OUR PLACE
The continuing issue with respect to the promised open bathrooms at the Rivera Pier Complex.
The doors to the bathrooms in the complex remain locked on weekends and holidays, the times when the bathrooms are needed the most. Why is this? Yes, there are excuses and explanations, but they don’t wash, not with a washroom needing public. The inflow of tourists has increased, not decreased and that is evident to anyone walking around the town, day or night. Most businesses in Lake Geneva only let people who are buying their products use the bathrooms they have on their premises. That leaves the public restrooms, or the visiting public can depart the city for places more hospitable.
The public does not care that the city does not have people working on the weekends, although the city does. There are police, community service officers, and even personnel putting lights on trees and decorating for the coming Christmas holiday. The city has made a bonanza of revenue this year from the beach income and parking. City business and property taxes are not going down. That revenue is increasing as more and more development continues to go on. Now, the city leaders have to decide what they are going to do about fixing this problem, and it can become a problem that actually turns the next election cycle.
This is a big deal, and it’s not going to go away. The leadership was approved to do the Riviera redevelopment for millions. Part of the agreement, or promise, was that the washrooms would be rebuilt so that the public would have much more, nearly round the clock, use of them. That promise has been broken and the wound it created in trust, not just physical relief, must be healed. It can be healed by immediate action, or it can be healed later on with votes.
The Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is this Friday, December 3rd from 5:30 p.m. until 6:15 p.m.
This is a local favorite that brings the community together for some warm small-town Christmas warmth. The tree made its way from a property in Geneva National on Monday and took its place in Brunk Pavilion. The lights are strung, and the ornaments placed, waiting for the flipping of the switch and the tree to shine. After an evening of song, storytime, and Santa the holiday fun will continue into Saturday.
The 46th Annual Electric Christmas Parade will be Saturday, December 4th at 5 p.m. The parade will include live music, elaborate floats, and the streets of Lake Geneva will be aglow with festive Christmas lights.
This is not the only parade this weekend; Elkhorn’s Christmas Card Town Parade will be Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and Burlington’s Annual Christmas Parade will be at 6:30 p.m. If you want to get out of the cold come warm up in the Geneva Lake Museum with the Parade of Trees. All of downtown is decorated to the fullest for Christmas and the shops are full of wonderful deals on unique gift items.
Free parking is here for the winter.
That doesn’t mean parking rules and enforcement of them does not apply. The parking department is still active, and citations are being given out, if not by the parking attendants than by police personnel, if and when necessary. A few mistakes can cost anywhere from twenty bucks to a hundred and fifty.
- Parking more than three motorcycles in one stall will get you a twenty-dollar ticket.
- Backing into a stall, compact stall violation, parking in a no-parking zone, and parking over the line will generate a $25.00 fine.
- Parking too close to a fire hydrant is $40.00, and parking in a handicap zone without a handicap sticker is a $150.00 fine.
Parking in Lake Geneva is a common topic, especially during the summer. With free parking now available many seem to think parking is a free for all, even in regards to ignoring the rules and the consideration of others. Recently on a Facebook page that is all about Lake Geneva, a member posted about what he believed to be a petty parking ticket. The violation was for parking over the line, and the recipient of the ticket was frustrated and did not think it necessary. The Lake Geneva parking department manager and the parking attendants are far from petty however and are not hunting for extra revenue.
This particular incident deserved a response from the parking department, including a picture. This kind of parking causes adjacent parking stalls to be unusable. Parking in Lake Geneva is hard to come by and a real frustration for others trying to park. Obey the rules, well established and well written, and never forget how cheap parking rates really are when compared to other vacation or metro areas.