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AS GOES ELKHORN…SO GOES LAKE GENEVA?
A scandal brews quietly and slowly up in Elkhorn. This scandal might become, or already is, communicable. It’s the failure of the community to properly inspect building codes, and building contractors’ work, as well as those citizens owning property where nearby vacant land is zoned for single or multi-unit construction. A current nearby building inspector once told this newspaper, when interviewed, that small communities like those currently in existence around the lakes of Geneva, Como, and Delavan simply don’t have the personnel to inspect everything that might be built after proper permits are issued, and consequently, some builders with good track records are simply trusted to follow the approved building plans.
The Elkhorn West subdivision, completed in 2006, is rising to the top of this sticky area of civil development when it comes to what can result when these developments are not properly inspected, with each stage of construction seen and approved. Four homes that were in existence before the development was built, just downhill from the construction, have had their homes destroyed (for all intents and purposes, as they can’t use them as collateral, sell them, or rent them out. They have all been severely damaged by repeated flood conditions. Nobody questions that the runoff coming down from Elkhorn West is the cause.
This water mitigation problem was noted in the Elkhorn West submission for approval by the city. The plan to build a credible and adequate drain system, routing the water from any storm, past the existing homes was put in the plan by the architect. There was never an inspection to see if the drain was proper, up to code, and adequate for the job. The drain system was never built. Dave Crosby is one of the homeowners and he’s angry, as are his neighbors. His home has sunk four inches since the development was built. After every storm, the water covers the street in front of his house to waist-high depths. A photo of such a condition appears in this edition. The city’s insurance company has denied his claim. The city Department of Public Works refuses to put in the necessary drain after all these years. Instead of filing an expensive lawsuit, Mr. Crosby came to the Geneva Shore Report, in hopes of securing assistance in getting the drain finally put in.
This is the first in a series of articles as the GSR investigators go to work to interview city officials, the DNR (the drain originally planned would go through Wisconsin wetlands), and the other homeowners suffering damage. The first question that will be asked of the mayor and head of public works: “Why have no records of any of the Elkhorn West development been kept, or why were they destroyed?”
What has any of this problem going on in Elkhorn have to do with Lake Geneva or even the other communities around Geneva Lake? The building inspector who accidentally blurted out that there are not enough inspectors to go around might be revealing something the public needs to know. The single biggest settlement in court history was made to home and business owners from a lawsuit over this same thing happening in 2001. The city’s insurance has denied any responsibility. The builder’s long gone, as is the whole city council, mayor, and city administrator of that time.
Whom does that leave to pick up the tab on this new developing scandal? The public.
Some of what’s happened in Lake Geneva’s own intensely dense new construction is not up to code. When those places start to resell and can’t qualify for title insurance where are the owners going to go? Straight to city hall. Hopefully, the records that will have to be produced on the inspections that should have caught things right at the start won’t go missing, although Lake Geneva’s ordinance about such things requires that they be kept only seven years. Some of the owners need to start going after those records right now.
