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THE GREAT HILLMOOR PLAN
Now that the 200-acre Hillmoor chunk of property (the old golf course to the northeast of town, located behind Target and that strip of stores) has been purchased and the papers signed, and the money paid, what is to be done with it? That tough question is tougher than most might think, as whatever is planned to go there must conform to very restrictive traffic congestion situations during summer months, run off of abnormal rain or snow activity, and the feelings and power of local nature buffs, parking enthusiasts, goat followers (not kidding about those), and even those who want a skating rink, the relocation of the YMCA to the grounds, a new dog park, and a rebuilding of the old golf course (sized-down to about nine holes, or so).
The public was invited to the first open planning session held by the mayor in the police training room on the upper level of city hall of the Lake Geneva Municipal Building on Sunday afternoon at two o’clock. That many people would come on a perfectly ambient and sunny Sunday afternoon was not fully expected, as extra chairs and tables had to be brought in for the meeting (tables were a great nicety provided by the city so people could easily take notes and rest their weary elbows on). But show, the people did, with 75 coming to the meeting, not counting the mayor herself. The mayor is recovering from pneumonia, however, and could not speak, instead relaying notes she wrote through her unlikely but effective spokesperson named Sheri Ames.
Twenty-five people spoke about what they might like to see done with the property. Well, no, twenty-five spoke but only a half dozen had any suggestions, the rest speaking about how great it was that the city had finally been able to acquire the tract of land, or about how they would endorse any plan that would make the entire area into a park, or about how they’d like to lead any effort to form a planning group to come up with a solution. Hank Sibbing was there and he’s not only running for the judgeship in Lake Geneva again but a big proponent of building another golf course, or reviving what’s left from the old one, on the property. He indicated that it would only take a bit of mowing and then letting nature help with the rest in order to bring golf back. Mike Krajovic spoke, and brilliantly, about how the planning process of some time needed to be respected and that no rash judgments or ideas should be implemented right away. He also offered to be the leader of any leadership group intending to serve as a planning committee. He might be an ideal choice. Of course, the Conservancy was there and offering the same type of thing.
Nobody came to offer to be a follower, but then that is to be expected today’s kind of environment.
The second meeting, intended to allow the public to come and share its ideas about the property was held on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. and this was basically a repeat of the first, mostly populated with the same seventy-five, or so, citizens, residents, taxpayers and more. The same suggestions were presented, although a rather spirited delivery was made by representatives of the YMCA. The Y is moving, as almost everyone knows. It has secured property out on Edwards Boulevard (way out there on the edge of Town of Linn and Bloomfield) but would much prefer to have it’s structure and parking lots on the Hillmoor property. That the structure envisioned would not necessarily be one of great or distinction (the YMCA is severely limited in financing for such an effort) is not necessarily the point, or is it? The mayor had her voice partially back, after not being able to speak at all at the previous meeting, which was a mixed blessing. Both meetings ended with no conclusions being drawn up or seriously considered, but then that was not the point of the meetings.
