At their meeting Thursday morning, the Hamilton Conservation Board accepted the resignation of Briggs Woods Park ranger Zach Wesselink. Wesselink resigned to be a deputy with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department. Wesselink started his duties in 2025. The conservation board decided to hold off advertising on a park ranger position until further notice.
The conservation board authorized support for the Legacy Learning Center to contract with McCollough Design Service of Dubuque to do a preliminary design services grant for the nature center at Briggs Woods Park. Further discussion on the grant will continue at a future board meeting.
There was a report from Travis Moen and Tyler Olson of the Briggs Woods Golf Course on the 2025 year at the golf facility. They covered some of the different outing, golf projects and the use of club house. The board learned the rental for the basement room in the club house with a small kitchenette will increase to $200 from the previous $100 for groups and families. The opening date for the golf season at Briggs Woods will be announced soon. In the meantime, the golf simulator has proven to be quite popular during the off season for golfers. The simulator will be in operation until April
Trail fans will be happy to know that the Hamilton County Conservation Board will be applying for a purchase agreement with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for the final acquisition of land to purchase to construct a multipurpose trail from the city of Jewell to Little Wall Lake Park. Conservation director Brian Lammers said the construction for trail would begin in 2027.
In another matter, the Hamilton County Conservation Board will be applying for funds through the Transportation Alternative Program for trails in the county with the MIDAS organization.
The Hamilton County Conservation Board paid tribute to longtime campground host Phil Sayer of Nevada. He died two weeks ago. Sayer and his wife Jan served as hosts for Briggs Woods Park for ten years.
The next meeting of the board will be held Tuesday,March 24th at 9:30 at the conservation office in Briggs Woods Park.