Electors in the town of Minocqua next week will decide whether the town will purchase a piece of prime real estate next to Torpy Park.
Town Chair Mark Hartzheim says they've been talking with the property owner who has set a floor price of $300,000. Hartzheim says the property owner approached the town. The property is about 26,000 square feet and has a building on it which he says is beyond renovation.
Hartzheim says the annual town meeting next week enables citizens to decide whether the town should go ahead with the sale....
"....my feeling is the public is going to say that $300,000 is a lot of money for some extra elbow room. But five, ten years down the road if something objectionable gets built here, is the town going to be kicking itself for not taking the opportunity to purchase the property?...."
Town boards don't have the authority to buy property on their own. It can only be done at an annual meeting.
He says it would give more space for the downtown park...
".....you've created a nice buffer and defended yourself from future development. We probably would be looking at expanding the green space and giving us some elbow room on that end of the park, maybe some additional landscaping. We probably would try to incorporate some additional parking. I don't think we would use all of it for parking...."
Hartzheim says more information is available at the town offices. The annual meeting is set for Thursday, April 17 at 6 p.m at the town offices..
