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DEEP IMPACT
Lake Geneva needs to reimpose impact fees. Once the TIF was disposed of years ago, the ability to have others share in the financial burden of having Lake Geneva available to everyone went with it. Big developers have been getting a break for way too long, and with the recent large increase in development they are blatantly taking advantage. Impact fees provide a needed source of funding for much of the town’s infrastructure. These fees are designed to fund added needs: “growth pays for growth.” The impact fee’s purpose is to charge new development for the infrastructure needed to serve that development. State statutes dictate their use, while best practices can help municipalities make the most of these fees. Cities cannot just come up with numbers on their own, proper procedure needs to be followed.
The general requirement to impose impact fees are as follows: A public ‘needs assessment’ must be done. The service area must be defined. Service needs and infrastructure needs must be analyzed and assessed. Finally, an inventory of existing facilities and deficiencies must be made. Estimates to cover what’s needed must also be made public for a minimum of twenty days before a public hearing can be scheduled. Ruekert & Mielke Inc. has completed the feasibility analysis and now the city can study the results and possibly impose the long overdue impact fees needed.
The last instance that impact fees were evaluated for city services was on January 26, 2004. Parking stands out as a significant need. It is an existing deficiency and future growth will generate more need, much of this need will not be eligible for impact fees since it will come from people outside the city. The library space itself may merit further investigation. A smaller satellite location could allow the library to grow and offer service in a different part of the city. The Lake Geneva Fire Department serves the entire city, as well as about half of the Town of Geneva. The department provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, public education, and various rescue services. The department has indicated that it will need more facility space to serve new growth, and it is conducting a study on a public safety building with the police department. Impact fees would likely be able to pay for a portion of a new public safety building. If this building were to replace the existing facility, fees could not pay for the portion of the building that would replace the building. In other words, the fees could not pay the full cost of such a project but could pay for a portion that would be needed due to the increase in growth.
If the city would have to understand and accept that a significant portion of a new facility would need to be funded some other way. The police department serves the entire city, enforcing the law, as well as fostering safety awareness and civic responsibility. Additionally, the department’s communications center dispatches fire and emergency medical services to a portion of the Town of Geneva served by the fire department. The department space at city hall does not accommodate current needs, and the department could use more. This existing deficiency needs to be addressed, as well as future growth needs.
The Department of Public Works maintains much of the City’s infrastructure. The department also handles snow plowing, street sweeping, brush and leaf pickup, the city’s recycling program that composts organic materials; assists with festivals and parades; and cares for thousands of trees. The department has indicated that several facilities are near or at capacity. Growth will require expansion and land purchases. Meeting the needs of future growth will require facilities that currently do not exist, and traffic signals at several intersections. Ruekert & Mielke recommends pursuing impact fees for all these issues and departments.
If the council approves a full impact fee study for these areas, it must understand that impact fees will not pay for the full amount of all the new growth projects but will be very beneficial to serving the community. City officials seem to be on board with getting this done and imposing the much-needed impact fees that the city has been lacking for far too long or simply did away with in a previous administration.
Development up Center Street and Stone Ridge Drive in the Stone Ridge Development has already caused much frustration do to a lack ingress and egress streets. The original developer was let OFF THE HOOK for putting in another street down to Interchange (Hwy 120) just east of Lake Geneva Ford.
The same “off the hook” seems to have been granted to the Developer Shodeen who has added MANY homes on the Stone Ridge Development. We as residents are funneled primarily up and down on Center Street with a very DANGEROUS intersection with Interchange N (Hwy 120) into Lake Geneva. This intersection is a further danger do to the fact that the incoming and outgoing traffic are both coming around curves. And traffic trying to come up Center St. to the Stone Ridge development is in the same predicament. SHAME ON the City Officials that allowed this unsafe situation to save a good ole boy developer money. Corrupted politicians as usual.
Thanks for your great input, Ed
The more condos and houses you keep building the more city employees you need, it is going to be a revolving door for Lake Geneva.