Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader File Photo Located along state Highway 117 just south of Cecil, the Mud Lake Wildlife Area includes 320 acres that is popular for hunting and other outdoor recreation.
An effort to redevelop part of the Mud Lake Wildlife Area has united neighboring municipalities that once seemed at odds over the future of the popular conservation site.
Officials from Cecil and the neighboring town of Washington have approached Shawano County with a joint proposal to allow business development on the county-owned site along state Highway 117.
State conservation officials could pose an obstacle because the county used state funds to acquire Mud Lake on the condition that the site would remain a protected wildlife conservation area.
For now, however, Cecil and Washington officials are teaming up to present the county with a strategy for selling about 20 acres for development.
Cecil Village President Eric Thomas and Washington Town Chairman James Schneider sent the county a jointly signed letter dated June 5 indicating that the two neighboring communities have met to forge a combined effort on Mud Lake.
“It was a general consensus of both municipalities to move forward with this project,” the letter stated.
Members of the county board’s public property committee last week discussed the new joint effort by the two communities, but took no action on the matter.
County Supervisor John Ainsworth, the committee chairman, said he was pleased to see the neighboring communities working together, and the county remains willing to consider their ideas for Mud Lake. However, the state Department of Natural Resources must grant the county permission to sell any part of the wildlife area for development, Ainsworth said.
“It’s pretty much not a county decision — not at this point,” he said.
Referring to Cecil and Washington officials, he added: “If they can convince the DNR and they agree, then we’ll have to consider it.”
Cecil village officials approached the county in early 2016 with a request to sell part of the Mud Lake area for new business development and also to allow Cecil to annex the developed area to bring the village new commercial activity and an expanded tax base.
County officials voiced early support for the proposal, but Washington town leaders raised objections about not being included in discussions regarding real estate in their town.
DNR representatives asserted ultimate authority over the deal by telling Shawano County it could not sell any part of Mud Lake without state approval because the county accepted state funds to acquire the conservation site starting in the 1960s. The state later said it would require the county to replace any sold property with another conservation site of equal or greater value.
A state appraiser put the value of the Mud Lake property sought by Cecil at $63,500.
Located just south of Cecil, Mud Lake includes about 320 acres that is used by the county for wildlife preservation and is a popular site for hunting and other outdoor recreation.
In a letter last January to both Cecil and Washington officials, the county noted disagreement between the two communities but wrote that county officials were “ready, willing and able” to consider a development deal if either or both of the municipalities came forth with a proposal that would satisfy the DNR.
Leaders of the two communities then met in May and worked out a plan: the town would purchase Mud Lake property from the county, possibly then resell the property, and work out some agreement for sharing revenue with the village.
“Both parties feel that we should be able to come to an agreement,” Thomas and Schneider wrote in their June 5 letter to the county.
In an interview Wednesday, Thomas said he remains willing to work with the town, but he believes county officials have decided that the DNR’s opposition is too much to overcome and that a development deal is unlikely.
“It would take a lot of work for it actually to happen,” he said. “I don’t think the county’s interested in doing that much work.”
Ainsworth disagreed and said the county is willing to consider a sale and development plan, if the DNR and other issues can be addressed.
Schneider could not be reached for comment, but Washington Town Supervisor Dave Korth said efforts are continuing to reach a consensus on the best way to move forward. Korth said the town might hold a town meeting to discuss with residents options for purchasing the Mud Lake redevelopment site.
Although Korth said he believes a deal with Cecil could be worked out, he is uncertain what the town would expect to get out of such a deal.
“That’s totally open to negotiation,” he said. “We’ll just have to play it by ear.”