MINOCQUA – The Cross Country Cruisers (CCC) Snowmobile Club will mark Lake Minocqua with orange barrels and stakes for snowmobile travel by this weekend, according to a club official. “I will be getting the Lake Minocqua trail marked by this weekend,” said CCC board member Jim Hartwig, following Tuesday's town board meeting on lake ice conditions. “That way people will know where it’s safe to ride.”
However, a worrisome thin ice patch near the U.S. Highway 51 bridge will require sledders to travel on the far north side as they pass underneath. The club will use plastic snow fencing to route snowmobilers away from the thin ice on the south side. Single digit temperatures in the forecast for this weekend should also help remedy the less-than-ideal ice situation. Persistent open water on the southwest side of the bridge has delayed marking the lake for snowmobile travel, and resulted in a nearly two-hour discussion by the town board with about 20 people in attendance.
Part of the discussion was on a proposed town ordinance regulating use of aerators around docks; some of it was on the causes for the open water. Various reasons for the open water there have been floated, with the finger of blame mostly pointed at the Pointe Condominium On Lake Minocqua, which is using four aerators to protect their docks. However, Jerry Hulbert, treasurer of the condominium association, says their aerators have been in use the past four years with no adverse effect on the ice near the bridge in prior years. Their docks are several hundred feet away from the open water near the bridge. He did say the aerators are not running 24-hours a day as they had been earlier, and their speed has also been turned down.
He believes the cause of the open water is weather related, noting that the Wisconsin River is “wide open,” and there’s also a large open water area where the creek enters Johnson Lake off Hwy. 47. The Pointe Hotel & Suites, which has docks near the bridge, has not operated its aerators this year, according to general manager Buck Drossart.
Town Chairman Mark Hartzheim, who previously was inclined to blame the condominiums’ aerators, entertained other causes Tuesday, including high groundwater levels that may have increased water flow in Lake Minocqua (the lake is part of a multi-lake reservoir and has a current). Recent warm temperatures (over 40 degrees recently) haven’t help create more ice, he added. Supervisor Bill Stengl noted the open water plume going into Lake Kawaguesaga from the trestle is larger than in years past.
One audience member wondered if the brine solution applied by county highway crews on the bridge and leaking down is a possible contributor. Without a study by a hydrologist, the exact cause or causes for the weak ice can only by speculated upon, Hartzheim added. “I hope this is a one-off (situation),” he said, “and we never see this again.”
Lake Minocqua sees heavy snowmobile traffic in most years after the first or second week of January. This weekend is also the World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River, which attracts thousands of snowmobile enthusiasts. The town is proposing a town ordinance to regulate aerators use on Lake Minocqua. A draft copy was presented Tuesday, with the understanding that further modifications may be made. In essence, the ordinance would require property owners to place large warning signs and to flag the open areas. Hulbert said he has already ordered larger warning signs and will have them out by this weekend.
As to flagging, there’s concern about falling through the ice if workers venture too close to the edge to install the flags and roping. The board and audience discussed whether to prohibit aerator use until after a major freeze-up. A few in the audience said it’s not just shifting ice floes in the spring that they are concerned about, but also the expansion and contraction of new ice. That alone can wreck docks and boathouse pilings, they said.
The matter will return to the board at its next regular meeting.
