LIVING HERE
Impact Fees.
This has been a long time coming. The city claims to need more revenue is needed to keep Lake Geneva maintained and up to standards. City officials have been looking at ways to generate money, including the draconian new parking rate increase and out-of-this-world ticket fine fees. The referendum to implement the PRAT is in the works, and the long overdue effect of charging impact fees to developers once again is getting close to being reinstated. The discussion regarding the draft of the City of Lake Geneva Impact Fee Study finally happened. Impact fees are designed to cover costs due to new growth, and Lak Geneva has plenty of new growth. Impact fees are not designed to cover the full city’s entire cost of projects but definitely help get a quality job done.
Impact fees have not been a source of revenue to help cover costs of maintaining the city since 2004, and what with the budget issues and increased cost in every department the city needs impact fees to be immediately reinstated. Impact fees are not as simple as simply charging new developments a certain amount. Each area of a developer’s plan must be reviewed, and fees assigned. Then, as plans are modified, changes must be made to the fees being charged, as well. The overall impact fee plan for future needs is not complete but now that it has gone through the finance, license, and regulation committee, and the city council, the public hearings can take place to tweak the plan and get it reinstituted and its full effects applied. The committee approved this plan.
Body cams have arrived in Lake Geneva.
Recently all police officers from the City of Lake Geneva Police Department have been equipped with body cams. The officers are elated to have the body cams working because it protects them along with the community. The journey to get to this point was a long one. It started as a research project from then Chief Rassmussen and current Chief Gritzner looking into the benefits of bringing the cams to Lake Geneva. After speaking with other communities that utilize the body cams it was evident that the benefits far outweigh any disadvantages if any. Chief Gritzner was able to secure multiple grants to help cover the costs associated with the body cams.
The police department would also like to remind the public that whoever knowingly makes a false complaint regarding the conduct of a law enforcement officer is subject to a class A forfeiture. They have already received two complaints of actual or insinuated officer misconduct since the cameras have been deployed, both of which were not true. They will address any claims of officer misconduct and will also not stay silent about false complaints of police misconduct. This is the transparency so many have requested through the utilization of body-worn cameras, and we will hold up our end of the bargain.
There is also a new feature coming in the near future. The department is also very excited to announce a citizen portal through Axon coming soon in which you can share all of your recorded footage with them. Our community is a great team! Stay tuned, and the Lake Geneva Police Department is the greatest in the state, by far!
Lake Geneva’s ‘mass’ media.
Nancy Douglass bought 96.1 At The Lake radio station, and what a difference. She’s changed the music to something that’s almost always listenable, her ‘news’ show on Sunday mornings is becoming more local all the time and she’s bringing up cogent sensitive subjects that need citizen recognition and response.
Trevor, the former sportswriter of the Regional News has taken over the managing editor position of that old venerable newspaper and what a change it portends. The paper is coming awake and alive under his leadership and guidance. Real articles hitting hard on the front page and real penetrating coverage of city meetings, now always attended by Dennis, the intrepid reporter they send regularly to the field.
The Geneva Shore Report continues to be hard-hitting and covering the news in such a way that, although considered an irritant by many, gets the stuff going on out there in front of the public and daily in its video presentations of all kinds. The real weather in downtown Lake Geneva, the real goings on of the leadership, the road conditions and more.
This ‘triumvirate’ of news organizations, acting independently of one another, are giving a special flavor of caring reality to a public that’s got to be craving such coverage after watching the strangeness of where the national media has gone in recent years. The GSR has more opinion and always has a fictional story element as part of its production. The Regional News, the official paper of Lake Geneva, as the city announcements and extensive valuable advertisements and sports coverage. 96.1 has music and great political and local news commentary, as well as pretty powerfully expressed talk shows in news areas and sports.
Any community, and there are not that many left at all across the nation, of such small size, should look to Lake Geneva with jealousy and admiration, both mixed together.
Lou Rugani is available he would be a great addition to 96.1
Has he contacted the Station?