Snowmobile alliance presses county on tabled trail item and failing Osprey Bridge; committee to be formed

Tim Davis, speaking on behalf of the Sawyer County Snowmobile Alliance, told the Sawyer County Public Works Committee on Oct. 8 that he was concerned an agenda item (11b) would be tabled and asked who attended prior meetings, what was discussed and whether future meetings would be open to the public. "Is the meeting gonna be open to the public? Are we gonna be able to involve somebody from the alliance at some of these meetings to get some of their input?" Davis said.

Davis also raised an immediate trail safety and connectivity concern: the Osprey Bridge, which he said is in "very disrepair" and "starting to tip to the side" and lacks substantial pilings. He said the bridge is not owned by the alliance or the county and that the alliance had reached out to LCO (Lac Courte Oreilles) about repairs but had not received a callback. "If the groomer operators say they don't wanna go across it, we're gonna have to close that trail," Davis warned, calling such a closure a "big detriment to going north to south in the county."

In committee discussion later under "open to all roads, ATV, UTV, bridal," the chair reported a meeting at LCO attended by two committee members and said the board will be asked to place an ad hoc three‑person committee on the December agenda to address ATV/UTV/trail issues. The chair said the Snowmobile Alliance would be allowed to attend and provide input at the committee's meetings.

No formal vote to constitute the ad hoc committee was recorded at the meeting; the committee's formation will appear on the December agenda, and the first meeting was anticipated in January.