Report: Showers, Toilets Top Wisconsin Park Users List

What users in the four Chippewa County parks in Wisconsin want are better drinking water available on site along with showers and flush toilets, a report given to the County Board on Tuesday night says.

As reported by The Chippewa Herald, the Chippewa County Parks Master Plan covers the county’s goals for the parks over the next 10 years. The report calls for an annual expenditure of $150,000 to update the parks, using county sales tax, proceeds of county tax deed land and other county funds. Grants are also a possibility. The plan will be revisted annually, said Lynda Fink of Corre Inc., a consultant who worked on the report.

The county’s parks are: Round Lake Day Park in New Auburn, Morris-Erickson Campground and Day Park in New Auburn, Otter Lake Campground and Day Park in Stanley, and Pine Point Campground and Day Park in Holcombe. All but Morris-Erickson have beaches. The parks employ five caretakers.

“In general, the campgrounds have been kept more ‘rustic.’ However, at this point, there are multiple components at each facility that need to be addressed from a useful life, safety, and Americans with Disabilities Act standpoint,” said the report, which is intended to be updated by the county every year.

That includes playgrounds at the parks. “These are outdated in terms of following regulations,” Fink said.

Surveys were mailed to 773 park users in 2013, and 273 responded.

“Consistent requests for improvements included flush toilets and showers (no parks currently have them), better potable water (all parks have smell-color issues), on-site water, and moving around the log ‘bumpers,’” the report said.

Read the full report here.