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“WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ BADGES!”

What is happening right in front of the whole community down at the Driehaus Park area in downtown Lake Geneva? Well, it’s hard to say. The workers are there, tearing up the park, but the equipment they’ve brought in is all taped over on their panels and doors. How mysterious and strange is that? The company doing the work did not want its name known. It took the Geneva Shore Report X-files investigators about fifteen minutes to penetrate that deep dark secret.

The companies working for Gage Marine are not important, other than that they chose to keep themselves mysteriously secret. The City of Lake Geneva requires that agencies working under subcontract to them do not act in this way, but companies working for private individuals or other companies can do so. Gage Marine is performing this unusual private installment of overly large gas tanks on Lake Geneva city property. Why is no agency, not the city proper, not public works, not public utilities or even the business office responsible or knowledgeable about what is going on? The DNR is supposedly the agency that requires permits and all the rest of the approvals necessary, according to management members of the city. What gives here? Does the state take precedence over city operations? Since when? That the city allows sub-contractors of any kind to remain deliberately anonymous is rather outrageous. Gage Marine is not entitled to be anonymous in anything it does on city property. Where is city attorney Dan Draper in all of this? Nowhere, obviously.

The following is an email from the Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture responding to a complaint about an environmental hazard that was placed last week:

“We are aware of what’s going on at this facility. A site assessment (soil sampling) was conducted after the tanks were removed recently. We suspect there was a release into the environment, but won’t know the extent until we see the results of the site assessment. I will add your email to my file on this. Please let me know if you have any questions;

Kevin Meyers, Regulatory Specialist – Bureau of Weights and Measures, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
2811 Agriculture Dr., Madison, WI 53708
(608) 224-5159”

There is trouble in “River City” with this bit of work going on down at the Riviera. Fred Walling, Building Inspector for the city, is all over this part of the of replacement work and his Navy/Marine background serves him well to lend assurance that the ‘battle’ being fought about how this project proceeds is one that will be done with the city’s best interests in mind. The city has been a bit lax when it comes to dealing with anything related to the Gage Marine operations. Gage gets contracts for repair and upkeep the piers and harbor complex in both Lake Geneva and of Williams Bay, which ought to be put out to bid for other, more objective operations to come in and at least take a look at if not be hired to do the work. Gage has been a godsend, as the single allowed monopoly to operate tour and dinner boats on Geneva Lake.

The other side of that “coin” is the fact that it becomes difficult to regulate or restrain such a powerful entity once it takes over Geneva Lake Marine operations.

Secret Agent?

The ‘secret’ nature of taping over business identity! Ultragreen out of Rock County is the name of the taped over the operation.