Board gave a unanimous endorsement Wednesday to a new five-year outdoor recreation plan.
The plan, which was developed by the East Central Regional Planning Commission through a grant, maps out multiple priorities for the county park system and suggests some options that could be implemented.
The plan’s adoption does not mean any of the projects are approved to be done, according to Parks Manager Keith Marquardt, and there are no monetary amounts attached to any of the projects.
“Anything that we do here has to go through the budgeting process and the CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) process,” Marquardt said.
One of the priorities is to create park management agreements with the Shawano County Historical Society, which operates out of Heritage County Park and the adjacent Sunset Island, and the Shawano County Arts Council, which manages the Mielke Arts Center at Mielke Park.
Also high on the priority list is improving trails in some of the parks. Waukechon Riverside Park’s trail system should be expanded, according to the plan, and upgraded for easier accessibility. At Oconto River Park, the plan calls for developing hiking trails through the wetlands.
The creation of a new dog park, a topic of considerable debate in 2012, is in the plan, although it is not scheduled for development until 2018.
The plan also recommends looking at other potential sites for recreational development. The county owns land in the towns of Almon, Bartelme and Wittenberg that could be utilized for future park use.
Under long-term projects, the plan suggests future acquisition of land for park use. The Alexian Brothers Novitiate property near Gresham is listed as a possibility, and it is recommended that the county purchase more property along Shawano Lake for another park.
The plan also recommends that the county integrate a 60-acre site on the Red River into the parks system if the town of Richmond does not have the resources to develop it.
Supervisor Gene Hoppe criticized the plan for having typographical errors, including listing one piece of land in the town of Richmond instead of the town of Wescott. He felt the plan should be postponed until the Highway and Parks Committee corrects any errors.
“Why should we vote on something that isn’t correct?” Hoppe said. “When we put our stamp on it, it needs to be correct.”
A motion to postpone failed 20-5.
Marquardt pointed out that many of the errors came from the comments provided by people who took the parks survey online. Comments were included verbatim.
“It doesn’t affect the overall plan,” Marquardt said.