Surprising Stuff

Dan Draper.
Dan is the city attorney for Lake Geneva.  He’s been the city attorney for quite some time.  Years ago, during the Mirbeau Hummel fiasco, worked with the attorney who was the attorney for Mirbeau Hummel.  Dan’s work in trying to analyze that property annexation and rezoning partially resulted in a loss of almost four million dollars to the city’s insurance company.   Things got so bad, Dan hired his own attorney to represent him. Now, here comes Dan again, acting every bit like he is representing the current owners of Hillmoor instead of Lake Geneva.

His recent letter to the city council basically encourages the company that owns Hillmoor to file suit against the city if a Friends of Hillmoor paid feasibility study gets presented to the council for consideration.  Dan was mightily in favor of a feasibility study that the city would have paid tens of thousands of dollars a few weeks back if it hadn’t been turned down by one vote.  Dan’s argument is that current zoning calls for private construction and development.  Has Dan ever heard of 501(c)3 companies, private but non-profit?

The current developer has been told a number of times by different commissions and councils that it can develop the property according to the zoning in effect when they bought it.  Almost all development companies want to push for less stringent zoning…and it’s not generally to develop the land.  It’s to increase the value of the land once it’s already purchased.  New less stringent zoning, if passed by gullible city administrators, then allows for the sale of the property to entities who might have no qualms about building the most awful developments on the land.

City Attorney Dan Draper does not appear to have the best interests of the City of Lake Geneva in mind as he attempts to do his job.  Dan Draper needs to retire or be recalled as city attorney, and that’s the first time the Geneva Shore Report has been motivated to request such action.  Dan Draper’s shameful, incompetent and unethical letter is published further down in this issue.

 

The Starry Stonewart Disaster looms.
The DNR report just came in.  The decision of the DNR, with respect to where the infestation is located and what to do about it, comes back as late, unbelievable and feckless, to say the least.  What was an infestation inside the Trinke Lagoon is now not there anymore.  It’s outside the opening, not inside because obviously it has tiny little feet and can scurry across the lake bottom.  It’s also in a bigger patch along the shore further north.

“Who are these people, anyway?”  The result of this sugary silly report takes Trinke Estates and allows them to do nothing, they can keep their private lagoon private and nobody, but nobody is going to mess with their exclusive private wooden boats or docks.  The conclusion by this august group of God Knows Who at the DNR also basically hands down no solution to the problem. What are they going to do?  Start diver dredging all along the eastern shore of the lake, going after an infestation that moves around, apparently, like the Teletubbies, bouncing from place to place at will.  What happened here?  It’s very likely that the rich people along the shore took one look at the mortality tables and determined they did not want what life they have left, or any of their high-priced stuff, messed with.  The DNR folded it’s tent and agreed. The lake is at risk. The solution seems to be; live faster and enjoy it before its gone.

Person of the Week

Pete Thompson, Lake Geneva

Pete Thompson was selected to attend the Honor Flight to honor his time spent fighting in Vietnam. Pete is a wonderful man along with being a excellent musician.

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