Oneida county is in the running to acquire two parcels in the town of Enterprise that officials say are rare high value parcels that could be prime recreation, forestry and public uses.
County Forest Director John Bilogan says the side-by-side properties owned by the Haug and Houle families are available to buy. Bilogan says the properties fit within the current county forest block about seven miles south of Rhinelander off Highway 17 near Johns Memorial Drive. Two lakes Bilogan describes as pristine, Gillette and Wickham are on the properties.
He describes the Haug property...
"....the parcel is extremely nice, some of the best land I've seen. Quite often when you talk about large parcels of land you see quite a bit of lowland-upland mix and slightly more than 90 percent of it is upland..."
The asking prices are just over a half-million dollars each.
Bilogan outlined a funding package that includes a 50 percent match from state monies and selective logging of the parcels to help pay for the properties.
Supervisor Scott Holowinski questioned whether the county should put more land into non-tax status and there would be costs to the county...
".....there's going to be improvement costs over time. There's going to be cross-country ski trails, pavilions, boat landings. You watch this is going to cost taxpayers more money so...how much is enough public property in one county?...."
The board agreed to look into the purchase and put off a final decision until more solid information is available.
