SURPRISING STUFF
The unexpected winter blizzard.
Mother nature came along and set everyone up in Southern Wisconsin. What a warm and moderate winter it was, until last Thursday. A full-blown blizzard, dropping about a foot of snow everywhere, silently, and then very noisily, blew in with little warning. The predictors got almost all of the predicting wrong. Predictions of one to four inches, and all of that, only changed at the last minute, moving up to eight to twelve inches, and the vehemence of the storm, particularly on Thursday night, was nothing, at all, to mess within driving on the roads.
Fortunately, Mother Nature smiled down and sent a warming trend down throughout all of Southern Wisconsin on Saturday, with temperatures in the low forties to low fifties. The snow is almost all gone by the publishing of this issue, and the lake ice must be in about the same condition. People are still walking or fishing out there. This is the most dangerous time of the year to go out on that lake surface. The snow insulates the ice and doesn’t allow colder night temperatures to refreeze lake ice melted from below. Unless someone has a lot of people around when falling through broken ice there’s little chance of that person being rescued in time to save a life.
Frustrations and concerns are ongoing regarding the lagoon in Lake Geneva.
The lagoon is misnamed, as it is really only the little stretch of water that leads to the dam that becomes the White River on the other side of the bridge over Center Street. The ‘lagoon’repairs and projects for 2023 are being discussed for the 2023 and future years regular maintenance. The harbor master has a potential ten-year plan. Dredging is the biggest issue with the lagoon as the weeds and debris accumulate over time. The harbor master is also concerned with the city picking up the tab on the work, as three different entities are involved.
The city generates revenue from the slips on the south side of the lagoon, the Towers owns a portion of revenue generating piers on the north side, and the boat rental operation occupies some revenue generating space as well. The center of the lagoon is navigable by everyone. Last spring it cost the city about $15,000 to clean up a portion of the weeds but the lagoon is back to what it was. Harbor Master, Steve Russell, has three different ideas on how the lagoon mess could be handled but has no direction from the city on what to do. Does the city just budget for the costly clean up every spring and fall or does it let it go and do nothing? Another concern is the condition of the wooden ‘fingers’ and the decking in the lagoon area, which is way past due for replacement, and fast becoming a safety concern. Then there is the issue of boats being shoved in that don’t fit the slots.
Should the South end piers be ripped out and completely widened and floating piers be put in? There is a lot to talk about this and all three entities need to be in on the conversation. The harbor master will schedule a meeting with all concerned. That meeting is expected to be held soon and the first issue discussed will be the dredging and the shared costs that need to be paid. The GSR will keep you posted.
Person of the Week
Laser…in charge of the terrific weekend brunches in the lobby at The Ridge on Highway 50. Great Guy!
