Our Place

The roundabouts that have recently been added to Highway 120 were not received well by everyone.
Some complained that they are confusing to maneuver, unnecessary, and could increase the number of accidents in that area. The roundabouts have been in place for some time now, and traffic seems to be flowing nicely, for the most part. Drivers are growing accustomed to the roundabouts, and some have started to become very approving of them. There is, however, some confusion regarding the maintenance of the grassy area in the center and around the roundabouts. There should be a simple solution. But Walworth County, the State of Wisconsin, Town of Lyons, and the City of Lake Geneva (so far) have no answer. The county stayed on top of the issue and kept asking and pushing for an answer, at least Amy (who is part of the Walworth County Public Works team) did. Amy kept in contact with the GSR, as she worked on the issue that is not only cosmetic but also a safety issue as if the grass gets too high it can block the sight of the traffic. The solution at this time is that the county will do a onetime mowing of the area until a permanent solution can be made. The City of Lake Geneva is not happy with this and wants a more permanent solution. The public works meeting in Lake Geneva, Tuesday night, will have the mowing of the roundabouts on the agenda, recommending that they be maintained by the city.

At last week’s BID meeting Lake Geneva’s City Administrator David Nord gave an update on the Riviera’s future.
The plan has been discussed and re-discussed. David’s update revealed that the Riviera would be closed between February 2020 and April 2020 and that more discussion would take place amongst city staff, people who have worked in the Riviera or have worked on maintenance and repairs on the building. This meeting was not supposed to be a traditional city meeting and was not supposed to be open to the public, but the attendance by city staff and citizens who showed up anyway made this into a bigger deal. The meeting was held last Wednesday, June 5, and the Riviera’s Renovation list of issues and repairs were discussed in great detail.

• The first floor has a deteriorating ceiling, rotting grease traps, electrical and wiring issues, asbestos, heating, and air conditioning problems, damaged doors, signage needs, and also the bathrooms need a lot of work.
• The second floor needs new curtains, bathroom partitions, brass railings replaced, some of the decorative blocks are shot, grease traps are undersized, pipes on exterior walls are freezing, and it has electrical and wiring issues, asbestos, and a non-level step leading into the main door.
• The ADA ramp onto the dance floor needs to be ADA compliant.
• The kitchen needs many upgrades or should be moved to the first floor.
• Bathrooms need to be expanded, and there should be a second bar installed.
• The exterior has a leaky roof and windows, issues with flashing, concrete caps, tuck-pointing, and water seepage in many locations.
• HVAC condensation has damaged some areas, there are drainage issues, the steps need repairs, security barriers of some kind need to be installed to help prevent vandalism around the fountain and at the diesel fuel pump that Gage Marine is in charge of.
• A new trash compactor is needed,
• Parking is a huge issue for wedding parties.

On top of this extensive list, many other thoughts and ideas were shared. The list is long and overwhelming but it creates a starting point. The question many people want an answer to: “is the Riviera going to be repaired, upgraded, and keep its overall purpose as is, or will it be changed into something completely different?” The meeting ended. Unfortunately, the discussion and mention of everything that needs to be done came and went without a concrete plan. For what might finally be done with the facility.

Person of the Week

Cory Newmann of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department. A class act in everything he touches, yet one of those very quietly
effective and great law enforcement officers.