Colfax selects ‘East View’ as subdivision name

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The Colfax Village Board has selected the name of “East View” for the subdivision along Dunn Street on property the village purchased from Jim and Mary Schindler.

After a fair amount of discussion at the February 23 meeting, the Colfax Village Board settled on East View for the subdivision.

At an earlier meeting that evening, the Colfax Plan Commission recommended “Prairie View Acres” for the subdivision.

Names suggested by the plan commission and village board included Horizon Falls, Sky Crest, Inspiration, Meadow Heights, Prairie Highlands, Horizon Heights, Horizon Hills, Sky View, Valleybrook, Urban Place, Prairie Grove Estates, Norske Edition, Mountain View Estates, Schindler Valley Estates, P.C. Addition (Plan Commission), Green Acres, Haven Valley and Sun Valley Estates.

Names that were suggested but that are unavailable because another subdivision by that name already exists in Dunn County included Meadow View, Scenic Heights, Woodland Terrace, Timber Ridge Development.

The subdivision needs a name so that Cedar Corporation can include the name on the surveys and on the Certified Survey Maps, said Scott Gunnufson, chair of the plan commission and Colfax village president.

Gary Stene, plan commission member, wondered whether the Schindler family had any preferences.

Gunnufson said he had asked family members several times but had not received any feedback.

Dave Hovre, plan commission member, said he did not like any of the names on the list.

Many of the names contain “hills” or “heights,” but the property in question is fairly flat, noted Jason Johnson, plan commission member.

Several plan commission members said they liked Schindler Valley Estates.

The property does not have any valleys or hills, Hovre objected.

Plan commission members noted that various Schindler families had owned farms all up and down the valley, while others pointed out that people who are not from Colfax would not know why the Schindler name was attached to the subdivision.

Plan commission members agreed that they did not care for “estates” because the word sounded too pretentious.

Eventually plan commission members settled upon “Prairie View Acres” as the name to recommend to the village board.

When the Colfax Village Board addressed the issue of naming the subdivision, however, several village board members objected to the use of “prairie” because of the Colfax Prairie Homes apartments.

Using “prairie” in another name could be confusing for people or could cause people to think that the subdivision and the WestCAP apartments at Colfax Prairie Homes were connected somehow, said Carey Davis, village trustee.

Village board members also agreed that they did not care for the word “estates.”

Davis said he liked the name East View because it was simple, descriptive, to the point and not pretentious.

Village board members asked Jeremy Klukas, village trustee, about his preferences since Jim and Mary Schindler are his grandparents.

Klukas said he had no preference and noted that the farm name was always Park View Farm.

The Colfax Village Board approved a motion to name the subdivision “East View.”

Klukas — stating that he was not sure why — abstained from voting on the motion.

Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, will check with Dunn County to make sure that the name East View is not already in use, Gunnufson said.