SURPRISING STUFF

The price of food continues to skyrocket.
Even Aldi’s, that noted retreat of low-priced food, has thrown in.  Who has ever seen fourteen ninety-five a pound for Hill Farm steaks there?  What the heck?  But, if you have nothing, and we mean nothing, then you can make a few bucks at Aldi’s in this densely populated tourist attack season.  Like in the old days where such penniless people collected aluminum cans from garbage bins along the way and then got a couple of pennies for each can be turned in (had to crush them first though).  Here is an idea that does not require crushing or going to some metal processing center.  Go to Aldi’s parking lot and hang out. Many people now are not returning the shopping carts back into the store.  To get a shopping cart at Aldi’s patrons must put a quarter in the slot, located on the handle of the cart, and then take the cart back in after emptying.  Many people are simply unloading their stuff and then not bothering to return the carts.  We saw seven carts when we went to report on the high price of food.  That is a cool buck seventy-five, and the day is long.  The ‘regular’ people who are shopping for food today are the ones that are being hurt and wounded, maybe there is a good part to all this, as the downtrodden and poor might get a special hand out, or a small step up.

Geneva Lake runoff and pollution issues.
The first reading was made of Ordinance 21-05, an ordinance amending Chapter 98, zoning ordinance, section 98-407, substandard lot regulations, section 98-409, lakeshore lots, section 98-505, lakeshore overlay zoning district, section 98-506(3), drainage-way overlay zoning district, section 98-507(3), woodland overlay zoning district, and section 98-508(3), steep slope overlay zoning district; as it relates to the applied requirements for the use of SR-4 zoning district standards in the ER-1 zoning district. The ordinance amendment (in short) will allow more impervious (concrete and other unfilterable surfaces) surfaces than the Geneva Lake Conservancy and Geneva Lake Environmental Agency are comfortable with. Pervious more natural filtration surfaces help ensure unwanted and detrimental products did not make their way into the lake. This issue was first discussed at the plan commission (the extremely late plan commission meeting) and sent to the council with a recommendation to approve. The council then sent it back to the plan commission because of concerns shared by the residents, the lake conservancy, and the environmental agency regarding the disastrous effect this ordinance might have on the lake.

The Monday night city council meeting discussed the ordinance once again after the first reading was done. The lake advocates attended the meeting and again shared serious concerns about the ordinance and the effect it would have on the lake. Geneva Lake is the gem of Lake Geneva and the surrounding communities and should be treated as such. The amended ordinance is about to be the current one and reflects what the planning and zoning department has been up to for some time, which allows more unfilterable surfaces, creating more harmful runoff into the lake than the original ordinance allowed. The lake conservancy and environment would like Lake Geneva to follow the original ordinance or create one even stricter and allow even less unfilterable surfaces and have more natural surfaces. Why would the city allow anything that could be harmful to the health of the lake? For the last couple of years, the communities of Geneva Lake have been fighting to preserve the lake. Starry Stonewort, the invasive species are known to kill lakes, was found and the communities and organizations representing the lake panicked. The possibility of losing the beautifully clear and healthy lake was contemplated, so research and work began to control and or remove the invasive lake killer. There have been other invasive species that have made their way to the lake, although most not as much of a threat as the Starry Stonewort, nonetheless, the clean boat clean lake campaign began and the CD3 Boat Cleaning Machine began being tried out around the lake. If successful, each boat launch on Geneva Lake could have its own machine in future summers. The same lake advocates that fought the Starry Stonewort are also fighting the abundance of harmful runoff into the lake that this ordinance will no doubt create. The city council is starting to listen, however, and before the second reading is done the plan commission will review it again and try to get a better understanding of what the Geneva Lake Conservancy and Geneva Lake Environmental Agency are trying to tell them. The plan commissioners have a little time to study the issue and will meet again next Monday night July 19th. Most everyone agrees that the lake is worth fighting for and are hoping the commissioners agree, as well, instead of going along with a few wealthy residents and developers from out of town.