A personal memorial waterfall that a family constructed at a cottage in northern Oconto County will be removed Saturday morning per the county’s orders.
The family’s request to be granted an extension to its Oct. 15 deadline was denied Thursday, according to Collin Magnin, who has been working for more than a year with his parents, David and Lori Magnin of Oconto Falls, to save the structure in the town of Townsend.
Patrick Virtues, the Oconto County Planning, Zoning & Solid Waste Administrator, responded Thursday that “the department anticipates the removal of structures in violation and restoration of the disturbed areas no later than October, 15, 2024 with no further extensions granted. We look forward to working with the property owners on seeking compliance in a timely manner,” according to a message posted Friday night by Collin Magnin on Facebook.
Along with the waterfall, a patio, firepit and retaining wall also are not compliant and must be removed.
Magnin wrote in his post, “I’m saddened to announce that Oconto County has refused to work with us further, and my family will be removing the entirety of our beloved landscape project tomorrow at 8am. Feel free to stop by at 17559 Mallard Ln to show support to my family who will definitely be needing it.”
‘Trisha Ruth Falls’ paid tribute to daughter, sister
The waterfall was built in 2021 as a remembrance to their daughter and sister, Trisha Magnin-Stolpa of Green Bay, who died unexpectedly on Feb. 3, 2021, following a decade-long battle with alcohol addiction.
The project, dubbed Trisha Ruth Falls, was a labor of love in which Collin said he and his dad put in more than 100 hours of lifting and moving heavy rocks.
The waterfall pumps water from Reservoir Pond and flows it back down over a series of rocks along the sloping shoreline into the 409-acre body of water connected to McCaslin Brook.
The memorial waterfall is about 7 feet wide and ends about 20 feet away from the shoreline. However, according to county regulations, it needs to be set back 75 feet.
Collin said the cottage itself is only 35 feet off the shoreline, which is common for adjacent properties because they were constructed years ago before the setback became a stipulation.
One final attempt to save memorial fails
In his extension request letter sent Monday, Collin said he hoped the county would consider an “after the fact” zoning variance to reach compliance after he resolved concerns involving the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources about where the structure interacted with the ordinary high watermark.
He planned to demolish and replace the bottom falls with something that better fits the definition of compliant riprap and looks similar to the adjacent shoreline.
However, the county declined to budge its deadline, spurring Collin Magnin to vent his frustrations about Virtues and Brenda Seidl, the assistant zoning administrator.
“Pat Virtues and his minion, Brenda Seidl, have been intolerable in working with the past 2 years while they slowly stripped us of resources and ambition to repress their attacks,” Collin wrote in his post. “These are non-elected officials who blatantly display feelings of excitement and self-infatuation over squishing poor families such as mine into submission to ‘comply with the statutes’.”
He added he thought his proposal showed a “willingness to work towards a solution that would be fair, balanced, and would restore the county’s reputation in their handling of this issue.”
The Magnins did not apply for a permit when they built the project in 2021.
Virtues told the Oconto County Reporter last month that the waterfall was built too close to the water. “Structures of that nature can be permitted that meet setback,” he said. “The variance was denied, I think, because there was no hardship, because they can place the structure that meets the setback and we can issue a permit for them.”
More than a year spent trying to overturn ruling
The Magnins’ fight to save the waterfall began in July 2023 when they got their first notice, saying the structure should be removed by Nov. 3, 2023.
They appealed the county’s order, but the Board of Adjustments unanimously denied a variance request to alter the 75-foot setback to just 6 inches from the ordinary high watermark on Dec. 27, 2023, after an 80-minute hearing.
David and Lori Magnin of Oconto Falls then filed a court appeal in January as an attempt to get a judge to allow the county to reconsider its order.
However, that case was dismissed in June because in attempting to save themselves some money by handling the paperwork themselves instead of hiring a lawyer, the Magnins neglected to serve a summons when they initiated the appeal.
The county then set the Oct. 15 deadline for the structure to be removed, and the countdown began.
If the deadline is not met, the Magnins face fines from the county. Since the property has both David and Lori Magnin’s names listed, they each could be fined separately.
“You are truly at the mercy of the county in this terrible situation,” Collin wrote on Facebook.
Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oconto County family to dismantle memorial waterfall this weekend
