Dunn County transfers Myron Park back to Town of Sand Creek
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Myron Park in Sand Creek has been Dunn County property for 50 years, but now the park will once again be the property of the Town of Sand Creek.
The Dunn County Board approved a resolution transferring the ownership of Myron Park to the Town of Sand Creek at the July 26 meeting.
The park property was donated to the Town of Sand Creek in 1969, and in 1973, ownership was transferred to Dunn County, said Michael Rogers, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the facilities committee.
The Town of Sand Creek has been maintaining and operating the park, and the Town of Sand Creek raised funds for a new well at the park recently, he said.
The Town of Sand Creek wants to do more work at the park and came to the facilities committee to request the transfer of ownership. Members of the facilities committee agreed there is no reason for Dunn County to stand in their way, Rogers said.
Facilities committee
Michael Nelson, chair of the Town of Sand Creek, sent a letter to the Dunn County Facilities Committee dated May 17, 2023, asking that the deed and ownership of Myron Park revert back to the Town of Sand Creek.
Anna Myron donated the land to the Town of Sand Creek for a park on September 12, 1969. The Town of Sand Creek then donated the park to Dunn County in 1973 to take advantage of a Green Thumb program grant. The Town of Sand Creek has been overseeing and maintaining the operations of the park since then, according to the letter.
The ownership of Myron Park was on the Dunn County Facilities Committee agenda at the June 28 meeting.
Scott Nabbefeld, facilities director, said he had contacted Nick Lange, Dunn County corporation counsel, about the transfer of ownership, and Lange was working on a resolution to transfer the ownership, if that is what the facilities committee decided to recommend.
The original deed stipulated that the land was only to be used for a park, and the antiques at the park would be included in the resolution, he said.
Ron Score, county board supervisor from Boyceville, noted at the June facilities committee meeting that the park would still be a park, no matter who owned it, and that Dunn County has not been doing any snowplowing or mowing at the park.
When the well at Myron Park started to fail, the Sand Creek Town Board started setting money aside and was prepared to get a new well drilled, Nabbefeld said, adding that he had worked with Sand Creek last year on the well project.
The Town of Sand Creek paid for everything, and Nabbefeld said he had worked with the town and the state Department of Natural Resources on the well project.
The facilities committee unanimously approved forwarding the recommendation to transfer ownership of Myron Park back to Sand Creek at the June 28 meeting.
Anna Myron
According to the background information included with the resolution approved by the county board at the July 26 meeting, “In September 1969, Anna Myron donated real property to the Town of Sand Creek, along with some personal property, provided that the real property was to be used for park purposes only.
“In May 1973, the Town of Sand Creek approved conveying the real property and some personal property to Dunn County, on the condition of the property (being) developed into a serviceable park, to remain named “Myron Park,” and the personal property could not be removed from the property. The personal property consisted of two steam engines, two antique tractors, one antique caterpillar tractor, one antique snow plow, one bandsaw, one lumber planing mill, one lumber, planing surfacer, and miscellaneous small items that were not described with any detail.
“The conveyance of the real property and personal property was accepted by the Dunn County Board of Supervisors June 20, 1973. In addition, Myron Park was declared to be a county park, and maintenance and improvement of the park were authorized. Dunn County erected a building to protect the antiques and installed the fence. For many years, Myron Park has been a campground, which was managed by Dunn County until 2005. In 2005, Dunn County entered into a lease agreement with the Town of Sand Creek for the town to manage the campground and maintain the premises. For the first three years, Dunn County agreed to pay $10,000 per year to the town for capital improvements. The lease agreement has been renewed every three years since.
“Recently, the Town of Sand Creek Board of Supervisors has made a proposal requesting that the Dunn County Board of Supervisors approve the transfer of ownership of Myron Park back to the town of Sand Creek. All personal property accepted by the county in 1973 still remaining in Myron Park, and all improvements to the real property, would be included in the transfer of ownership.”
The Dunn County Board unanimously approved transferring ownership of Myron Park back to the Town of Sand Creek.
