IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED
Lake Geneva considers options for additional piers, boat slips
In addition to improving the West End Pier, Lake Geneva is considering adding an east end pier system to the lakefront area as part of the Lake to Land: Lake Geneva Parks and Lakefront System Plan.
Lake Geneva officials are considering options for improving and adding more boat slips to the West End Pier.
PARKS AND LAKEFRONT SYSTEM PLAN
Lake Geneva officials are considering options for adding more boat piers and slips to the city's lakefront.
Parks Director David Winger and Harbormaster Luke Riesterer presented plans for improving the West End Pier system, as well as adding a pier system to the east end of Geneva Lake during a joint City Council Piers, Harbors and Lakefront Committee and Board of Park Commissioners meeting Sept. 22.
The proposed improvements and additions are set to be included in the Land to Lake: Lake Geneva Parks and Lakefront System Plan, which the city currently is working on with Vandewalle & Associates Inc. of Madison.
The plan also is expected to include amenities for the city parks and lakefront area.
A draft was presented during the meeting.
Two options have been proposed for improving the West End Pier system.
One includes moving the pier south by 25 feet and adding more space to increase the number of boat slips from 50 to 78. That option also includes extending the nearby fishing pier to 50 feet.
The project would cost about $1.82 million.
"It's a pretty significant cost but not out of line for improvements that you would expect to see of that nature," said Jackie Mich, principal planner for Vandewalle & Associates.
A second option includes moving the pier south by 25 feet and adding more space to allow for 103 boats slips, as well as installing a new 200-foot fishing pier.
That option would cost about $1.6 million.
Three options have been proposed for installing an east end pier, including replacing boat buoys with a pier system that would feature 84 boat slips, which would cost about $1.68 million.
A second option includes replacing boat buoys with a pier system that would allow for 58 boat slips at a cost of about $1.08 million. A third option proposes replacing boat buoys with a pier system that would include 24 boat slips for about $822,000.
Winger said that adding an east end pier system would decrease the number of people who are on a waiting list to lease a boat slip. He said people who currently lease a boat buoy would have the option to lease a boat slip on one of the piers.
"A lot of the community members who do use the buoys say it's awfully hard to get to them," Winger said. "So, this is a way to increase access while also helping to maintain or enhance the view of the lake, too."
Options for the West End Pier and an east end pier system include installing "shopper docks," which people could rent to park their boat while visiting downtown Lake Geneva.
"It's a means to help people come to Lake Geneva but also offer more spaces for residents to go and visit and be on the lake, too," Winger said.
A final draft of plan is set to be presented to residents and officials in February and voted on by City Council either in late-February or early-March.
"We're going to go through and refine this with staff, with the community and with the Piers, Harbors and Lakefront Committee," Winger said. "Just because these are the number of things that are being presented, it doesn't mean each of these are going to happen."
