Wausau Daily Herald from Wausau, Wisconsin • 26

Dells dam drawdown big ho-hum for spectatators Daily Herald 913 E. Main Merrill Phone 536-5561 Thursday, October 16, 1980 Merrill area news -1, KVv-tJ a -w" if. I w-n -jc- H- 111 -it-rtri, T' -i 'mm T- By DEWEY PFISTER Herald Staff I was bored. As a veteran "sidewalk superintendent" I've had more fun watching an artisan finish a concrete sidewalk than I did Wednesday waiting for a crew to open a hole in the Prairie River dells dam. "Its crazy," one man commented as he strolled from the scene, amazed by the lack of progress.

"It'll take 'em until Christmas," said another. "Use dynamite," was the most frequent unsolicited advice I heard all day. I don't think those people realize I live downstream. Progress was so slow the crew couldn't hold an audience. Even the state Department of Natural Resources people, who are supposed to supervise the drawdown, left early.

"I'll have water through it tomorrow," contractor David Kadinger promised Wednesday night. "Noose" and "Jim" did disappear gradually. The painted names on the dam wall seemed to be the end limits for what is intended to be about a 25-foot-wide opening in the dam to lower the water level in the pond behind it. Vince Schneider of Milwaukee gets an for accuracy as he dropped a one-ton chisel from the end of a 200-foot-Iong crane boom every minute or so. Sorry Vince, I know you said you just do what you're told, but I have to give you a minus" for effectiveness.

That device spent more time bouncing than a frantic disco dancer. Kadinger is getting paid by the day and he promised the County Board's forestry, land and parks committee at late afternoon that he'll change his plan of attack today. There were two problems Wednesday. The concretelike material blown on the upstream dam wall a decade ago is held by a wire mesh and resists destruction. Masonry Is holding the top two or three feet of rock very firmly.

Ole Hanson, the county department administrator, wants to go on vacation Friday to do a little bird hunting and he was as anxious as I was Wednesday to get the job over with. Actually, I thought Ole and Kadinger's crew got more material off the dam in a half-hour during the lunch period with 10 and 20 pound sledges and pry bars than the crane chisel accomplished in the same period. Unfortunately, the crane has more durability. An air compressor to power an air hammer was scheduled to be moved to the dam this morning to speed up breaking off the top layer of rock and masonry. Some people think breaching the dam will go easier once the crew takes off the top several feet.

Others say masonry seeping through the dam has a healing effect and the lower portion, not exposed to winter freezing and thawing, could be more durable. The stability of the dam also came in for debate because it resisted initial demolition efforts Wednesday. The adventurous souls who walked out to the breaching site reported they felt no vibration when Schneider dropped his little one-ton toy and thus the dam is not solid. You couldn't prove it by me. I saw everything I wanted to with a pair of binoculars from a comfortable perch on shore.

Meanwhile, there was more to see in Merrill as Ward Paper Co. drew down the pond behind its dam about six feet to accommodate the surge of water that never arrived. However, mud flats, pilings, tree stumps and debris came into view. The drawdown even attracted that tame white duck I haven't seen since last winter. Splashes but no gushes Working with sledges, pry bars and a shovel, workmen managed to remove materials from the Prairie River dells dam Wednesday while a crane with a chisel device was shut down.

At the end of the day, the crew was still several feet from the water line in its at tempt to breach the dam and lower the water level. An air compressor was brought to the scene this morning with the expectation the drawdown could be started later today. Herald photo by Dewey Pfister Arbitrator to settle teachers 9 salary dispute Calendar TODAY Disabled American Veterans Chapter 29 and Auxiliary, VFW Hall, Merrill, Merrill Catholic Woman's Club, guest night, St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, 7:30 p.m. tl.

1 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, IOOF Hall, 8 p.m. FRIDAY 'A Townsend, a petitioner for the hearing, asked teachers to "hold the financial line" and accept the school board's contract offer. "As a businessman, I always feel that the brunt of holding the line on taxes always falls on teachers," observed Richard Reindl, a print shop owner and former teacher. Townsend and Reindl were the only persons testifying. Both expressed the hope a contract settlement could be reached through mediation.

Fall party for seventh and eighth graders at Merrill Junior High School, 6-8 p.m. SATURDAY i Merrill High School homecoming parade, from Main and Genesee Street intersection to Courthouse, 10:30 a.m. Jim gives those figures as 8.89 percent for MAPS and J1.14 percent for the MAEA. The MAEA proposal represents actual costs to the district, according to Greg Kautza, a member of the teachers' negotiating team. Kautza said the MAEA had expected the district to use the same figures as the MAEA and does not know how the MAPS figures were reached.

The MAPS proposal is based on increases in salaries and fringe benefits, said Thomas Strick, MAPS superintendent. Strick suggested that the two methods of computing the costs could yield different figures, but added that he did not know what the MAPS figures would be if actual costs were used. The public hearing, which preceded the mediation session, took Kerman almost as long to explain as it lasted. "Take the third party into consideration; those who foot the bill," Kerkman was asked by Ernest Townsend of Gleason, Russell town chairman, a County Board member and chairman of the county unit of the Wisconsin Towns An arbitrator will settle the 1980-81 salary dispute between the Merrill Area Public Schools and the Merrill Area Education Association, after both sides failed Wednesday to reach an agreement. Both sides will present evidence and briefs to arbitrator Joseph B.

Kerkman of Fond du Lac at a public arbitration hearing at 4 p.m. Oct. 31. Kerkman will select one of the two offers without modification. Both sides will be bound by his decision.

In a four-hour mediation session Wednesday, Kerkman worked with representatives of both sides in an unsuccessful attempt to settle the dispute without arbitration. Compounding the difficulties of reaching a settlement is the failure by MAPS and the MAEA to agree on the percentage increase represented by final offers made by both sides. Before deciding which offer to accept, Kerkman will have to determine which figures to use. According to MAPS, the final offers represent increases of 10.9 percent by MAPS and 13.1 percent by the MAEA. The MAEA Thank You If wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our relatives, neighbors and friends for their acts of kindness anil words of comfort at the death of our beloced mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Olga Marie Hakow.

Special thanks to Rev. Donald Schttlz and liev. l.yle klemz for their spiritual comfort. Also the pallbearers and Ladies' Aid of Trinity Church. Also all the cards, condolences, floral tributes, memorial gifts, gifts of food and assistance was a great comfort to us.

Our thanks to Dr. Simerson and hospital 1st floor staff for the care and concern for our loved one. May God shed his blessings on each and everyone icho made our burden a blessed peace. Family of Olga Marie Rakow Merrill digest Honest city employee Phil Hill, a Merrill Street Department employee, Wednesday afternoon turned over to police a bank deposit bag containing more than $700 in cash from a local business. It was found outside the police station at City Hall.

Social Security assistance A representative of the Social Security Administration will be at the North Lincoln County Annex in Tomahawk Monday from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. and in the senior citizens center at the Merrill City Hall Monday from 1 to 2 p.m. However, the agency reminds that most assistance can be provided by calling the district office at Wausau, 845-2181, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. First aids payments First quarter payments of fiscal 1981 state tran-spotation aids have been mailed to counties and local municipalities, including $87,660 to Lincoln County, $38,171 to Merrill, $15,596 to Tomahawk and $81,714 to the 16 towns in the county.

City Clerk Robert Klug said the amount Merrill received was about $206 less than a year ago. United Way drive begins The kickoff meeting for the annual Merrill Area United Way drive will be held at 7:30 tonight in the Merrill High School cafeteria. Chairman Michael Ravn asked all campaign volunteers to attend for information and materials on the drive. A goal of $50,000 has been set to help finance the 1981 activities of 16 non-profit youth and community service agencies. New firefighter appointed Chief Ray Priebe today announced the appointment of Michael D.

Weckwerth, 25, 409 Pier Merrill, to the Merrill Fire and Ambulance Department effective Nov. 1, subject to hs successful completion of physical examinations. He will fill the vacancy created by Priebe's retirement at the end of the year and allow Chief Designate Harvey Emanuel to attend the National Fire Academy later this year. A Merrill native, Weckwerth is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Merrill Moose recognized The Merrill Moose Lodge was recognized at the recent state convention with an honorable mention in class 2 for its newsletter edited by William Tonkin.

It also received a plaque for reaching its quota of 20 new members in the Helping Hand campaign. Lodge members David Borchardt, Jerry Leopold, Richard Johnson and Tonkin sold 300 convention hats with proceeds going to a new Nativity statue for Child City at Moosehart, 111. 4 NOTICE LINCOLN COUNTY HIGHWAY COMMITTEE AND TOWN BOARD OF WILSON HEREBY GIVE NOTICE THAT THE "SOMO DAM LAKE ROAD" WILL BE CLOSED AS OF OCTOBER 15 UNTIL DECEMBER 1, 1980 FOR BRIDGE REPAIRS. THE SECTION CLOSED IS FROM POPLAR ROAD TO ZENITH TOWER ROAD IN THE TOWN OF WILSON, LINCOLN COUNTY. BY THE ORDER OF LINCOLN COUNTY HIGHWAY COMMITTEE AND TOWN BOARD OF WILSON The dells before the dam This view may again be seen at the Prairie River dells north of Merrill if it is decided the 75-year-old dam must be completely removed and it is not replaced.

The dells had towering rock outcroppings before the dam was built as shown in this print made from a photograph taken about 1900. Tower dispute up to courts Lovely wins first place with conservation talk Deb Lovely, 1003 Riverside Merrill, speaking on illegal waste dumping, was the first place winner in the senior division of the annual conservation speaking contest sponsored by the Lincoln Couny Soil and Water Conservation District and University of Wisconsin-Extension. Todd Van Ryen, Route 5, Tomahawk, placed first in the junior division with his address while Kris Pierotti, 801 W. Eighth Merrill, won the elementary division in competition Monday night at the Lincoln County Annex. The three winners received trophy awards and will advance to north cenral district competition Oct.

24 at Wausau. Jack Arnett, 202 N. Park Merrill, placed second in the senior division and Tracey Geary, Route 3, Gleason, was second in the junior diyison. Second and third place winners in the elementary division were Melissa Koebe, 2705 Crescent Drive, Merrill, and Eric Roberts, Route 2, Tomahawk. Framed certificates also were presented, according to Robert Reichelt, county conservationist.

Judging the speeches on environmental awareness and conservation were George Knospe, Eugene Sense, Oscar Kretzschmar, Virginia Punke, Richard Krause and John The tower collapsed and the three occupants of the plane were killed. There is a report that a Federal Court in Pennsylvania awarded $600,000 to the widows of the men killed in the 1968 crash, claiming the FAA was negligent in determining that the tower was not a hazard to small aircraft and there the contract with O'Konski which said the station met all existing state laws and regulations. O'Konski asked the Dane County Circuit Court to overturn the DOT order, claiming the new lighting system could cost about $75,000 and would constitite a hardship. His request was denied on the basis that he does not have a definite lia- Muhvich. was "improper political in- SARDINES Maine leads the world in production of tinned bility until the Seaway suit i fluence" on the agency by is settled.

HIGHWAY OBSTRUCTIONS IN LINCOLN COUNTY Pushing snow or other materials onto or across highways from private driveways can cause accidents and death, and is prohibited by Wisconsin Statutes 86.01, 86.07, 346.94 and or 941.03. Obstruction of vision clearance triangles at intersections is prohibited by 86.191 of statutes, and by section 7.14 of the county zoning ordinance. Placing mailboxes away from driveways and intersections helps to avoid vision restricting snowbanks in late winter, and helps to avoid damage to your mailbox. The nearest part of your mailbox should not be closer to traffic than the shoulder line, with box and base strong enough to withstand wind, flying snow and slush from traffic and plows. Avoid penalty and liability, and cooperate towards safer highways.

The life you save may be your own. Lincoln County highway department, cooperating with the county sheriff's office, the county highway safety commission, and the state patrol. a major financial interest in the station. RHINELANDER -State and federal courts will ultimately decide who has jurisdiction and responsibility for lighting the WAEO-TV broadcasting tower at Starks east of here. The state Department of Transportation has ordered that flashing daytime high intensity lights be installed on the tower.

Former congressman Alvin E. O'Konski, owner of the station until May 31, 1979, contends that DOT has no jurisdiction over lighting of the tower. Seaway Communications new owner of the station, claims the tower meets lighting requirements because standards adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1978 and accepted by the state exempted existing towers. Seaway has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court over FISH FRY Evry Friday Evtning EAGLES CLUB Merrill, Wis. ALSO SERVING HAMBURGERS HAMBURGER STEAKS Vi FRIED CHICKEN 0 ii RIB EYE STEAK Srvbi5P.M.ta10P.M.

Opm At P.M.TiMsday Thru Saturday Area schools to close for teachers' conventions Most schools in the Merrill area will be closed Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24, to allow teachers to attend the Wisconsin Education Association Convention in Milwaukee and other locations in the state. Closed for those two days will be Merrill Area Public Schools, Northland Lutheran High School, Merrill Catholic Schools and Trinity Lutheran School. Students at St. John's Lutheran School will be required to attend classes those two days.

Trinity and St. John's will be closed on Oct. 30 and 31 to allow teachers to attend the Lutheran Teachers Conference in Stevens Point. DOT's position is that the original tower was authorized in 1966 with the condition that it would conform with any obstruction lighting and marking standards adopted by the FAA or FCC in the future, whether or not the standards were made retroactive by those agencies. The present tower was erected in 1969 after a guy wire on the original tower was struck by a light airplane in November of 1968.

BOYS OR GIRLS -12 YEARS OR OLDER -EARN EXTRA CASH! The Merrill Daily Herald is looking for newspaper carriers for the downtown area and High School area in TOMAHAWK. For further information phone 453-2446. An Equal Opportunity Employer MF.