“There is beautiful wildlife there,” Frey said. “It would be sad to see it go.”
Picnic Point, a 117.5 piece of currently state-owned land, is possibly up for sale by the state of Wisconsin. Profits from the sale would go towards helping the state’s budget crisis.
Frey, a long time resident of the area and town of Oshkosh commisioner, pleaded with the Common Council last Tuesday, to support the acquisition of the land by the Department of Natural Resources. If the DNR could acquire the land, then possibly this natural pristine area he loves so dearly could be preserved. He got the Common Council to agree with him on a 6-1 vote, he even got the Winnebago County Board to vote in his favor 37-0. But his battle hasn’t even begun.
The vote from the council Tuesday is only a mere recommendation by the city on a decision that is made in Madison.
The decision on to who the land is sold and who it goes to is in the hands of the Wisconsin State Building Commision. If and when the decision is made is still unknown.
“If the decision does come up to agenda that would in some way or another trickle down to the media in Madision and even to local governments,” said Tom Solberg, secretary of the State Department of Administration.
But as the future of Picnic Point is still a grey-area, many are looking to possibilities of what may happen to the land.
The property north of Oshkosh is one of the few undeveloped areas of shoreline along Lake Winnebago.
The DNR, a state-owned entity, has expressed a great interest in aquiring the land from the state. The DNR support a title-transfer of the land but does not seek to actually buy it. If they can’t get a title-transfer from the state, then they support any entity or agency that promises to not develop on the property.
“This is one of the last bits of undeveloped shore line on the western shore of Lake Winnebago,” said Kendall Kamke, a DNR senior fisheries biologist. “ It’s priceless, when it’s developed it’s gone forever.’
The DNR’s goal is to preserve and protect and enhance the environment.
Kamke said that the state should consider what kind of loses and gains may come from the sale of the property.
“Is the permanent loss of this land worth the short-term monetary gains of selling it ? “ said Kamke.
Another point of interest is the documented archeological sites located on the property.
Native Americans are known to have once inhabited the area long before Oshkosh was established.
The area, with several waterways, and high ground of resource areas made the area an attractive spot for ancient inhabitants.
“The city of Oshkosh had a major prehistoric occupation, “ said Jeffrey Behm, an anthroplogy professor at UW-Oshkosh. “We don’t know much about this site because it hasn’t be investigated enough but it may be incredibly important.”
The only law that may protect the site from disturbance is when a burial site is discovered. Under state statute 157 , a burial site must be excavated blah blah blah.”
It a burial site is discovered, then it the financial responsibility of developing the site is on the hands of the developer.
In April 2005, 15 Indian graves were found at construction site of Neenah’s Water Filtration Plant along Lake Winnebago. The graves were discovered in April 2005 during the trenching of a storm sewer.
The bodies were excavated by the Great Lakes Archeological Research Center of Milwaukee and the construction was allowed to resume.
The cost was estimated to be between 20 to 25 thousand dollars that the Water Treatment plant had to pay for.
The only laws that protect an archeological site stop there.
If a burial site is not found on the property, then is has no protection from disturbance except for a covenant given by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Any landowner who owns a piece of property containing an archeological site, can be granted a covenant, which is an agreement to not disturb the property but then being granted an exception from property taxes.
Since Picnic Point is an undeveloped piece of property, the value of potential fieldwork is priceless.
“The site has potential for stratified deposit which can tell us who came before whom,” said Robert Watson,
Common Council member Shirley Brabender Mattox wrote the piece to be brought up and discussed by the Common Council.
Quote on why Shirley brought this to the council? Why does she think the council’s approval may help?
Thus creating a conundrum, how does a state-run organization get control of land that the state wants to sell for profit?
Other concerns of possible development on the property is the known existence of Indian habitats and possible burial grounds on the property.
“It is known that people lived here,” said Behm.
The land has never formally been surveyed, so the archeological value of the area is not state known. Unless this land is assessed, there is no protection of the possible historic value of the land. The only laws that protect ancient Indian habitation sites are the presence of possible burial grounds.
“If anybody developed on the area and they came across a burial ground, it would be their responsibility to cover the excavation of it,” said Behm. “That could increase cost dramatically and that may concern the developer but when someone discovers a burial ground, in essence, it’s already been partially destroyed.”
In the summer of 2005, 15 Indian graves were found at the site of Neenah’s Water Filtration Plant along Lake Winnebago. The graves were discovered in April 2005 during the digging of a storm sewer.
posted by Oshkosh Music Scene @ 4:28 PM
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