Parks and Rec (and some thoughts about the future)

When I ran for office last year, I had no ax to grind, no score to settle, no hash to make, no agenda whatsoever. My sole campaign slogan was “I love this town!” and I meant it (of course, I still do). But now after serving as mayor (would you believe) nearly ten months I'm starting to get ideas.

For starters, folks we need new sidewalks in our downtown area. Plain and simple. There is a law of thermodynamics that simply put says, “Everything falls apart.” Given all the freezing and thawing that we experience in a year, we just have to accept the fact that living above the 45^th Parallel has its consequences. Among them being that just like our streets, our sidewalks deteriorate – some at a faster rate than others – and eventually become hazardous in getting from one place to another, especially if you are visually impaired or use one of those walkers that you can sit down on if the need arises. “Well, if they're so bad, let the property owner replace them,” some might say. But if your profit margin is so thin that the thought of being assessed the cost of labor and materials persuades you to put that project off for another day, nothing gets done or will get done. Or, if you fix the really bad spots you end up with a patchwork of new and old that at the end of the day looks rather tacky and unbecoming.

This is an accident waiting to happen

It makes sense to me that if the sidewalks in the business district are used by everyone than everyone should chip in for them. I'm certainly not suggesting we do them all at the same time. Rather, just like we have a street schedule we should also develop a sidewalk schedule so that every year for however long it takes us we would replace a block's worth until the job was done. Besides, according to Dan (i.e., Public Works Director Dan Knapp), it's cheaper to do it that way, than a square here and a square there. (Fyi: our guys don't really do concrete work anymore so this would be a job we would have to contract out.)

Not in the Dells but in Cameron

Have any of you been to Gus Spiers Park in Cameron lately? It wasn't too long ago that Gus Spiers Park was (in my opinion) a dumpy little play area on Highway W on Cameron's west end. But now it's a beautiful recreational area complete with splash pad. What's a splash pad? Well, think pool but without the depth. Think running through a sprinkler on a hot summer day when you were a kid but now you're running through a maze of them. Since Memorial Day 2015 kiddos can run to their hearts' content through a variety of water jets, fountains and spray for $2/day or a 20-day stamp card for $25 a crack. Such a deal. Out of curiosity City Inspector Joe Atwood talked to someone in the know

Give you any ideas?

up there and the whole project cost the village $140,000 with the village agreeing to shoulder some of the costs while the rest was made up in donations. I have it on good authority that a lot of Chetek parents with toddlers make their way there in the summertime. The price is right and there is no fear of drowning let alone getting a bad case of swimmer's itch. And we may just have some room at Phillips "Beach" Park in the pavilion-area of the park.

This is pickleball

How's your pickleball game? Say what? Yeah, I had to google it, too. Apparently the game has been around since 1965 when Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington and a couple of his pals, bored with their golf game came up it the idea. And, at least according to one person who spoke to me about it, it has become quite the rage around here. (Why 'Pickleball'? Well, according to the USA Pickleball Association – yes, that really is a thing – it was named after the Pritchards' cocker spaniel named Pickles who would take off with one of the balls if it came his way. That's their story and they're sticking to it.) Anyway, think table tennis with larger paddles, a

lower net and a wiffle ball (like they use for T-ball) and you're getting close to what the game's about. Did you know that in the summertime, if you're feeling the hankering for a game of Pickleball you can tool on up to Sportsman's Park in Cameron where they have not one but two Pickleball courts? In fact, I'm told that during the wintertime they play Pickleball in the old elementary school gym on certain nights of the week. Who knew? Is there interest for a couple of courts here?

Those are two pickleball courts

And here are the hours those courts are available

If we have something iconic, this is it

I got more. Former mayor John Banks gave me this idea: what if we had a designated trail that started at the dam and followed the Chetek River south as it makes its way to SS? There's already an

unofficial trail there that's been cut by folks, I assume, who like to fish along the river's banks. There used to be an old rickety bridge that has long since collapsed. Wouldn't it be great to have a nice walking trail along the river that made its way all the way to SS and then followed the road back into town? Just last fall

I walked along the river all the way to where the old bridge used to stand and a flock of Canadian geese were quietly floating the river enjoying the late afternoon sun. John suggested setting a raised platform out on the river that might attract an eagle to nest there.

Patsy Vork is a former Chetek educator who thought it would be a great idea to explore other things we might do to attract more birds to our community near and below the dam. (Check out this link she sent to me: Bird City).

The red marks a potential "trail" from the dam back to Water Street

What if we could extend the trail from SS to the "Chetek Welcomes You" sign? Now that trail is 3/4 of mile long

And what about the land south and west of SS? As I understand it,it's privately owned all the way out to the open area by the "Chetek Welcomes You" sign out on Highway I as you come into

town. I have no idea but maybe the land owner or owners would be open to an easement of some sort like the Ice Age Trail Alliance has with property owners in certain sections of the Ice Age Trail (IAT)? Think a few picnic tables in the open area behind the sign and you have the beginning of a potentially scenic walking path nearly three-quarters of a mile long between the sign and the dam. St. Croix Falls is the same size of Chetek and prides itself on being “the city of trails.” Obviously, they're a bit closer to the Cities than we are, and the Chetek River is a far cry from the St Croix, but I've hiked that section of the IAT as well as run on some of their other trails. They figured out how to do it. Why couldn't we?

Now imagine a few picnic tables and a trail head here? And what
about a kayak launch here as well?

These trails are made for more than running

Speaking of trails, as C-WHS' Cross Country's coach I can assure you that the nature area behind the high school/middle school, as beautiful as it is, is significantly underdeveloped. Yes, we have the big loop and a few smaller connecting trails but there is a whole lot of property that simply is not being used. If some kind of real partnership between the school and the city could be developed – like there already exists between the school and the city with Denny Overby Field - imagine in addition to the running/walking trail that is used in the summertime (that is converted to a Cross Country ski trail in the wintertime), that we lay in, say, a snowshoe trail as well as a few other connecting trails. Now think back to the "Chetek Welcomes You" sign. If you look directly north from that spot you can see the edge of the C-WHS/MS' nature trail. Potentially you could have a link between the nature trail and the dam. Now wouldn't that be something?

It's not impossible. The circled area is where the C-W Nature Trail abuts the property where the new\
BP gas station is. From that access point to the dam is approximately 1 mile.

“In your dreams,” doubters smirk. Yes, in my dreams. But dreams and vision is the stuff from where all real change springs. The city already has a long-range comprehensive plan that was just renewed a few months ago. Before we shelve it again for the next ten years we ought to put together a local think-tank of sorts made up of elected officials, business owners, community leaders and parents and see if we might lasso one or more of the some of the “big” ideas in that 100-page document. Chetek's a great town to raise a family in and we have a lot to be thankful for – good schools, low crime, a responsible civic government not to mention the lakes and all that we enjoy with that wonderful natural resource. Why shouldn't we work together to see how we could make our town even better?

Hey, I'd love to hear your ideas. Post them here or message me privately or stop in when you see Big Red (my van) outside of City Hall.

Standing Room Only: A looksee through the sheriff's proposal

Not us but it had the same feel as us last Thursday
except more cops

Last Thursday night we literally had standing room only in the council chambers at City Hall for the February council meeting. The lion's share of the folks there were gathered to hear Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald present his proposal of the city contracting police services with the county. The room was so full of cops – county deputies, detectives, department heads and many of our own police officers – that the running joke of the first half of the meeting was that if anybody needed to get somewhere in a hurry, Highway SS heading north out of town was clear.

In about twenty minutes or so, Sheriff Fitzgerald gave a 25-slide power point presentation pitching why it would be advantageous for the city to contract with the county and disassemble our own police department – streamlining of services, access to all additional units the county offers like the Emergency Response Team and K-9 teams, better communication, and the savings to tax payers. I won't speak for everyone in the room but I think most of us were eager for him to get to Slide 17 that broke down what that savings would be. By his estimate, if the city were to adopt his proposal and sign a five-year contract we would realize an approximate $50,000 a year savings. What's more, there would be additional money saved as we would no longer have any squad cars to maintain because we wouldn't own any squad cars any more. We wouldn't need to heat or light a building or a municipal court because that would be gone, too, as would all the gizmos and gadgets any local police department needs to function effectively.

If his plan was adopted, he promised that Chetek would have four

designated officers who would be assigned to us. That is, these four would be “permanently” posted here – not deputies who would serve a weekly rotation in town and then return to patrolling elsewhere in the county. So, in time, we would come to know Deputies “Tom, Dick, Harry and Sue” as well as we know Ron, Jessica, Jon and Rick now. He also assured the council that someone representing his department would be present at our monthly council meetings and any other committee meeting we would request. The long and short of it is we would get what we already have except it would cost less and, in his opinion, be a better service.

While the meeting was not a public hearing I had promised beforehand that if we all gave the sheriff an opportunity to present his plan, I would allow questions from the floor – something Sheriff Fitzgerald was eager to respond to. For the next thirty minutes or so he was like a batter at batting practice hitting all kinds of questions pitched at him – heaters, changeups, breaking balls and the like. Overall, what I heard were legitimate concerns about things like response time, the bottom line (i.e., do the numbers say what they really say?), familiarity with Chetek and access to police. As Bruce from Northlakes Drive In so aptly put it, “If I need Ron or Jessica or John or Rick, I take out my phone and call them. Could I call your guys?”

On the main, people were pretty well behaved though it would be fair to characterize the atmosphere as tense. Change is hard on everyone. But talking about change as well as thinking about talking about change can be equally stressful. The council simply invited the sheriff to hear what he had to say. As elected officials we have an obligation to the public to make sure we are providing the best services we are able to while getting the most bang for our buck at the same time. It may be a surprise to some people but from time to time Carmen will crunch numbers to explore, say, contracting our garbage services out as Rice Lake does. It's not because she hears complaints about our guys. Far from it (I have it on good authority that at Christmastime those guys make a haul in cookies and spirits from people who are grateful for their service). It's just making sure we are doing things in a cost-effective way. So having the sheriff come and talk to us was just exploring our options.

Of course, what people really want to know is now that we know the numbers what are we going to do about it? Are we going to go forward with his proposal? Are we going to think on it? Are we going to File 13-it? Well, it's hard to answer that question. The sheriff's proposal was but one item on an already full agenda and other than the questions the council members and others present asked the sheriff there really was no discussion that followed his presentation. I haven't seen any of the members of the council since Thursday night and technically we can't really discuss it among ourselves without a 24-hour notice in the paper. As of right now, I've asked Carmen to put it on the agenda for next month's council meeting where we will either conclude that we need think on his proposal further or essentially tell him “thanks, but no thanks.” For the time being everything remains status quo.

Along with his proposal the sheriff presented a possible timeline if

the council felt it was in the city's best interest to pursue his plan. That timeline assumed adopting the plan in March and implementing it in time for Liberty Fest. But let me remind everyone who was there or may have heard from those who were there, it was his timeline not ours. Nothing is imminent.

I appreciate those of you who have taken the time to either stop me on the street to express your opinion about the matter or wrote as much on the mayor's Facebook page or sent me an email. Whether you're “for it” or “against it”, your input is valuable in all the things we address as elected leaders in our community. Call your alderman, either Cliff, Bill, Mark or Shirley. Each of them have been serving our city way longer than I have and welcome your input.

There have been a few individuals – but just a few - who have expressed themselves very frankly at the mayor's page on this matter going so far to question my intelligence and competency because I am not (in their opinion) pro-CPD. I'm sorry that they feel that way but when I read their words again I'm reminded that we still live in a free country where people are free to speak their mind and not fear repercussion or retaliation. And that's a very good thing.