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CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD COMING

 Every Year the shoveling of snow problem rises to confront the business owners of downtown Lake Geneva.  The 2022/23 snow season is no different. The policy the city enforces does not consider older, infirm, or absent owners of businesses in the downtown area when a great snowfall descends from the sky.  The city has plenty of manpower and equipment that would allow it to shovel all the business sidewalks and remove the snow to a better location.  Currently, the business owners must shovel their own sidewalks, but there’s no place to shovel the snow for many of the businesses, especially those located along the sides of Main and Broad streets.  The city has been asked to take on this chore many times but has never agreed to accept that responsibility.

This leaves some businesses shoveled, some not, and paying fines and then there are those that are shoveled but with snow piled back onto the streets out front.  When the snow season passes, so does interest in doing anything about the problem, almost like the issue of parking charges and fines.  With the new increases in parking rates and fines, however, the next paid parking season is likely to be stirred to a roaring inferno of interest.  For now, in this winter season, snow has been light and passing.  This is Wisconsin however, and heavy snow can come at any time, and many times over.

It’s time once again to think about the city paying and city responsible snow removal for all sidewalks located in front of businesses in the downtown area. We’ve had a great fall and were blessed with wonderful weather.

The City of Lake Geneva requires all sidewalks to be cleared within 24 hours of a snowfall (12 hours for downtown) and is the responsibility of the property owner. Make sure to comply or there will be a fee assessed of a minimum of $80. The City of Lake Geneva’s Public Works Department is wonderful at keeping the streets clear and safe so let’s do our part and keep the sidewalks clear and safe also.

Wednesday, December 21st, is the date of this year’s winter solstice when fall will end, and winter will begin. The winter solstice marks the day with the fewest hours of daylight making it the ‘shortest’ day of the year. On the day of the winter solstice, we are tilted as far away from the Sun as possible, which means that the Sun’s path across the sky is as low in the sky as it can be. Thankfully it only gets brighter from here as after the winter solstice the days will slowly begin to get longer. The day after the winter solstice, the Sun’s path begins to advance northward again, eventually reaching its most northerly point on the day of the summer solstice. With the winter season officially here so is the snow.

The weather, after the Geneva Shore Report complained of almost no snow in the southern Wisconsin area, is about to hit hard, with a growing monster blizzard set to strike right after this paper is distributed on Wednesday. That strike, with up to a foot and a half of snow (we are not kidding about that forecast), will quickly be followed by a week-long period of temperatures not seen in a long time.  Temperatures are extremely low, that is.  Some forecasters are predicting that these frigid temperatures could reach thirty degrees below zero, or more.  The Christmas season will resemble, very likely, the Christmases of old, where snow, ice and plunging cold covered the entire state, day after day on into mid-winter.  Will this changing weather be considered a great Christmas gift from God, or a curse set upon the area because of poor conduct on the part of the area’s human stewards?  The answer to that question will only be appreciated and understood by the many Christmas revelers and those who pay attention to such wondrous celebrations with great attitudes and love.