The story of the Lake Geneva YMCA and a tax-exempt bond.

The Lake Geneva Christian Family YMCA (Y) recently divested the property it intended for a regional sports complex. With the election of Mayor Todd Krause and the city council, led by Council President Mary Jo Fesenmaier, the Y is now poised to secure a favorable “deal” to purchase the former Hillmoor golf course, which the city acquired in late 2022..

The YMCA initially purchased two parcels from Fairwyn Investment LLC on October 1, 2019, for $1.5 million and sold them to Walworth Equity Partners LLC part of Pritzker Group for $1.85 million on May 22, 2024. The Y had a $1.5 million mortgage on this land and its current location with Community State Bank, along with a $510,000 mortgage from October 29, 2015, which was satisfied by June 6, 2022. All mortgages were fully satisfied by June 1, 2024.

Former Mayor Charlene Kline opposed the YMCA’s acquisition plans and was defeated in the May 2024 election by a coalition led by City Council President Mary Jo Fesenmaier and James R. Strauss, the owner of the Geneva Shore Report. Strauss, who has a controversial history including a conviction for embezzling nearly $400,000 from a teacher pension fund as reported by the Lake Geneva Regional News, recently faced legal issues including a second DWI conviction in 2023 and felony charges of Theft-False Representation and Theft-Business Setting both > $10K  in May 2024. He is often seen at Speedos on Broad Street in Lake Geneva with Fesenmaier and Alderman Sherry Aims.

 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city purchased Hillmoor with a tax-exempt bond for $6 million, with total costs nearing $10 million due to interest payment on the life of the bond. This investment appears favorable given current land values, based on the resent sale to Lake Geneva Ventures LLC on 12/28/2022 (Buona Beef) on Highway 50. As a comparable, selling for close to $1 million per acre. However, the bond includes covenants restricting how much land can be sold and at what price. The Geneva Lakes Family YMCA wants a “deal”.

In a memorandum dated February 7, 2024, City Attorney Dan Draper addressed a Letter of Intent the Y presented to the city to purchase Hillmoor. One hangup is that the Y does not want to pay fair market value for the land and is restricted to 9.5 acres at a “deal” price. The rest of the land must be purchased at fair market value. The Y’s long-term plan is to purchase all 79 acres of land for a regional sports complex to serve 30 surrounding communities (visitors).

The politically powerful Lake Geneva Chamber of Commerce dba Visit Lake Geneva also wants a chunk. Could this be the future site for fundraising events for the Y funded by Lake Geneva’s flush Tourism Commission of which Mary Jo Fesenmaier is the council representative on it and has been on for the last four years? The generous funding for the Tourism Commission is thanks to Lake Geneva’s Republican State Representative Tyler August who changed the distribution of room tax money communities must spend on tourist promotion vs. paying for all the expenses tourists cost municipalities. Mary Jo is NOT a republican.

In October 2023, less than a year after Lake Geneva acquired Hillmoor, the YMCA attempted to secure a “letter of intent” from the city to purchase 79 acres of the land—essentially all the build-able acreage. However, much of Hillmoor consists of wetlands, with the White River running through it. At the time, Mayor Charlene Kline opposed the YMCA’s proposal.

In the months leading up to the spring 2024 election, a contentious battle unfolded between Council President Mary Jo Fesenmaier, who advocated for accepting the YMCA’s letter of intent to purchase Hillmoor, and Mayor Charlene Kline, who opposed it. Mayor Kline delayed bringing the matter before the council until two weeks before the election, at which point the YMCA withdrew its letter of intent.

The sale of the land to the Y was not going down well with the voters.

Had the council accepted the letter of intent, it would have initiated secret negotiations to sell the land. Although the city council is not required to negotiate land sales in secret, this practice began in the 1970s after an attempted land exchange involving a dubious appraisal was exposed by the public.

The Pritzer Group’s plans are to keep the 700 plus acres they own in conservancy, and to keep farming some of the land organically. The primary goal is to protect Geneva Lake from the runoff of phosphorous originating from Big Foot creek.