Large turnout at Briggs Woods, Little Wall Lake Halloween events
Briggs Woods Hay rides this weekend
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The Hamilton County Conservation meeting Monday had a full agenda, and a number of visitors listening in on the updates. County Supervisors Mary Clausen and April Ely attended the meeting, in addition to Dean Bowden, his daughter Jana Heater and Susan Laird.
The Trick or Treating events held at Briggs Woods and Little Wall Lake were reported to have as many as 800 people attending. Another big event will be this coming weekend, with the Autumn Festival Hay Rides that will be held at Briggs Woods Park Saturday, starting at 4 p.m.
Various aspects of the conservation offices reported negative impact from the rains in September. According to Assistant Superintendent Tyler Olson, with the steady rainfall, the golf course revenues were not where the Golf Course staff had hoped for the month of September. Mowing the golf course was not the only impact from the rain, as he reported several golf paths needed repairs from the excessive water. Conservation staff responsible for the grounds at all the parks had more mowing required during the fall, and they are now pulling out the docks from the lakes, to prepare for the coming winter, according to Hamilton County Conservation Executive Director Brian Lammers.
These issues have delayed work on two projects that Dean Bowden wanted to discuss at the beginning of the meeting. Bowden is helping create a bird viewing area, created out of a shed that will be vacated in the near future, in addition to conversion of portions of the Conservation office to a Nature Education Center.
"I guess nothing is happening 'til the first of the year," said Bowden. But he noted that he has volunteers ready to help set up the education area.
One of the steps required is to remove a boiler from the shed planned for the bird watching area, and most of the workshop will be relocated to another location.
"We're just very busy outside," said Lammers. "We need to pour concrete so we can move the chemical shed to the new location."
During the meeting, John Laird read his letter of resignation due to his retirement which will be effective on January 6, 2027. Laird has been employed by Hamilton County Conservation for the past 30 years.
Other updates from the Golf Course included the final major tournament at Briggs Woods, tthe Chili Dipper. The Chili Dipper will be held October 24 and 25. The golf course will remain open at least until the second week of November or when the weather drops the temperatures consistently.
The Golf Simulator will go up shortly in the Golf Clubhouse shortly after the tournament.
The policy for the Handicapped Hunting blind was also approved during the meeting. Using the blind is free, however the reservation system online charges $4 per reservation.
The rules for use and the policy will be available soon online through the mycountyparks website. The blind will be placed in the Brandrup Timber this year, and they have identified eight different areas that can accommodate the blind. This blind is designed for hunters or wildlife enthusiasts who have physical difficulties preventing them from hunting or getting into nature. Reservations must be made five days prior to use, to allow conservation staff to get the blind to the proper location.
"The bind is for anyone with physical disabilities," said Lammers, but they specifically want to notify the local veterans offices, to encourage those residents to try out the new blind.
In other news, Lammers reported that the grant he wrote to support the Jewellsworth trail was not funded, and he will attempt this again next year. The City of Jewell is also attempting to obtain a REAP grant, and the status of those projects will be updated as money is raised to support them.
The next meeting of the Conservation board will be November 19 at 9:30 a.m. at the Conservation office.