Front Page

THE FRENCH RIVIERA

Why can’t the City of Lake Geneva come to a determination about what it is doing with the Riviera?  The Riviera pier complex is the keystone anchor architectural feature of the north end of Geneva Lake.
Here is the result that just came pouring in from the city council meeting on Monday night: Reconsideration of the approval for the agreement between the City of Lake Geneva and MSI General (the sole contractor, no bid, for whatever is to be done) for the Riviera improvement Project was voted in. The city attorney Dan (I’m still here!) Draper brought the contract issue up because there were problems with the original agreement. In a motion passing to “reconsider,” the contract is treated as though it was never approved in the first place. Back to square one.  A new vote was taken and the contract was unanimously denied.  Go figure. Then the city council sat for a bit, considered, and then approved a resolution to have  Dan, “I’m still here!” negotiate the terms of a new contract that provides an exact outline of what the terms of this contract is supposed to be about.  The problem with the original agreement with MSI was that when it was passed it was subject to “I’m still here!” approving of it.  Dan “I’m still here!” Draper, however, had no authority, the first time around, to change anything. Because of the complex nature of the contract, and how simple a man “I’m still here!” really is, he felt that he needed to have a complete understanding of the agreement before it is given back to the city council for approval. The city moved to pass a new resolution that gives “I’m still here!”, Draper the authority to negotiate new simple terms with MSI and then bring this agreement back to the city council for approval.

There is some good news and some bad news in this arrangement.  The good news is that certain wording in the former contract is being removed: like the wording that included whatever MSI wanted to write down as expenses (they included profit!).  The bad news is that the whole issue of what is being done with the Riviera redo, rethink, rebuild, re-plan or whatever, is still being cloaked and kept in secret. Paperasserie is the French word for red tape.  A municipal project in France can easily take six or seven years from start to finish because of the Paper-ass-erie that goes on over there.

You pick out the most illustrative words to cover what’s going on with the Riviera project.  The French use the Paperasserie process the same way their American counterparts use it in Lake Geneva.  They use it to stall and cover up what they are really doing. Are the rumors of a new giant Hartz/Gage restaurant to replace all the shops true? Only time will tell because the Lake Geneva city council is not.