OUR PLACE
There was plenty of open parking downtown this past weekend in Lake Geneva.
Saturday, there were more than fifteen open stalls on Main Street and eight on Wrigley in mid-afternoon. Broad Street and Cook Street were completely open. The weather was in the upper 40’s with full sunshine and fairly calm winds. People were enjoying town but not in the usual numbers the city is used to seeing.
Is this because of the price increase for parking, no big events, or is it just a coincidence? Visitors were heard discussing the big increase to parking downtown and they weren’t too happy. Are we encouraging our visitors not to come back? Are we really choosing some sort of ill-conceived and opinionated ‘quality over quantity,’ so Lake Geneva will appear to be more upscale and upper class? The grumbling about parking is a long way from over.
There is plenty of talk about multiple recalls of the people who voted this in (Howell, Hedlund, Dunn, Yunker and the mayor). These leaders have done more than acceptable work up to this point in their careers, and it would be a real shame if they ended those careers by being kicked out because of a phony problem that is being solved with a phony solution. Nobody knows how many employees are from Lake Geneva and vote. Nobody knows how many businesses are run by managers who also live in Lake Geneva and vote. Is the city ready for a wave of Lake Geneva local business customers who are talked to by upset employees about parking whenever they enter or leave a shop?
As we approach spring and the opening of the lake for summer activities the lake’s maintenance is a hot topic.
The gas pier at Elmer’s Boat rental is on the schedule for some big changes. This pier, and others around it, have suffered significant damage due to high winds and strong waves in the recent past, and now it’s deemed time to get repairs done, along with some proactive changes to the woodwork in order to prevent future damage. The changes will be made in phases.
The first phase will begin this spring. Three different bids came in for the work, including materials, labor, equipment, tools, transportation, services, and utilities to replace the entirety of the decking on the gas pier. The bids had substantial differences in amounts. The highest bid, $83,410.00 came in from JH Hassinger. The second highest was from Gage Marine at $60,504.40, and the lowest bid was $32,900 from Glen Fern Construction.
The Lake Geneva Piers, Harbor, and Lakefront Committee was puzzled, as the bid amounts were so different, but all members favored the Glen Fern price. The committee was left with concerns as to why the lowest bid was so far below the other two. Glen Fern Construction has done work for the city before without any complications and the city would like to use its services again for this project. The Harbor Master will meet with the company one more time to make sure the bid includes all the specifications of the job. If all goes well the job will be awarded to that company.
The raising of the gas pier by 4 feet is part of the second phase of the project, which is expected to help in the prevention of future damage of the higher wind-blown wave. That work should cut yearly maintenance and repairs substantially. The entire project is scheduled for initiation in the fall of 2023. Gage Marine has been the city’s number one ‘go to’ for pier work in the past, so hiring Glen Fern will be a change of some considerable measure. Heck, if this company does the work to specification and quality the city ought to throw another gala at the Riviera to thank them.
