Looks like the County Board of Supervisors were in a "taking" and "giving" mood last night. "Taking," as in taking grant money to purchase lemons that will forever undermine the confidence in elections. "Giving," as in giving a $566,000 grant to the Village of Winneconne to construct an archery range at "Critter's Wolf River Sports." Board Chair David Albrecht, who voted against the archery grant, stated at the Industrial Development Board's May 23rd meeting that this loan is outside of what the IDB has traditionally given loans for and will set a loan precedent.I listened to CHAMCO Executive Director Doug Pearson make the pitch for the archery grant during citizens' statements, and found his remarks unpersuasive. He said that Winneconne will no longer be able to develop in the traditional way that we think of industrial development, so that the Village must instead develop its tourism potential. All that is well and good, but there was little economic impact data presented to show how much revenue the county can be expected to see as a result of this grant, nor was/is it clear that the types of jobs that will be created justify this level of economic assistance. We could end up with another county race track on our hands - a taxpayer boondoggle if there ever was one.
Jim Fitzhenry of the Oshkosh Northwestern, who seems to spend much time worrying about what other people will say and think, can now rest easy knowing that a "local pundit" is giving the archery range some scrutiny.
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