Village staff briefed the board on a proposal to transfer a small village-owned parcel that currently serves as an entrance to the Wildwash (transcript: Wywash/Wheel Wash) trail to Outagamie County. The parcel has limited development potential and staff described it as a liability for the village; the county has indicated interest in maintaining the entrance and in some cases prefers relocating trail access away from active railroad tracks.

Staff outlined logistics discussed with the county, including that the county’s insurance changes prompted the county to try to divest the lot in the past and that the parcel’s dimensions make it difficult to subdivide to yield saleable residential lots under current village ordinance (staff said a lot width closer to 140 feet would be required for a split). Trustees discussed whether giving the parcel to the county would limit future village options and whether a relocated entrance, if the county or state later made one, would affect village access. Village staff said a likely outcome if the county later removed the entrance would be that the county would try to transfer it to a neighbor, but that the parcel’s limited buildability reduces market interest.

Trustees raised recreational and connectivity concerns, including whether snowmobile clubs or multimodal trail connections could be affected; staff said relocating an entrance or building a new county-managed access point would be possible if a developer or the state provided land or funding and that the state likely owns the old railroad bed beneath parts of the trail corridor. Board members signaled they were still comfortable moving forward with staff preparing transfer paperwork and seeking the county’s formal acceptance; no sale agreement or formal transfer was executed during the meeting.

The board also discussed nearby undeveloped parcels (Nature’s Haven area), wetlands and an existing village lift station in the same area, and noted that future development would require replatting and updated wetland delineation.