Washington Island Observer

It's all about the island

DJ Kickbush

Rock Island opening delayed until after May 27

by

  • By Dick Purinton –

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website for state parks, “Rock Island will remain closed to all visitors through Thursday, May 27 to allow for repairs to the dock including dredging of the dock area. Reservation holders (for campsites) will be contacted directly and those scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, May 26 or Thursday May 27 will be given the opportunity to shorten their stay, to arrive on Friday, May 28.”

That opening date, too, will also be subject to obtaining the necessary state permit to allow for maintenance on the boathouse pier and dredging in the adjacent slip.

The pier’s surface is presently unsafe for the public. As it stands, a portion of the dock surface is covered with stones that washed up and over the dock during late fall storms, also filling the inside corner. One of several large concrete barriers shifted, and it’s buried beneath the stones. Safe mooring for boaters is therefore also a problem, and landings by the passenger ferry Karfi are unsafe due to the rubble, until dredging and dock work are completed. In the meantime, the state requests no boating activity at the Rock Island landing until construction is completed.

Read the full story and others and see more photos in the current edition of the Observer


Click here to subscribe to the Observer!





Removal of garbage cans from parks could save $32,000

by

  • By Emily Small –

Schoolhouse Beach rocks are no longer the only thing Islanders are concerned about missing from their parks. The Town Board and Parks Committee’s decision not to put public trash cans back in Island parks for the 2021 season has raised some eyebrows.

In fall of 2020, the town board, led by then-chairman Richard Tobey, determined $32,0000 was spent that year on trash removal from town parks. This figure includes labor and vehicle costs as well as dump fees, according to town supervisor Deb Thielke, liaison to the Parks Committee.

The $32,000 figure was removed from the Parks Committee’s 2021 budget and that budget was approved by the electorate in November.

To “zero out costs,” as town committees have been charged with doing, said Thielke, the Parks Committee advised removing cans from the parks for the 2021 season.

The plan has raised concerns for some Islanders, with a petition being circulated at Mann’s store and at the ferry office. The main concern seems to be that littering and illegal dumping will increase.

See the full story in the current edition of the Observer