The Lakeland Times

The town of Minocqua's policy to not approve things like picnic, beer or liquor licenses for businesses during events such as the annual Beef-A-Rama festival if they aren't tied in in some manner to a non-profit organization will be on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting of the Minocqua town board.

The town board is meeting tomorrow instead of today because of the presidential election and one of the agenda items is a proposal from Will Jeffrey, founder of the business American Pond Hockey, to rent the Aqua Bowl, which is owned by the town of Minocqua.

The town's policy was cited as the main reason the town board has denied two recent separate applications from the Rocky Reef Brewing Company in Woodruff, the first to sell beer during this year's Beef-A-Rama downtown on the property of Lasier Realty.

The second denial occurred at the town board's Oct. 15 meeting.

Like it had in September, the brewery had submitted an application to sell beer under provisions of the business's brewer's permit, this time at the town-owned Aqua-Bowl during a pond hockey tournament over two weekends in February.

The tournament is to be facilitated by American Pond Hockey at the Aqua Bowl for the weekend of Feb. 7 and 8 and Feb. 14 and 15.

Because the town owns the Aqua Bowl, town supervisor Billy Fried's motion to deny the request "as presented" included a provision for Rocky Reef to come back with a different proposal that includes a non-profit group.

Over the course of the discussion at the meeting, Will Jeffrey, founder of American Pond Hockey, expressed frustration with the town's non-profit exclusive stance, telling the town board he'd "like to see a change in precedence."

The discussion leading up to the denial at the meeting was extensive with town supervisor Brian Fricke able to establish early from Jeffrey there would be no non-profit involved this year as far as being a recipient of a portion of beer sales from Rocky Reef and American Pond Hockey.

In 2023, the non-profit was the Min-Aqua Bats and the first year, the Lions Club.

"Those guys are all out of it now and it's your for-profit organization and them," Fricke said to Jeffrey and Rocky Reef owners Christy and Nick Tyler.

After the meeting, Jeffrey told The Lakeland Times 32 teams are scheduled for the 2025 edition of the pond hockey tournament including teams from Colorado, Florida and two teams of eight players each from England in addition to teams coming to Minocqua from other parts of the state.

He also told the Times unless something changed with the policy, 2025 will be the final pond hockey tournament in Minocqua conducted by his business.

Rental proposal

Last week, in the days leading up to the Nov. 6 town board meeting, Jeffrey sent a statement, or "letter to the community," to the Times regarding the issue.

"As many of you are aware, there has been an ongoing discussion regarding the future of the American Pond Hockey (APH) tournament and Rocky Reef Brewing Co. in Minocqua," he wrote. "At the heart of the matter is a question of how best to structure our event to benefit the community while balancing the interests of local businesses, non-profits, and residents."

Jeffrey wrote about what he described as "understandable concerns" raised by members of the Minocqua town board.

"Historically, events in Minocqua have not just been centered around charities—they have only been allowed to be operated by charities," he wrote. "We respect this tradition and share the town's goal of supporting local organizations and initiatives. However, shifting control away from the two organizations at the heart and soul of this event risks losing the vision and dedication that have made it successful. While supporting local non-profits is important, the event's demographic isn't participating because it's a charitable gathering."

Jeffrey wrote about hockey teams coming to Minocqua "from places like the United Kingdom to compete at American Pond Hockey."

"They come for the experience, not solely for a local charity," he wrote. "By placing a single charity at the center, we risk losing the larger appeal that draws people in and ultimately undermining the broader benefits this event brings to the entire community. Our commitment to local support remains strong, but it doesn't need to be the sole focus to achieve meaningful outcomes for Minocqua."

Included in the letter is a reference of the intent for the Aqua Bowl rental proposal on the Nov. 6 town board meeting agenda.

"Our proposed rental agreement for the Aqua Bowl provides direct financial benefits to the town," Jeffrey wrote. "Additionally, APH remains committed to investing in the venue's improvements annually, making needed repairs and enhancements without burdening the town with these costs. In essence, our partnership would create a sustainable model that not only provides revenue but also relieves the town of maintenance responsibilities."

Town chairman Mark Hartzheim told the Times he and Fried met with Jeffrey on Oct. 28.

He didn't say whether or not he'd seen the Jeffrey rental proposal at the time and hadn't seen the statement sent to the Times but did say Jeffrey was "wanting to get back on the agenda and have some reconsideration for the town."

"We said 'We're not going to rehash the same thing we did the last time but if you could find a way to incorporate a benefit to a local non-profit organization that's acceptable by the board, I think the board is going to be open to that,'" Hartzheim said. "The policy and practice that we've used is if a for-profit organization or business comes in and wants to use public facilities or facilities the town has control over, that's OK but we just ask if you want to use town-owned facilities for your for-profit venture, we ask that you provide tangible financial benefit to local community organizations who give back to the community."