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• Pierce County asked to help fund Diamond Bluff park work; park commemorates Sea Wing disaster
• Woman airlifted after motorcycle-tractor accident

By Judy Wiff, Regional Editor

The Pierce County Board will vote later this month on a request to donate $54,240 to help the Town of Diamond Bluff develop and expand a three-acre park with frontage on the Mississippi River.

The funds will come from the Park Development Fund, money that was collected over the last two decades as a park fee-which ranged from $100 to $600-was charged each time a new residential lot was created in the county's rural areas.

Pierce County's Park Development Fund contains nearly $860,000. State law no longer allows counties to collect the fee.

The Town of Diamond Bluff has already spent $116,000 on Sea Wing Park. The park has a boat launch, paved parking lot, a beach and playground equipment.

The town is planning expansions, including handicapped-accessible fishing piers, a pavilion, picnic tables, signs and a kiosk. Riverfront erosion control is also planned.

Land Management Committee members believe the park will benefit the county's tourism industry, said Supervisor Don Nellessen, Town of Gilman.

"It's an area that a lot of people will be able to use," he said. "I think this is a good place to put our money."

The park started with "two little girls raising $100," said Supervisor Rich Purdy, Town of River Falls. He said private companies have donated work and the town has obtained grants.

"They're doing all the work. We're helping a community activity," he said.

Park fund rules say a town is eligible for 10 percent of the park fees generated in that town up to a maximum grant of $5,000 per year.

The money can also be spent on parks of countrywide significance.

Sea Wing Park has regional significance, said Purdy.

During a July joint meeting of the Land Management Committee and the Parks Committee, supervisors heard three requests from groups wanting to tap the Park Development Fund. Members endorsed the Sea Wing request, postponed action on a request from the Town of Martell for money to help improve a 3.5 acre park along the Rush River and denied a request from the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust for $500,000 to $300,000 to help buy 230 acres in the Town of Clifton.

The Diamond Bluff park takes its name from a boat called the Sea Wing. The vessel, built in Diamond Bluff, set sail July 13, 1890, with a local group going from Red Wing to Lake City, Minn., for a military event. The boat capsized, and 98 people-10 from Diamond Bluff and 10 from the Trenton area-died.

More can be found on the Sea Wing disaster on the Pierce County Herald Web site located at www.piercecountyherald.com or by clicking on the link above.

Judy Wiff is the Regional Editor for the RiverTown Newspaper Group and can be contacted at regional@rivertowns.net or 715.426.1049.

An accident between a tractor and a motorcycle just outside of Plum City in Pierce County resulted in an Eau Claire woman being airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

At around 3:15 p.m. Saturday Rebecca Prior was driving her 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle eastbound on Highway 10, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

Prior was attempting to pass a tractor that was turning left onto 280th Avenue when her motorcycle struck the tractor's front left tire.

The impact threw Prior from her motorcycle. Authorities say she was not wearing a helmet, but did have eye protection.

The Plum City/Maiden Rock Ambulance Service responded to the scene. Radio reports indicated Prior suffered extensive injuries, including severely broken legs, a broken arm and possible other injuries.

A LifeLink Helicopter was called in to take Prior to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. On Monday morning a hospital spokesperson said Prior was in critical condition.

After the helicopter had departed the nearby Plum City athletic field, a large piece of bone was found amid the wreckage. A Pierce County deputy immediately took the bone via squad car to Regions Hospital.

Pierce County authorities say the driver of the tractor was not injured.

Helping on the scene were the Lund Fire Department and the Pepin County Sheriff's Department.