Future of Hillmoor: City Council’s New Commission

Commission will be videotaped, streamed live, and recorded

Lake Geneva City Council 9.23.24

After Mayor Todd Krause was unable to pursue a referendum on the recently purchased Hillmoor property due to state-level Republican measures that removed municipalities’ ability to hold advisory referendums Alderpersons Mary Joe Fesenmyier and Cindy Yeager proposed an alternative approach. On September 28, 2024, they brought the issue before the city council, advocating for the formation of a commission to explore potential uses for the property.

The former Hillmoor Golf course was abandoned because of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. The previous owner sued the city because it allowed an adjacent shopping center to put a retaining pond on its property. The city as a settlement agreed to purchase the property for $6M in the fall of 2022. It is the most valuable undeveloped parcel of land in the city on the east side of highway 50 as one is entering the city.

Mary Jo Fesenmyier wants a commission because of the unique characteristics of the land. Mayor Krause wants to have the commission in place by January 2025 with $75K he is going to put in the budget for conceptual work. The commission would then make a recommendation to the city council who would have the ultimate say. He anticipates it will take at least an entire year “in a best-case scenario” to complete. With several town hall meetings and a public comment component at each. He also estimated that it will take “three to five years to implement anything”.

The city council passed the formation of a commission unanimously. Alderman Fesenmyier said the Finance committee will work on a form the public can fill out to be appointed.

City Council meeting on 10.28.24.

The council was presented with the ordinance establishing the commission which will be composed of nine members, seven who will be residents and two non-voting members, the mayor and one alderperson. The mayor will chair the commission.

Mayor Todd Krause,” Again, this will be an advisory Commission to the Council. So how this will get set up is there will be two years, two years and three years. And when I sign people, they’ll be some people that will just be signed for one year. Two people will be signed for one year, two people be signed for two years and three people be signed for the third year.”

The meetings will be held monthly on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30.

According to Mayor Krause the commission will:

• Make recommendations to council on the following matters a strategic and master planning of the hill property.
• Evaluation and implementation of projects of the Hillmoor property
• Grant submissions and administration of grants for the Hillmoor property.
• Gather facts and information on potential uses and potential projects of the Hillmoor property.
• Review examples of similar projects and uses of similar properties in other communities after review, resident and City Council input and potential uses and or improvements on the Hillmoor Property
• Provide reports on the same when requested by the City Council
• Assess potential use of the Hillmoor property, including potential costs and impacts of the property in the city.
• Evaluate modern environmentally sustainable features for the Hillmoor property
• Work with staff and any consultants approved by the City Council to develop the preliminary conceptual plans of the Hillmoor property.
• Collaborate with other organizations to develop fundraising and any projects for any projects approved.
• Provide periodic updates to the citizens of Lake Geneva and the City Council regarding progress of the above matters

Alderman Joel Holland made the point and Mayor Krause agreed that it would incorporate all the city adjacent property like the disk golf course and skate park approximately 230 acres.

Alderperson Esposito wanted to make sure the public will be able to make comments at each meeting which the mayor also agreed to.

Alderperson Mary Joe Fesenmyier emphasized that the intention behind forming the commission includes ensuring transparency and accessibility for the public. She stated that the meetings would be videotaped, streamed live, and recorded, allowing the public to observe and stay informed about the discussions and decisions regarding the Hillmoor property.

The council then moved the ordinance establishing the commission from the first to the second reading. In the past councils only did this procedure in an emergency, now it is done routinely!

The council’s decision to expedite the ordinance establishing the commission by advancing it from the first to the second reading reflects a significant procedural shift. Historically, this step was reserved for urgent or emergency situations, ensuring swift action on time-sensitive issues. However, the current trend of employing this method routinely raises several implications:

Implications of the Procedural Shift

1. Diminished Deliberation Time:
   • By routinely advancing ordinances, council members may reduce the time available for thorough discussion, public feedback, and thoughtful deliberation.
   • This practice might lead to perceptions of rushed decision-making or limited transparency.
2. Streamlined Governance:
   • On the positive side, this approach can enhance efficiency, allowing the council to address issues more quickly, particularly in cases where urgency is implied by broader community needs.
3. Erosion of Precedents:
   • Regular use of an emergency mechanism could diminish its original intent, weakening the significance of emergency procedures.
   • Critics might argue this shift undermines the democratic process by limiting the checks and balances typically afforded by extended readings.
4. Public Perception:
   • The community could view the routine use of expedited readings as either a proactive governance style or as bypassing traditional processes, depending on the transparency and outcomes of the decisions made.

Alderman Joel Hoilland then made a motion to add a sunset clause date for this Commission January 1, 2028. Unless revised by the city council.

Alderperson Fesenmair is not in favor of a sunset clause of three years because of all the things to do and it “would still have to come back to the council to removed.”

Mayor Krause said “the intent is hopefully a year from now, or once that committee gets rolled in a year from now, we have a master plan of what it’s going to become, right. And then from that point it’s, you know, how do we go forward with implementing any of those ideas?

I think you’re looking at this Commission realistically should exist for many, many years, 5-10 years potentially at some point it may become a park, right. But now it’s property. So, I guess to the point, I would prefer not to have it dissolved after three years.” He also points out that the council can at any time dissolve the commission if they feel it is not accomplishing anything.”

Alderperson Shari Straube felt it would at some point be under the auspicious of the Park Board, which the mayor agreed.

Alderperson Esposito “I think that this is going to be a project where even if they do their due diligence and they get us a plan. We want them to follow through and come up with the construction and the buildings and the rules and you know, I think that it’s going to take a long time. I do think 5 to 10 years is probably a conservative estimate.”

Alderperson Hoiland made one last appeal “To say, OK, you’ve got a three-year window. It’s not absolute because like I said, now the City Council can continue or they can, you know, revise it, do whatever they want. But you know, I think there’s merit in putting at least the impression that there’s a timeline involved. If you open it up, you’re going to have a Commission. That goes on and on and on. And I think we this is a this is project oriented.

What we mean by projects is we want them to come up with solutions that work at Hillmoor and I use the term broadly because like I said earlier, it’s the disc golf course, it’s the skate park, it’s the whole 9 yards of, you know, all that land that’s out there. Is it going to be environmentally green? Is it going to be something else? I think it’d be particularly helpful. I see that.

I think there’s a lot of merit in giving a Commission committee, task force, whatever, some kind of a, a timeline that gets something done and does it as expediently as possible. And then again, I agree that I think this eventually should be part of the Park Board because that’s what a park board does. You know, they managed lots of things in fact, where I came from, not only did they have a park board that managed, but you also, parks and things like that, they had a Community Center. They had aquatic centers, skating rinks, and ice hockey rinks. They had many millions of dollars that they were dealing with. And that’s Park Board. That’s their purpose…

Park and recreation that’s encompassing and while we think that Hillmoor is something special, different from other parks, it really is just a park and you know, whatever is going to happen there is going to happen and you know we’ve got a lot of ideas.”

Voting for the amendment to put a sunset on the commission: Joel Hoiland and Shari Straube , while Council President, Mary Jo Fesenmaier, Council Vice President, Cindy Yager, Alderpersons: Sherri Ames, Peg Esposito, Linda Frame voted No. Amendment failed.

Alderperson Mary Joe Fesenmyier proposed an amendment to replace the term “citizen” with “resident” throughout the ordinance, emphasizing inclusivity by recognizing all individuals living in the community regardless of their citizenship status. The amendment passed unanimously.

She then introduced another amendment to ensure the commission meets at least once a month, establishing a baseline for consistent and regular deliberations. This amendment also received unanimous approval from the council.

Alserperson Fesenmier then makes a third amendment. “Again because of past experience with this, not all commissions are necessarily videotaped. So, I’d like to offer an amendment at the end of section 2-236 meetings that says the meetings shall be live streamed, recorded and published.”

Mayor Krause was concerned that the equipment may not be working or that the council chamber may not be available so it would have to meet upstairs. Alderperson Frame points out that such a scenario it would just have to meet the next week then. The new city clerk wants to add to the amendment “meeting shall be live streamed, recorded and published. barring unforeseen technical difficulties or circumstances, circumstances.” YIKES, why is the city clerk allowed to do this!!!

” I’m of the belief that every committee, commission, whatever, should be televised for the benefit of the public so and now that we have the technology that we don’t need someone here to do that .”

Mayor Krause

Aderman Hoilland once again, ” I would oppose it because I think that, you know it’s an undue burden and you know from a liability standpoint, if you know, even if it you know it’s technical difficulties or whatever, I think given the fact that this is a committee commission type thing to have not have that obligation. I mean the intent is to do it, but not to have a requirement to do it. And I guess I just don’t feel it’s consistent with the way we’re handling all the others, unless you want to change everything.”

Alderperson Fesenmier, “ the Mayor’s intent is to do that. But there are two commissions that aren’t broadcast that should be and that would be the Police and Fire Commission and the Utility Commission. So, I agree with the mayor that they should all be brought online, but until they are until that’s the standard practice for all, we need to guarantee that the public has access to this because of the past history with the ad hoc committee” There are accurately three commissions that are not recorded, the third being the very secretive Tourism Commission.

Alderperson Frame brings up another point, “It’s very important that we be able to hear this, see it recorded and be involved in it. So, I think that’s above all we should be able to listen to it. If we can’t get down here.”

The amendment “Meetings shall be live streamed, recorded and published, barring unforeseen circumstances.” Passes by voice vote.

City Council meeting 11.11.24

Mayor Krause announced that the applications for being on the Hillmoor Commission will be up on the city website. The city will take them through 11.29.24 and that he will interview all the applicants before they are sent to the council in December for approval.

The council passes a new commission committee volunteer form unanimously.

Hillmoor is part of a FEMA flood plain.

With climate change driving increased atmospheric moisture, mini monsoons have become more frequent across the globe. The Hillmoor property, situated in a floodplain last updated in 2009, exemplifies the challenges posed by these shifting weather patterns. On July 12, 2017, Lake Geneva experienced flash flooding with six to eight inches of rainfall. The Hillmoor property was ground zero for the deluge, resulting in downstream closures of Highway 50.

During a previous Ad Hoc committee meeting, a member raised concerns about her residential neighborhood west of Hillmoor, which has also faced flooding issues in the past. This highlights the ongoing risks associated with the property and its surroundings, reinforcing the need for thoughtful planning and flood mitigation strategies in future developments.