![]()
Williams Bay Village President Bill Duncan (left) issued three
proclamations at the May 1 village board meeting, observing April
30-May 6 as Public Service Recognition Week, April 30-May 6 as
Professional Municipal Clerk’s Week, May 15-21 as National Police
Week and May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the Village of
Williams Bay. Seen with Duncan, holding proclamations, are Village
Clerk Tina Kolls (center) and Police Chief Justin P. Timm
(right).
Minors in the Village of Williams Bay will now have an extra hour to be out and about on Friday and Saturday nights.
On May 1, the Williams Bay Village Board held a second reading on and approved the passage of Ordinance 2023-03, amending Section 238-1A of the Village Code of Ordinances, which governs curfew hours for minors under 18.
The extension of weekend curfew hours for minors from an 11 p.m. start to a 12:01 a.m. start was prompted by a recent citizen request from 5-year Williams Bay resident Nicole Goy, who sought a later curfew start on Friday and Saturday nights to better match those in place in other Walworth County communities including the City of Elkhorn, midnight; Village of Fontana, 12:01 a.m.; Town of Geneva, midnight; Village of Genoa City, midnight; City of Lake Geneva, midnight for minors age 16 and 17; Town of Lyons, midnight; Town of Linn, midnight for minors age 16 and 17; Village of Sharon, midnight; Walworth County, midnight; and City of Whitewater, midnight.
Curfew hours in the Village of Williams Bay run until 6 a.m. seven days a week. The start of curfew remains unchanged at 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday.
Exceptions to the curfew hours in the ordinance include minors accompanied by a parent, guardian or other adult having care or custody of the minor. Also exempted are minors returing home from public or parochial school or church functions and those returning home from work, provied that they return home “by the shortest and most direct route and as fast as is reasonably possible under the circumstances.”
![]()
Tiny yet also mighty important, Harris Creek and Southwick Creek
(pictured here emptying into Geneva Lake) play a vital role in
maintaining the high water quality of Geneva Lake, numbered among
the top 25 lakes in the nation. Passing through 231-acre
Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy in Williams Bay, the two creeks
filter water from a 20-mile watershed through the conservancy’s
wetlands, with millions of gallons flowing into Geneva Lake
daily.
Bid package authorization
Williams Bay Village Board trustees approved the adoption of Resolution R-13-23, authorizing Village Engineer Baxter & Woodman, Inc. Consulting Engineers at a not-to-exceed cost of $11,100 to prepare bid packages and administer contracts for dredging Geneva Lake at the Southwick Creek outlet and the removal of spoil materials.
Funding for the bid package agreement will be taken from borrowing.
On April 17, in advance of the May 1 village board meeting, the Williams Bay Parks and Lakefront Committee determed that it’s in the best interests of the village and its residents to authorize approval of the proposal with Burlington-based Baxter & Woodman, with the village determining that “for the ecological health of Geneva Lake and Southwick Creek ... Geneva Lake requires dredging at Southwick Creek.”
A floating amphibiious excavator will mechanically remove sediment and load it onto a barge. Prior to the start of the dredging work, a turbidity curtain will be deployed around the project area.
On April 6, the Village of Williams Bay received permitting from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to dredge 450 cubic yards of sediment from a 50x160-foot area at the outlet of Southwick Creek at Geneva Lake. Sediment will be transfered from the barge to a dewatering site at Edgwater Park, adjacent to East Geneva Street. Dewatered dredged sediment spoils will be transported to the Odling Pit in the Town of Delavan.
In an April 6 letter to the town by Baxter & Woodman engineer Douglas R. Snyder, it was felt that the project could be bid as early as June, with dredging work and spoils removal occurring in October.
The plan calls for the dredging of Southwick Creek south of E. Geneva St., as well as an offshore area of Geneva Lake off the Southwick Creek outlet. The lakefront pedestrian footbridge across Southwick Creek would be temporarily removed for the project and replaced with a temporary 22-foot pedestrian bridge.
Project costs are estimated at $150,000.
Appointments approved
Williams Bay trustees approved Board President Bill Duncnan committee appointments:
Appointed Staff: Tina Kolls, Clerk; Lori Peternell, Treasurer; SafeBuilt, Building Inspector; Schaeffer Municipal Services, Zoning Administrator; Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, Village Auditor; Baxter & Woodman, Village Engineer; Consigny Law Firm S.C., Village Attorney; Municipal Code Enforcement, Weed and Tree Commissioner; and Police Chief Justin P. Timm, Civil Defense Commissioner.
Official Newspapers: Lake Geneva Regional News and Kenosha News.
Geneva Lake Environmental Agency (GLEA): Citizen representative LaMarr Lundberg and village board representative Rob Umans.
Geneva Lake Use Committee: Citizen representative Jay Blincoe and village board representative Jim D’Alessandro.
Building, Zoning & Ordinance Standing Committee: Adam Jaramillo, chair; Lowell Wright and Jim D’Alessandro.
Finance & Personnel Standing Committee: Lowell Wright, chair; Rob Umans and Jim D’Alessandro.
Parks & Lakefront Standing Committee: Steve Russell, chair; Lowell Wright and Rob Umans.
Protective Services Standing Committee: George Vlach, chair; Steve Russell and Adam Jaramillo.
Water & Sewer Standing Committee: Rob Umans, chair; Adam Jaramillo and George Vlach.
Streets & Highways Standing Committee: Jim D’Alessandro, chair; Steve Russell and George Vlach.
Civil Defense Commission: Police Chief Justin P. Timm, chair; Rescue Squad Capt. Rich Gluth; Fire Chief Doug Smith; Village Trustee George Vlach; and David H. Burrough, Paul Nicholson and Dale Vavra.
Ethics Board: John P. Marra.
Harbor Commission: Tom Lothian, chair; Village Trustee Lowell Wright: Richard Lamkey and Matt Robbins.
Law Enforcement Committee: Frank Bonifacic.
Parks & Memorial Advisory Committee: Michael Fieweger.
Plan Commission: Village President Bill Duncan, chair; Village Trustee Lowell Wright; Pat Watts and Marianne Klemke.
Library Board: Village Trustee Adam Jaramillo.
Zoning Board of Appeals: Village Trustee George Vlach, chair; Village Trustee Rob Umans; Matt Robbins and Mike Fieweger.
Enhancement Committee: Halina Marra, President; Julie Ann Poplar, Vice President; Rita Pilarski, Treasurer; Connie Gluth, Sharon VanDenBroucke, Pat Grove and Sandy Carlson.
Joint Extraterritorial Zoning Committee: Maggie Gage.
Extraterritorial Zoning Board of Appeals: Michael O’Brien, Member; Dennis Costello, 1st Alternate; and Spencer Weber, 2nd Alternate.
Other news
In other developments at the May 1 meeting, the Williams Bay Village Board:
Approved Duncan’s issuance of a village proclamation marking the 54th annual observance of Professional Municipal Clerk’s Week from April 30-May 6. Recognizing the “time honored and vital” office of professional municipal clerk as “the oldest among public servants,” the proclamation honored Williams Bay Villlage Clerk Tina Kills and “all professional municipal clerks for the vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent.”
Approved Duncan’s issuance of a village proclamation marking the April 30-May 6 observance of Public Service Recognition Week recognizing “the generous contributions of time and talend by public employees and the importance of the services they render” as “integral to the advancement of the quality of life that we enjoy here,” feting their commitment to “exhibiting the highest standards of professional excellence, creativity, skill and customer service” and “their exemplary dedication.”
Approved Duncan’s issuance of a proclamation marking the May 15-21 observance of National Police Week in the village, and encouraging “all citizens to observe the week with law enforcement officers, past and present, who, by their faithful and loyal devotion to their responsibilities, have rendered a dedicated service,” feting Williams Bay Police Department officers who “have worked devotedly and unselfishly on behalf of the people of their community, regardless of peril or hazard to themselves” in safeguarding the lives and property of “all in Williams Bay ... by their service and their dedicated efforts,” having “earned the gratitude of the Village of Williams Bay.
Approved Duncan’s issuance of a proclamation observing May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the Village of Williams Bay “in honor of those law enforcement officers who, through their courageous deeds, have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community or have become disabled in the performance of duty.” National Peace Officers Memorial Day has been observed by presidential proclamation, with Congressional authorizations, since 1962.
Approved operator license applications submitted by Alexander Klotz of Burlington, and Cindy Cohen and Lauren Benkendoft of Williams Bay, all employed by Gage Marine at Pier 290, 1 Leichty Dr., Williams Bay.
The fanciful undersea fantasy world of tropical Bikini Bottom came to colorful life in Williams Bay on April 27-28 as Williams Bay Middle Scho…
