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OWNERSHIP UNKNOWN

 Brian Pollard, the developer of Symphony Bay and other large property improvements in and around Lake Geneva, quietly steps back into the property ownership limelight with a thirteen-acre parcel located over on Edwards Boulevard just across the road from Symphony Bay.  It seems that Mr. Pollard has been generous once again, this time a few years back when he was getting zoning and other approvals to build the hundreds of tiny homes in the first part of the now monster development. By the time Brian is done, what with his latest phase of the project, it’s quite likely that the entire project will contain more than ten percent of the entire City of Lake Geneva population.

What about the 13-acre plot?  It’s been forgotten until now.  It seems that the Lake Geneva Fire Department and the Police Department both need substations out along that stretch of Edwards Boulevard.  Response time is simply too long from the dense downtown area where both departments have their base stations. Symphony Bay also has a bit of the Lahaina, Hawaii, or Ruidoso, New Mexico problem.

The houses built in the phases of the development are small and very close together and all are made mostly from wood with asphalt roofs. A small fire, starting at the south end of the development and fanned by a strong wind blowing north would potentially incinerate most of the development unless the blaze was reached in mere minutes. Years ago, foreseeing this problem (Brian is not only a generous but very bright guy) the developer donated the thirteen acres to the city for future public safety development.  However, the Lake Geneva City Attorney failed to record the property transfer with the county.

Mr. Pollard retains ownership of the land and has paid the taxes due during the ensuing years (not much because the raw land is taxed at an annual rate of less than a hundred dollars an acre). Why did the city attorney fail to record the property? The city attorney isn’t saying.  Brian Pollard stepped back in and reaffirmed his offer to gift the property to the city once more, as the issue of finding property for the police and fire substations has reached a point of contentious interest by the police and fire commission.

A question does arise as to how such a valuable piece of property could have gotten so lost in the system. The police and fire departments indicate that they need about five acres of the parcel, maybe six while the rest of the property, consisting mostly of thick woods would remain pristine and serve as a barrier between the possibly busy and noisy departments and the residential home and apartments in the remainder of the area. It would almost seem that the latest affliction of the entire culture seems to be one bordering on marginal dementia.

How is it that the property of such value, located along a main road around Lake Geneva, would be forgotten to such an extent that the gift of it failed to be recorded? What is the city attorney doing for Lake Geneva in his six-figure job (when you include additional special hours and a benefits package, and oh, that’s a ‘part-time’ job)? How can such things be overlooked which brings clarity to why the election of Todd Krause is so vitally important to us all?

This mistake was caught on his watch and that part of the whole thing makes all of us at the GSR feel so much better. You go, Todd!