Elk Mound eliminates ice skating rink for 2023-2024 winter season
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — For the first time in more than 20 years, Elk Mound will not have an ice skating rink on the Steve and Margaret Dieter property near Elk Mound High School and Elk Mound Middle School.
The Elk Mound Village Board approved a motion to not approve paying $400 to the Dieters for use of their property at 307 University Street for an ice skating rink at the October 2 meeting.
In response to a question from a village board member, Terry Stamm, village president, said the idea for using part of the Dieter property for an ice skating rink was because the property was close to the school so that it was easily accessible to the students, because there was parking available on school property and because the school district had been considering a skating program at one time many years ago.
The fence around the school property has a gate in it to access the skating rink, he noted.
One village board member wanted to know about the cost for the ice skating rink, beyond the $400 to the Dieters for use of their property, and whether it could be located somewhere else on village property.
Mark Levra, director of public works, estimated that the total cost to the village for the ice skating rink is about $3,000 annually.
The ice skating rink requires 60,000 gallons of water, and then there is the cost of manpower and the machine cost for mowing, he said.
A swimming pool that is 20 feet by 40 feet, with an average depth of five feet, holds 30,000 gallons of water, according to information available on-line.
Or to think of it another way, if someone was going to carry water for the skating rink using five gallon buckets, that person would need to carry 12,000 buckets to get enough water for the ice rink.
The ice skating rink may not be a viable activity for the village, so perhaps the village board should “let it slide” this winter, said one village board member.
If there is no ice skating rink this winter, and then half of the village asks where is the skating rink and why was there no skating rink, then the village board can revisit the issue next year and put the skating rink on village property, he said.
The Elk Mound Village Board approve the motion to not approve the $400 for the ice skating rink on the Margaret and Steve Dieter property on a vote of six “yes” to one “no.”
Voting in favor were Stamm and village trustees Patricia Hahn, Joyce Price, Tim Benjamin, Patrick Lien and Bob Bachman.
Voting against the motion was village trustee Cynthia Abraham.
ATV/UTV routes
The Elk Mound Village Board also approved a resolution at the October 2 meeting that opens all of the streets in Elk Mound to all-terrain and utility terrain vehicle traffic.
The Town of Spring Brook and the Town of Elk Mound have opened more town roads to ATV/UTVs, and Dunn County has opened all of the county highways except Highway B from Menomonie to state Highway 40 near Colfax, said Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger.
The resolution prohibits ATV/UTV traffic on U.S. Highway 12 on the east and west end of the village where the speed limit is above 35 miles per hour, he said.
State law allows municipalities to regulate ATV/UTV traffic on highways where the speed limit is 35 mph or less.
The Muddy Creek ATV riders have been doing a good job of putting up signs for trails and routes and have been doing a good job of policing themselves, Police Chief Weinberger said.
The “test” of ATVs/UTVs has been going well in the village, he said.
The Elk Mound Village Board first approved ATV/UTV routes in the village in October of 2019.
The ATV/UTV route previously approved came into the village on the west side on Division Street and allowed ATV/UTV operators access to the Pourhouse. The route continued on Fir Street, crossed Highway 12 to Railroad Street, and from Railroad Street, operators could access what was then the Junction and is now the Grub Fusion Diner.
Police Chief Weinberger and Levra noted that they had seen people in the village using ATV/UTVs as a “run-about” or as one would use a pickup truck to haul something.
Stamm wondered if the ATV/UTV drivers had been “behaving themselves” on University Street near the school buildings.
There are a few students who ride their snowmobiles to school, and there was one who used a side-by-side to drive to school, which was not allowed, and the driver was eventually cited, Police Chief Weinberger said.
The resolution allows ATVs/UTVS on all village streets in Elk Mound except where the speed limit is greater than 35 mph.
The resolution also states that village residents only have the option to route access using the shortest distance from a residence to a route or a trail.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources publication “All-Terrain/Utility Terrain Vehicle Laws” (2022) — “There is no residential access allowance that permits you to ride on a roadway from a dwelling to the nearest trail or route.You will need to haul your machine to the nearest legal access point.”
The Elk Mound Village Board unanimously approved the ATV/UTV resolution.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board approved a donation from the Elk Mound Lions Club of a Christmas tree at the Elk Mound Community Center/Library. The Christmas tree will once again be a Lights of Love fund raiser.
