LIVING HERE

 Lake Geneva’s cashless beach has been approved.  
Not everyone agrees with that decision, however. The harbormaster spoke at last week’s meeting and has a solution that he hopes will make everyone happy. The idea is to have the vendors at the Riviera help with beach passes being purchasable with cash. The city has a little work to do before this can happen. The city attorney needs to investigate the legalities of having the vendors sell the passes, the vendors must agree to do it, and the city would need to come up with a paper or plastic beach ticket. The Piers, Harbor, and Lakefront Committee sees this as a doable project, knowing it may cost a little upfront to create the tickets and possibly offer the vendors some kind of incentive.

The harbormaster sees it as a win for everyone. The beachgoers can purchase tickets at their leisure with cash, the vendors will get more foot traffic and the potential of extra sales when families come in for passes, and the lines at the kiosks may be shorter and move quickly while the city continues to rake in the revenue. This is all in the idea and discussion phase, but the plan is to have a concrete plan before the summer season kicks off.

Geneva National plans on building ten piers, each with ten slips each (for a total of one hundred new slips) on Lake Como. 
The purpose of the slips is to rent them out to condominium owners within Geneva National. These plans are in the preliminary stages, and Geneva National is working with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to review the plans submitted back in July of 2021 for the piers. Additional information was requested by the DNR, primarily concerning how the piers would be accessed.

The original application stated that no ground disturbance would take place, yet there’s no road, path, or trail leading to the water there. Geneva National’s updated plan includes two new golf cart paths with one leading directly to the piers. The revised proposal also includes semi-transparent decking to reduce the shading of aquatic plants allowing sunlight to peer through. The DNR also completed an extensive survey of the wetlands and wildlife along the western shoreline, especially pertaining to the waterfowl. The outcome of the survey showed that it is very important to leave that shoreline undeveloped. Native habitat lies outside of the proposed project site but it’s Geneva National frontage, so it’s land they are responsible for.

Also, as part of the revised proposal, Geneva National will be restricted from the development of piers, wharves, or moorings along approximately 4,700 linear feet of wetland footage to protect sensitive wetland and aquatic life. Since this project has high interest from the public and residents a public informational meeting with the DNR has been scheduled for Monday, April 4th, at 4 p.m. The meeting will be available through the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3739860610.

The meeting identification code is 373 986 0610. To join by phone call 1 312 626 6799, passcode: 3739860610#. This is an opportunity for the public and DNR to gain additional facts and discuss the potential environmental impacts of building the piers and slips. Any written comments about this subject can also be sent on to luke.roffler@wisconsin.gov. Comments should include the docket number or applicant name and should relate to whether the project meets the legal standards listed above. Comments must be emailed no later than 10 days after the date that the public informational hearing is completed in order for them to be considered.

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