Just when it looked like Shawano County and the Shawano Hockey League had settled differences over damage to the Crawford Center, a statement denying guilt may have knocked the puck out of the net.
The hockey league board of directors agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damage to doors and walls at the Crawford Center. Already one year into a three-year lease, the league also requested a two-year extension.
The county public property committee July 17 approved the lease extension but removed a pair of bullet points that were part of a list of conditions the league attached to the lease approval.
In essence, the league agreed to pay for stated repairs but denied guilt or fault; they also did not claim legal responsibility for the wear and tear to the building.
Supervisor Randy Young asked why the league felt the need to add those statements to its conditions.
Shawano Hockey League President Adam Gafner said the league board was unanimous in its decision to include them.
“The concern for the league was going back in time. Where does it end?” Gafner said. “I don’t think it does either party any good to stick our feet in and both stand off to our own sides. We have to come to the middle,” Gafner said.
He said some hockey board members didn’t want to pay for any repairs.
“Their concern was the time frame, that there has been a meeting annually, year after year after year, that has been agreed up between the county and the league,” he said.
Many of the damaged items the county is asking to be replaced happened under former hockey league boards several leases ago but were never brought up until spring 2025.
“That was a concern of our current board — we’re being asked to admit things that we weren’t even around for,” Gafner said.
“At the end of the day, we are saying that we are going to pay for the damages that have been assessed,” added Tanya Anker, hockey league board secretary. “We just want to move forward. We want to get this done. We want to make the improvements and then continue to partner with you.”
Young agreed to moving forward but wouldn’t let go of the league not admitting guilt.
“I don’t know why you’d want to make those statements, because let’s be honest,” he said. “The damage was from the hockey league. So for you to say you’re not going to admit fault or guilt, then why would you pay to repair it?”
“Because we’d like to move forward,” Anker responded.
Supervisor Tom Kautza made a motion to extend the lease but remove the two bullet points from the letter of conditions.
“The tooth fairy didn’t come in there and start putting hockey pucks all over hell. The hockey club did,” Kautza said. “The kids from the past did it, and apparently, nobody’s been paying attention to what’s been going on in the building. Yes, there’s fault on the county’s part; there’s a lot of fault on the hockey side, too, and to sit there and say none of this is our problem, that’s ridiculous.”
Kautza’s motion was approved by the committee, but Gafner said the amended letter would have to be approved by the hockey league board Aug. 5.
The lease period is set to begin Sept. 15, and plans were to have the painting of the interior of the rink area complete before then. The work is set to be done by a local company that supports the program.
“I don’t know what to tell you from the painting side. You’re making it hard for the guy that’s here to help,” Gafner said. “I can tell you no money is being exchanged until it goes back to our board, too, which is then going to push it out another meeting for you guys.”
Prior to discussing the letter of conditions, Gafner said the hockey league was going to make several proactive changes to help minimize damage to the building.
An annual meeting with parents will be held prior to the start of the season, impressing upon them the importance of being prudent with the gift of the Crawford Center.
A volunteer job will be created to keep a closer eye on the north side of the building where significant damage was reported.
Third, in the shooting area where players practice their shots, white pucks will be used instead of the traditional black pucks so errant shots won’t leave noticeable marks on the walls.
Finally, in the stick handling and dry land practice area, players will use brown, wooden balls instead of pucks.
Gafner said he and Nate Hesse, director of facilities and grounds, had agreed to a more formalized check-in and check-out at the start and end of the lease period.
Gafner said his walk-through at the start of last season, his first ever, was very brief.
“It was less than 30 seconds. ‘Here’s your key. Here’s what the building looks like,’” Gafner said of the exchange. “I’m not here to talk ill of Steve (Dreher, former director of facilities and grounds) or anyone with the league that’s not here anymore. But if I were a county employee, I’d be concerned with how that went, where I was handed keys and out the door he went. The walk-through I had was shabby at best.”
He said the new process will protect both sides and ensure situations like this don’t happen again.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
Hockey league lease negotiations head to OT
