Little Gems
Parking idiocy. Back in February of 2015 the city council slipped in a little known and little understood amendment to the parking ordinance 10-11. That amendment was about compact cars having to be compact cars in order to park in the slots marked compact cars only. Prior to the ordinance, passed in October of 2010, the only requirement was that the car parking in one of the slots, limited by a horizontal broken white line across the two solid space separating lines, fully fit bumper-to-bumper inside that space. Then along came the inscrutable addition in 2015.
What is it?
This amendment to the ordinance says that your car must be defined as a compact car under the category “Market Class” at www.fueleconomy.gov, a site maintained by the US. Department of Transportation and United States Environmental Protection Agency. Go to the website but take a brush and comb for fixing your hair after you try to rip it from your skull. The site is a mess and there is absolutely no way to tell what a compact car is, what models, years and brands qualify, or any of that. You can compare one car against another. You can find out your cars EPA numbers. But there is no list of compact cars inclusive to cover all compact cars produced, not only recently but over all time.
Sylvia, the brilliantly effective parking czar of Lake Geneva, wisely does not allow her staff to get involved with the website. She uses the dash lines across the spaces so designated and that’s it. And she has her people take photos so no fables will work at the front desk. Be careful of appealing because the appeal time may take longer than the time allowed for additional fines to be charged! Actually, if that happens Sylvia will wave that part of the fine. This woman is bright and tough so have your ducks in a row before you call her forth to that front desk. When interviewed about the absolute mess the fuel economy government site demonstrates Sylvia told reporters that the site changes all the time. You can find small or medium-size categories on the site but the only compact car notations are those where two particular cars are compared. There’s nothing to let the public know how a compact car is defined and what cars produced fall into such a classification. The little hash-marks at the end of compact car slots will have to serve as the only yardstick used by the parking department. The fine is twenty-five dollars if you can’t fit. If you run your tire up over the curb at the front to fit then that’s twenty-five bucks too.
The tennis courts over on Highway 120 Bypass. They are being built as this is being written. To anyone driving out past Wal-Mart headed south on Highway 120, the new covered courts are readily apparent. Ten huge girders are being hoisted high into the air, one after another, to be lowered onto supports so that the courts will have no need for perpendicular supporting columns. Drive by and check the courts out. The Badger Tennis Coach is slated to be the manager and tennis pro at the facility when it opens this fall. What a neat addition to Lake Geneva and a credit to the city administration, the planning and parks commissions and the Lake Geneva City Council. Paul Lauterbach is the name of the outstanding Badger tennis coach. The team has done wonders under his tutelage. Paul previously was associated with Flac (Four Lakes Athletic Club) in Elkhorn for those of you who used to visit there.
