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Initially Brenner had sought a Light Industrial Use Permit that had received an approval recommendation from the El Paso Township Board. But at last months Pierce County Land Management Committee meeting he was met with a recommendation to withdraw that application and resubmit for the Farm-Home Business Conditional Use Permit instead in light of the counties zoning requirements.
At that meeting there were a number of public comments expressed both pro and con for the venture.
Some neighbors felt the venture would be intrusive on their home environment. Others were in full support of the proposal, praising Brenner for his willingness to promote the area, provide jobs and economic opportunity and encourage tourism to the area.
The Land Management Committee’s recommendation to resubmit the application in the new designation of Farm-Home first had to be approved by the El Paso Township before it could be brought back before the county. This has been done and now Brenner comes before the county for the approval he is seeking from the committee. He has made a sizeable investment in this venture.
Mr. Brenner hopes to open with his first Thursday evening event on May 17 2007. He has been talking with three chefs about the pasta. There will be fresh warm bread served from the pavilion’s brick oven and a glass of wine waiting for guests as they make their pasta selection for the meal. The guests will be serenaded with acoustic music from the vineyards stage and given a card to read about the vision of the vineyard and on the back of the card will be a description of the grape varieties to be grown there.
“I am trying to create something fun,” he said during a phone interview.
“This will be a seasonal operation open only on Thursday nights and some special events. In October we will have a pumpkin patch that will have been planted by and for the local kids to sell. We plan on planting Christmas Trees across the road from the vineyard to sell in future Decembers and we will be closed in November, January, February and March,” Brenner explained of his plans for his operation.
Vineyard consultant John Marshall has been retained to help in the planning of the vineyard and Rob Penske is helping Larry build it. The first grapes are to be planted in the third week of May this spring. There will be five varieties planted that are all winter hardy to about minus 35 degrees. The vines to be planted include three reds, Frontenac, Sabrevois and Marquette and three white varieties Frontenac Gris, La Crescent, and Prairie Star.
It takes five years before the vines will be ready for harvest for wine making. That is just fine with Larry who is following a passion. Having grown up on the farm and been away from it for many years he is excited about his vision. He has had a successful career in media and is preparing for a retirement on the land because it is a part of him. Look for more information about Larry Brenner’s vineyard at his website, www.vinointhevalley.com
WESTconsin Credit Union (WCU) opened its tenth location on Monday, March 19, in
“This is an excellent opportunity to improve service to our membership base in
The staff at the new facility includes Office Manager Jason Klopp of Baldwin, Supervisor Jamie Fowler, Part-time Teller Beck Belisle and Financial Services Representative Amber Thompson all three from Woodville. Also on staff are part-time Teller Mary Anderson of Spring Valley and part-time Teller Jenny Rudebeck from
Drive-up and lobby hours for the new location at W2555 State Road 29, Suite 2, will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to Noon on Saturday. WCU offers complete financial services, including counseling and financial consulting services. Other WCU office locations are located in Amery, Baldwin, Barron,
Credit Unions are financial institutions owned by their account holders.
WCU has been serving members since 1939, and membership is open to anyone who lives or works in the Wisconsin counties of Barron,“We are excited to be here and looking forward to meeting the community,” said WCU’s Spring Valley Branch Supervisor Jamie Fowler.
By Paul J. Seeling
ELMWOOD-The on going planning for the Western Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Recreational Trail (WWVMRT) held another strategy session last Thursday evening in Elmwood at the Auditorium Village Hall.
The Western Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Recreational Trail is the proposed recreational trail between
Pam Herdrich of River Country R C & D a nonprofit planning advisory group is facilitating the meetings.
Thirteen interested people attended the meeting, they included Tony Huppert, Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce President, Bob Weix,
The agenda for the evening dealt with assigning leaders and working members to one of three action topic areas as well as discussion for their implementation. The action topics were developed from the prior meeting and included Financing/Funding, Education and Logistics.
In addition to the action topics, visions for the trail and the area once the trail has been built were established at that January meeting. Some of those visions include, encouraging economic growth of the area, building pride in the community, full and part-time job creation, improving community health, increasing tourism, increasing recreational opportunities, tying into other State Trail Networks like the Red Cedar. Other visions include connecting Elmwood and Spring Valley with other communities, making Pierce County, especially the east side, a better place to live and encourage people to stay in the area and move into the communities, because of the quality of life here. Another vision would be to connect to
Present partners and potential were identified with the understanding that the lists were done while brainstorming and are by no means comprehensive.
Volunteer leaders came forward to head committees to start making contacts and explore avenues to accomplish the mission that has been established. The mission is to locate, build and support a non-motorized trail between the Villages of Elmwood and
Jodi Pulk and Tony Huppert agreed to help with the leadership of the Financing/Funding committee which will focus on grant searches, fund raisers, securing
Don Nellessen and Rita Goveronski will lead the Education committee, which will contact and engage potential landowners, educate the community about the trail to develop a shared vision and engage additional partners.
Don Nellessen will lead the logistics committee. This committee will identity potential impacts to other uses of the area, explore possible avenues to offer incentives to land owners to either sell or donate easements and/or land. This committee will also help determine if the project will need an Environmental Impact Statement and if so take the steps necessary to get one completed. The committee will also identify old railroad right-of–way that may still belong to
Some priorities were established along with beginning timetables for those priority items to be undertaken.
Through the generosity of Elmwood’s Highland Hollow Emporium there were delicious bakery treats and that famous hand roasted coffee served to the attendees.
The meeting concluded on schedule after meeting for an hour and a half and the date for the next meeting was set for Thursday, April 26th at 6:00 p.m. to held be again in Elmwood at the Village Hall, all those interested are welcome to come and help move this great undertaking forward.