Our Place

The crumbling edge of South Lakeshore Drive and the lack of a real sand beach at the Bigfoot Beach stretch of road has been an ongoing issue with no permanent solution implemented for years. Over the years this stretch of road and beach have been brought up and the valid concerns about ambiance and erosion have been discussed over and over.  No solution has ever been presented that anyone could agree on.  The waves of concern, as they have come in like swells during a storm, have been drowned out and then the subject retired for another day.

But, alderperson Mary Jo Fesenmaier cannot and will not accept this, or so she has indicated to the Geneva Shore Report. Fesenmaier has, and is, adding this issue to any city meeting agenda she possibly can.  Because of her persistence, the erosion and beach concerns are being looked into more than ever before. A few weeks back, a decision was made to have public works fill in the eroded road edge with gravel and sand to at least establish a temporary fix. The next issue was to get clarification on ownership. Buttons Bay, South Lakeshore Drive, Bigfoot State Park, and Beach all meet at the borders of the City of Lake Geneva, the Township of Linn, and the State Park property.  And then there’s the DNR which has some authority over the entire area. Bigfoot Beach and South Lake Shore Drive have changed ownership many times.

The beach started as part of a town road, then a village road, next the DOT claimed it, and lastly, it became attached to a city road. That would leave most with the impression that the City of Lake Geneva owns the beach, but the city isn’t so sure. Tom Earle, head of public works for Lake Geneva, has had a couple of meetings with Lake Geneva’s City Administrator David Nord, a representative from the DNR, and members of the DOT, to discuss responsibility for the beach and road.  Apparently, it is going to take a group-derived decision to establish who and what entity has the responsibility and may provide a solution, and the possible shared cost of any such agreed-upon solution.

The players will meet again, with (hopefully) more detailed information, and a solution may be decided about the beach (or lack of it).  Hopefully, the area can be brought back to its former glory.  That ‘glory’ would include a solution, as well, to the erosion currently eating away along the beloved South Lakeshore Drive, or Paradise Road, as locals sometimes refer to it. This stretch of road, along the shore of Geneva Lake, is a treasure and provides so much visual pleasure to everyone who visits or merely drives it.  The beach and road must be preserved for all to enjoy on into the future.

 

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