Selling Cranberry Island in the Eagle River chain of lakes “would be the last resort” according to a statement last week from Vilas County forestry committee chair Holly Tomlanovich but “selling is still on the table” while the county looks at issues of a picnic table, pier, and toilet facilities.
Of those last three it appears the county has favored simply eliminating the picnic table which apparently gets stolen every year and a decision is needed on the pier which has deteriorated. The present toilet facility has filled up and the county is looking at a simplified open-air toilet.
Supervisor Art Kunde felt any costs for improvement could come from Fund 250 which is from forestry cutting receipts and is used for recreation development
Tomlanovich repeatedly asked how to get material to the island. Private owners developing homes in the past along the chain have used the ice depth to safely transport building materials.
There has been numerous contacts to county officials and the press to keep the island in public ownership and to take any consideration to sell off the table.
Vilas shooting range
The Vilas County shooting range off Highway 45 between Eagle River and Conover is heavily used but is closed to use during the winter. A gate is across the access road, which is a town road, was put in place when a snowmobile trail crossed the road in winter but has been re-routed.
A safety issue was observed with rounds leaving the shooting area and a safety upgrade of bullet catchers costing $38,000 were installed. Conover town personnel present indicated they didn’t plow the road due to the gate. When asked who ordered the gate closed, Vilas recreation supervisor Todd Bierman indicted “we’ve always closed it.”
Asked if the town would plow the road into the parking lot, they said they would. Supervisor Art Kunde felt there apparently was an ordinance that governs the shooting range. The committee was asked the have the shooting range and ordinance on their March 1 agenda.
Other action
In other action the committee opened and approved a bid of $51,038 from Pitlik & Wick for paving in Phase III of the Torch Lake campground. Also approved is the development of a quarterly newsletter this summer to past campground users.
A request for a bicycle trail along the north boundary of the Vilas County fairgrounds property was denied with the committee preference to keep the route on W. Division Street. Use of part of the fairgrounds for a dog park was also denied.
Forest administrator Chad Bierman indicated the new 15 year county forest plan has been sent to DNR for review with possible acceptance by the March county board meeting.
Finally, the committee approved disbanding the Recreation Trails Safety Committee and authorizing an ATV/UTV Trails Sub-committee.
