Surprising Stuff
Winterfest 2021 is still on the books!
February 3rd through the 7th all kinds of winter fun will be happening around Lake Geneva. Winterfest competitors are actively signing up right now. Normally the National Snow Sculpting Competition has fifteen teams from all over the nation. This year there may only be twelve or thirteen teams, as Covid-19 guidelines vary from state to state. There will also be a few other changes to accommodate health and safety guidelines. The very popular light show from last year will not be happening due to the crowds it drew and the concern for social distancing. The bonfires on the beach will take place Friday and Saturday during Winterfest and yes, s’mores and hot cocoa will be available. The very popular ice sculptor walk downtown is set and approximately twenty businesses have already signed up to sponsor a sculptor. This is a great event that draws many visitors to the town and the businesses need a positive boost to start 2021.
Ring the Bells
Christmas Eve at 6 pm grab your bells, head outside, and ring your bells! Listen for others doing the same and spread Christmas cheer!
The public works committee threw a curveball last Thursday night and held its monthly meeting on Monday.
Somehow, the committee snuck the change onto the calendar without anyone noticing. First on the agenda was an update from Tom Earle. He gave a snow update. Lake Geneva received 1.5 inches of snow and 1.21 inches of rain/freezing rain so far for the season. He said that he had eleven employees working on plowing and keeping the streets safe, which accumulated to seventy hours of overtime that the city had to pay (are they using little kids beach plows for that kind of snow, or what?).
According to Tom, everything went smoothly, and no issues were noted. Then, Tom went into great detail about items he sent out for auction with a return in proceeds after sale of over $45,000. Some of the items sold were the old parking kiosks, tractors, lockers, and old signs. Seth Elder gave a parking update and revenue was up $10,000 compared to last November. Most people are paying with credit cards at a rate of 83.4%, next is park mobile with 13.2%, and then coin is 3.4%. Parking mobile usage is also increasing. In November 2019 it brought in just under $3000, while this November it brought in almost $6500.
The last big item on the agenda was the intersection by Mobil Gas and Walgreen’s (Highway 50 and Edwards Boulevard). The city asked about the advantages of adding a left turn lane into the Mobil, moving the three Home Depot entrances, and the Cuoco Pazzo Eatz & Drinkz entrance. Without a traffic study, however, all involved can’t come to a definite conclusion about anything. There is a chance that adding the turn lanes could limit the capacity of the through traffic and cause more congestion. There was a discussion between the city and Kapur on the best way to handle that intersection, but no decisions were made because more research needs to be done. The critical situation was tabled to be continued to the next meeting.
