This week’s featured question was submitted for Lincoln County Forestry, Land and Parks Director Kevin Kleinschmidt.
The question reads:
“Is there a cost to reserve county parks and pavilions like there is in the city? Are there any restrictions or rules on what we can bring in, in terms of grills, firewood, etc.? If so, how do I go about reserving or booking a park area? Thank you”
Answer as given by Kleinschmidt:
“Lincoln County maintains several parks throughout our County for people to recreate in, use and enjoy. One of the services that Lincoln County provides in our parks system is to allow for park shelter-houses to be reserved. Tug Lake and Newwood Park are both county-owned recreational facilities that have pavilions which can be reserved for a fee. Tug Lake has one pavilion that has electricity and lights available for a fee of $35 and a deposit of $25, for a total of $60. This shelter must be reserved in order to have access to the electricity and lights. Newwood Park has two pavilions offered for use. The cost to reserve one of the shelter-houses at this park is $20 for the rental fee and $25 for deposit, totaling $45. There is no electricity or lights at the Newwood Park sites. The deposit for a shelter rental is refunded if the park facilities are left in a clean and orderly manner.”
“Fires are not allowed in county parks except in the designated fire rings at campgrounds, or in grills located within a day-use area. Where allowed, fires must not be left unattended, must be kept small in size and must be completely extinguished before leaving. Outside grills may be brought to the park and used provided that they are in good working order, do not create a fire hazard, do not leave hot coals or a mess behind and have a responsible adult overseeing them to avoid injury to other users of the park. Shelter use is limited to normal park hours between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. If reserved, a sign will be posted on a pavilion with the date for which it is reserved in order to make others aware that it is not open for them to use on that day. If a shelter is not reserved, it is available to anyone at no cost on a first come, first served basis.”
“Reserving a pavilion does not give exclusive rights to the entire park for that day. The remainder of the site is still open for the public to utilize. Reservations for county managed shelters in any given year begin on Jan. 1 of that year. For more information or to reserve a pavilion at Tug Lake or Newwood County Park, please call the Lincoln County Forestry, Land and Parks Dept. at 715-539-1034 or stop in at the County Forestry Office located on the lower level of the Lincoln County Service Center at 801 North Sales Street.”
Have a question or concern you would like to address? Simply send your question or concern to [email protected] along with an indication of which entity your question or concern pertains to. Current participants are the Merrill Police Department, Merrill Fire Department, Tomahawk Police Department, Lincoln County Administrative Coordinator Randy Scholz, Merrill City Administrator Dave Johnson and Merrill Area Housing Authority Director Paul Russell. Please note: Those who submit to the ‘Ask an Official’ feature remain anonymous.