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THE HILLMOOR PANDORA’S BOX
The public is about to get to see what it purchased. The Hillmoor property has been inaccessible since long before and after the city bought the land. This doesn’t mean people have not ventured onto the Hillmoor property to explore and enjoy it. Those who have been adventurous (or foolish, as trespassing there can be a pretty heavily fined offense) enough to venture onto the grounds and do some wandering around.
The Friends of Hillmoor and Geneva Lake Conservation are ready to start cleanup and restoration. Lake Geneva now has volunteer liability, insurance coverage, and a waiver from the volunteers to be on the Hillmoor property (the insurance was always there since purchase, its coverage lied about by Mayor Mayor and her ‘confederacy of dunces’ nesting inside the municipal building downtown. The Friends of Hillmoor is about to apply a project plan for ecological restoration at the Hillmoor property to take place on weekdays in October.
Volunteers will be clearing the cart path, trimming downed tree branches, and removing debris. Incidentally, the ‘contract’ for volunteers, put together by Lake Geneva’s rather strange city attorney, gives the volunteers nothing. The volunteers are required to sign a document giving them no protection, no insurance, and all the liability for anything they might do or that might happen to them. Small town friendly this ‘volunteer’ contract is not. The Friends of Hillmoor have contracted with Black Brick Landscaping (the terrific owner is named Amando) which will be coming in to remove big limbs, stumps, and other heavy debris. The work scheduled to be done was work recommended by the Lake Geneva Public Works and police department. The city will not be burdened with doing the work or the cost of having it done, at least not in the short term.
The Friends of Hillmoor will have Black Brick and their volunteers working on a smaller-scale cleanup. The Geneva Lake Conservancy is also working out at the property. Volunteers and conservancy members plan to work from 9 a.m. until noon, on a number of days, starting in November and ending in February. The GLC volunteers will be working on the cleanup of the north end without getting too close to the White River. Buck thorns and low-hanging debris are the main focus and will be pulled out and removed. Apparently, the cleanup forces are counting on a very gentle winter, as the normal low temperatures and snow would likely deter everything if the weather is anything like it normally is at that time of year.
The city public works workers will help out with limited removal of brush and debris. Applications have been filed from both organizations for approval from the city to get started. The Lake Geneva Finance, License, and Registration Committee started the discussion at last week’s meeting and recommended approval. Monday night’s city council meeting continued the approval process. Members of both the Friends of Hillmoor and The Geneva Lakes Conservancy are excited to finally get on the property and start some kind of work and improvement. What with the size of the property, the hours to be worked (even, if possible, because of harsh weather), and a likely small number of volunteers, the clearing could take quite some time (think years not months).
What is Lake Geneva peering down upon this ‘box’ of over two hundred acres it bought? What is staring back up might not be the attractive ‘creature’ everyone thought it was going to be.
