Mayor gives the bums rush to taxpayers

At the city council meeting on 5.13.2024 Feisty Council President, Mary Jo Fesenmaier came out swinging for the unhappy residents of the Symphony Bay community. The developer of the community Brian C. Pollard wants to expand the number of members by annexing land parcel MB5000003 in the town of Bloomfield to the City of Lake Geneva and requesting the land be zoned Single Family Residential (SR-4). Mayor Todd Krause and City Attorney support Mr. Pollard and successfully put the “bums rush” on the council and Mary Jo. 

The residents of Symphony Bay (SB) were all united in wanting the city to annex based on the fear that the property would be developed if it remained in Bloomfield Township to 420 homes vs 120 if annexed. Mayor Todd Krause and some representatives from the Police and Fire Department met with them and led them to that belief. 

The current residents who bought property in SB are genuinely concerned the additional homes will impact their ability to get control of their Home Owners Association (HOA) and have on the community amenities. 

Some comments from the public follows: 

The first member of the public was long time resident and formal council member Bill Huntress of Lake Geneva. He warns the council that “this project has been ongoing for a long time. The original impact fee was $5200 per home I was an alderman we put the fee in 20 years ago because we foresaw what was coming to the city. Then the fellow who put these homes in SB got a deal on the fees of around $2500 so realistically the city got beat out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I bummed raped the Mayor and City Planner at the time because this should never have happened. This was government at its worst. That’s why council members are supposed to ask questions. Now the fees are $11,000, and we had a study done and it said that once the city gets to be 12,000 people we are going to need about $54M worth of water and sewer work. Everyone is going to pay.  I’m sure what’s going to happen with this annexation. They’re going to try to put the bums rush on you.” 

Next up was Sharon Larson who lives in Symphony Bay (SB). “I hope the next annex homes do not have to suffer what we have suffered in (SB) due to no inspections, the scuttlebutt around SB that he would not allow inspections. Not everyone had problems with their homes but those that did have had a nightmare getting them resolved…The management did every single thing it could not to live up to his part of the agreement by fixing. How did you not require building inspections? I expect that the city is going to protect us by laws and regulations, and we were just let go. I don’t know anybody in SB that has anything good to say about rage management and that’s going to go on for a long time…. I’m sad today I bought in SB instead of being proud… I think the new homes should have a warning sign out front, buy at your own risk. No inspections.”  

Next up was Kathy Ranji who also lives in SB is under the impression that if this land is not brought into the city 400 plus homes will be built on it if left in Bloomfield and is in favor of annexation. 

Anthony LaPorte of SB stated that “We moved here in 2018 and at that time it was stated many meetings, 426 doors, 3 phases never was it mentioned that there was going to be an annexation of property.” He stated that the committee subdivision meetings with Mayor, the Fire Department Police Department and it was discussed exactly what was going to happen if with property was annexed to LG or if it was stayed in Bloomfield. And am under the impression that it the property stayed in Bloomfield there would be 420 homes.” I just wish Fairwin was upfront with us when we moved into the property that then we knew exactly what the plans were. There was never any discussion about phase six, phase seven, phase eight, phase nine never was ever mentioned.” 

Judy Dare of SB “This parcel was not publicized to new homeowners as being part of SB community. There have been some current people who have just signed their contract with SB but had no clue about parcel 8, that was somebody who just signed last week”. She is also under the impression that leaving the parcel in Bloomfield Brian Pollard would potentially develop up to 400 homes as part the SB and so share the clubhouse, pool, and amenities. She wants the city to annex the land so only 140 homes will be build. Was also concerned about owners getting their HOA sooner. “So honestly, I wish that phase 8 would never be developed but the lesser of two evils is to annex into LG.” 

Homeowners might want to have their homeowner’s association (HOA) established sooner to help maintain property values by ensuring the community adheres to certain standards and aesthetics. Also, once the HOA is active homeowners can have more control over community decisions and management, rather than leaving it up to the developers. 

Next up was Bill Meyerhofer who own homes on North Road across from SB. He made the following requests to try to minimize the disruption of our lives in our homes and to preserve the character of our neighborhood. First the entrances and exits to be constructed not be located along North Road but instead along Townline Road or Bloomfield Rd. They also request a six-foot berm be constructed on the eastern boundary of SB. 

Jack Klosterman of SB was also under the impression that by annexing the property it would be limited to 140 homes vs. 400.   

Tom Hager was also under the impression that not annexing would result in more homes being built in Bloomfield. 

Sherry Borwick came out in favor of a annexation.  

Pete Peterson of Lake Geneva is not in favor of annexation and that “Bloomfield will not let lots the size of SB. Let Bloomfield handle it. Where the heck is our building inspector? Aren’t these homes being inspected according to our rules. Pretty strange maybe somebody needs to be fired.”  

“We haven’t talked to Bloomfield. Would Bloomfield want that kind of density in their own area?” We should talk to Bloomfield.” 

Mayor Todd Krause then read the following: “Discussion/Action regarding referral to the Plan Commission of an Annexation Petition filed by Bloomfield Holdings LLC and Pre-annexation and Development Agreement for a parcel of land identified as Tax key#MB500003 for recommendation and assignment of temporary zoning.” 

Joel Holland made the motion to approve and seconded by Linda Frame. 

Council President, Mary Jo Fesenmaier “we heard from residents of SB of the lesser of two evils a140 vs 400. If we send it to Plan Commission, there job is to do fact finding…. For the Plan Commission(PC ) to make a recommendation. I would be shocked if that was able to be done in one meeting.” 

Mary Jo lists the information we need in writing at the PC for them to make a recommendation. 

• Heard from people about quality of homes and inspecting at our end 

• Sewer and water impact, so that needs to be addressed by utility Commission director. At what point do we lose capacity and must add down the road? 

• How does police and fire cost work for township now 

• Impact fees 

• Capacity of the clubhouse and the pool? 

• Population Growth information in writing 

• Make sure sidewalks are consistent. 

• Trail connections 

• Where to put stop signs 

• Park and open space 

• Stop light on Townline who pays 

• Roads should be clear every night for construction 

• Issues about contracts with people who are purchasing their homes. Plan commission and city council need to address. 

• HOA control issues need to be addressed. 

• Developers want zoning right of way. The city council should look at it changing and tweaking it.  

• Make sure we’re not building in a wetland need for DNR to give a delineation 

• Having the developer participate in improving Bloomfield Rd. to bring it up to city code. 

• Tax impact because if the property is annexed according to what I saw the Township keeps the tax money for five years. 

“We need to vet all these issues from the city perspective.” 

Alderperson Peg Esposito comes right to the main point that Todd Krause wants to avoid “We haven’t talked to Bloomfield. Would Bloomfield want that kind of density in their own area?” We should talk to Bloomfield.” 

Alderperson Cindy Yager is concerned about the wetland area and environmental corridor. Why would the developer not pay for infrastructure if land is kept in Bloomfield? Need to look more deeply of a 10-year build for longer to get HOA. Does Bloomfield already have an agreement for Fire and Police with Lake Geneva? Way too many questions were not answered in the development agreement presented to the council.

Joel Hoiland starts by sucking up to the staff in Lake Geneva and wants to let them do what they do. They all do quality work. “This is an annexation request. Brian Pollard owns this land. He has requested that we annex it period. Take all these other issues but let’s keep it focused and germane. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.”  

It is obvious Joel Hollard believes if you own the land, you should do what you want. He was recently appointed to the AD HOC committee by Todd Krause to study the problem of short-term rentals in residential areas of Lake Geneva. 

Unfortunately, the “staff” and city planner as Bill Huntress pointed out does the mayor’s bidding or they would not have a job. 

The City Attorney Dan Draper goes on to explain” the Town and Village of Bloomfield are going to merge and if they are going to prove they put together their boundary agreement before we did this it game over”. (The bum’s rush). 

Mary Jo Fesenmaier now says she “wants to send to Plan Commission fact finding only not making the decision with their back against the wall… to send this to the Planning Commission, not if to say you sent it here, so you agree to the annexation. This is not a yes or no for annexation, but we want a complete list of fact finding.” 

Draper notes “By sending it down to Plan Commission you are not agreeing to annexation you’re not agreeing to annex the property, you’re simply asking for information and have them make a recommendation whether it makes sense and what they’re proposing. That’s all you’re doing. You’re not approving the annexation at this point.” 

Mayor Todd Krause and Attorney Draper are correct it must come back to the council for final approval, but it will take a super majority 2/3 to override the Plan Commission recommendation and the Council will not be able to change it or the Development Agreement. 

The city council voted unanimously to send the annexation petition to the Plan Commission. 

According to Lori Domino the Bloomfield Town Clerk #MB5000003 majority is zoned A-1 Farmland Preservation District and C-2 Upland Resource Conservation District. Currently if it is developed all homes would have to be on well and septic. The nearest connection to the Village sewer and water is 2.4 miles away and it would take permission from the State to extend it… 

This is an example of the good old boys back in change with Mayor Todd Krause who owns flooring installation business Timeless Flooring and his BIG political supporter real estate developer Brian Pollard. Along with secret documents by the city’s planner being referred to but not included in the packet available to the public to check their validity. This kind of shenanigan often happens in Lake Geneva when public officials are giving documents during a meeting with no time to understand or check their validity. 

Also, at this council meeting the council unanimously approved the borrowing of approximately $7.8 Million for road repairs. In other cities it is standard practice that after the roads are put in by a developer, they remain private, and the responsibility HOA are to maintain. But not Lake Geneva, we even bring fully built private subdivisions with substandard roads for it for the public to maintain. 

Council President Mary Jo Fesenmaier tried to do right for the citizens of Lake Geneva and the residents of SB but even though she was holding a strong hand made the mistake of showing it to Mayor Krause before the game began. 

To be continued…