Waupaca County Post

Top Menu

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Advertiser Index
  • Subscribe
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • Clintonville Tribune Gazette
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • New London Press Star
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca County Post

Main Menu

  • Home
  • News
    • Video
    • Clintonville News
    • Hortonville News
    • Iola-Scandi News
    • Manawa News
    • New London News
    • Waupaca News
    • Wega-Fremont News
    • Business
  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Clintonville Sports
    • Iola-Scandy Sports
    • Manawa Sports
    • New London Sports
      • Leagues
      • Sports
      • Park & Rec Activities
    • Waupaca Sports
    • Wega-Fremont Sports
    • Hortonville Sports
    • Outdoor
    • High School Sports Scores
  • Courts
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Advertiser Index
  • Subscribe
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • Clintonville Tribune Gazette
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • New London Press Star
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca County Post

logo

Waupaca County Post

  • Home
  • News
    • Video
    • Clintonville News
    • Hortonville News
    • Iola-Scandi News
    • Manawa News
    • New London News
    • Waupaca News
    • Wega-Fremont News
    • Business
  • Covid 19
  • Sports
    • Clintonville Sports
    • Iola-Scandy Sports
    • Manawa Sports
    • New London Sports
      • Leagues
      • Sports
      • Park & Rec Activities
    • Waupaca Sports
    • Wega-Fremont Sports
    • Hortonville Sports
    • Outdoor
    • High School Sports Scores
  • Courts
  • Opinion
  • Obits
  • Classifieds
    • View Ads
    • Place Ads
  • Legal Ads
    • Our Legals
    • Statewide
  • E-Editions
    • Clintonville Shoppers Guide
    • New London Buyers Guide
    • Waupaca Buyers Guide
New London News
Home›News›New London News›Damage at Hatten Park

Damage at Hatten Park

By WaupacaNow
May 11, 2017
1410
0

Reckless drivers take toll

By Scott Bellile


The city of New London may close Hatten Park’s back roads to traffic due to incidents with destructive drivers.

City Parks Director Chad Hoerth told the New London Parks and Recreation Committee at its May 2 meeting that the parks and police departments remain concerned motorists will continue vandalizing the park. The committee did not make a formal decision on what to do.

“We talked about, internally, just closing it down for a while to see how people handle that … We’ve had so many problems with kids screwing around back there. They hit the shed back there by the [police] shooting range more than once,” he said.
Hoerth first suggested limiting access to the road in a memo dated Dec. 28.

“Individuals are ‘mudding’ around and rutting up the area inside the shooting range,” he stated. “We’ve put some boulders in the area to keep vehicles out but some are still finding their way in. A few years ago a vehicle also hit the shed located next to the range destroying it to the point that it needed to be completely rebuilt.”

The memo states when the shed was rebuilt, concrete bollards were placed in front of the structure to protect it from cars. But in summer 2016, someone struck a bollard hard enough to break it.

“Is there cameras back there?” committee member and Third District Alderwoman Lori Dean asked at the May 2 meeting.

“There’s not cameras back there,” Hoerth said. “We put up a deer camera every once in a while but that’s a still picture.”

Hoerth said the back road was already closed at the time of the meeting due to wet conditions. He said one possibility is to keep it closed after it dries and only allow bikers and pedestrians through. Another option is to close it on weekdays to prevent after-school damage incidents, then open it on weekends so visitors who enjoy riding through can do so.

Committee member Henrica Bult expressed concern over letting the vandals’ behavior impact well-intentioned Sunday drivers’ access to the back roads.

“I don’t want to make them suffer over having it closed off completely, but otherwise I’d put those pilings out in front and make it just a walk and bike only,” Bult said.

Another issue with the back road is keeping it graded, Hoerth stated in his memo. A sensor placed on the road in 2014 revealed 681 cars passed through in 11 days.

“The gravel road is not currently designed for that much traffic and that is why the road gets so rough so quickly (and the reason we periodically receive complaints on how rough the road is for bikers and runners.),” Hoerth said.

About 5,000 feet of the back road is slated to receive a new layer of gravel in 2019 at a cost of about $21,700, according to the parks department’s 10-year capital improvement plan.

Dean suggested limiting vehicle access could help keep the road in shape until then.

“I think it’s just probably best we leave it closed to traffic because it takes such a pounding to start with,” Dean said, “and it doesn’t matter what you do and how many times you grade it or fill it or anything else.”

TagsHatten ParkNew London
Previous Article

Finance examines budget

Next Article

Bank First to acquire First National

Related articles More from author

  • New London News

    First of its kind in New London

    August 28, 2014
    By WaupacaNow
  • CourtszHideFeatured

    Pantalons charged with bail jumping

    June 24, 2015
    By WaupacaNow
  • New London News

    City flying high

    June 25, 2015
    By WaupacaNow
  • New London NewszHideFeatured

    Inspiring young scientists

    July 2, 2015
    By WaupacaNow
  • New London NewszHideFeatured

    Parking problems in New London

    July 8, 2015
    By WaupacaNow
  • Around Waupaca CountyNew London News

    NL committee approves $3 million in projects

    July 17, 2015
    By WaupacaNow

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Free WaupacaNow Newsletter

About Us


Waupaca County Post, New London Press Star and Clintonville Tribune-Gazette are published every Thursday by Multi Media Channels. The papers are locally owned, locally operated and locally written. Subscriptions are $59 annually, delivered via U.S. Postal Service.

To subscribe, go www.shopmmclocal.com/product-category/waupacanow-portal or call 715-258-4360

Timeline

  • February 6, 2023

    Dance team doubles at state

  • February 1, 2023

    Boucher, Michael Robert

  • February 1, 2023

    Hotvedt, Marjorie

  • February 1, 2023

    Amherst Marine moves to Waupaca

  • February 1, 2023

    City council discusses Public Works employees

Find us on Facebook

Copyright © 2022 Multi Media Channels LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted without the prior written consent of Multi Media Channels LLC.
×