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The clock is ticking for Williams Bay and Fontana, which are working on a short timeline to spread the word about their emergency medical services (EMS) funding referendum questions on the Nov. 8 fall general election ballots.

At the Sept. 6 village board meeting, Williams Bay Trustee Lowell Wright, chairman of the village’s Finance and Personnel Committee, noted village administration and board trustees are working with a short “10-week window” to inform local residents about the EMS referendum question and the importance of additional taxpayer funding in support of enhanced 24-hour EMS services for Williams Bay residents and visitors.

Village President William Duncan provided the board with a comprehensive update on the village’s marketing campaign for its upcoming referendum.

On Aug. 24, village trustees approved the passage of Resolution R-26-2022 to exceed the village’s levy limit and approve an EMS funding referendum question. Concurrently on Aug. 24, village trustees approved entering into a $9,250 contract with Beloit-based Cindy Rowe Marketing to promote its EMS referendum.

Reporting on a recent meeting with Rowe that also included Tobin, Fontana Village Administrator Theresa Loomer and Williams Bay Fire Chief Doug Smith among others, Duncan said he came away “very impressed” with Rowe, calling her “very organized.”

On Sept. 6, Village of Fontana trustees approved their own EMS referendum contract with Cindy Rowe Marketing at a not-to-exceed cost of $5,000 to market Fontana’s companion EMS referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“Williams Bay has signed a contract with Cindy Rowe to handle marketing for their EMS referendum,” Fontana Village Administrator Theresa Loomer reported to trustees. “They signed a more elaborate agreement. I asked her (Rowe) for a more concise proposal and she gave us two options, one was for $6,750 and the other one was for $5,000.”

Loomer said the both proposals incorporated a variety of marketing strategies including social media, websites, videos, logo images and yard signs, among other promotional avenues.

Village president Patrick Kenny said it made sense for Fontana to also contract with Cindy Rowe Marketing to make sure that Fontana’s EMS referendum marketing efforts “are on the same page as Williams Bay.”

“Doing it together makes sense,” Kenny said of coordinated referendum marketing.

Loomer agreed on the need for “continuity” among the intrinsically-linked EMS referendum campaigns.

Loomer called the expenditure of $5,000 in an effort to pass a $678,077 referendum money well spent.

Fontana village trustees agreed, unanimously approving entering into a not-to-exceed $5,000 contract with Rowe.

Since June, the Village of Williams Bay has contracted with the Village of Fontana for the Fontana Fire Department to provide its residents and visitors with paid professional 24-hour emergency medical service (EMS). Williams Bay and Fontana are both going to referendum on Nov. 8 to levy beyond their state-imposed levy limits to each fund the equivalent of seven full-time EMS positions, 14 total, to provide 24-hour EMS service to the two communities. Both communities have contracted with Beloit-based Cindy Rowe Marketing to market their respective EMS referendums in the run-up to the fall general election ballot. Pictured are Fontana Fire Department fire and EMS apparatus awaiting call in the Merle Robinson Fontana Safety Building, 190 Fontana Blvd. in Fontana.

The Village of Williams Bay is contracting with the Village of Fontana for the Fontana Fire Department to provide its residents and visitors with paid professional 24-hour emergency medical services. Williams Bay and Fontana are both going to referendum on Nov. 8 to levy beyond their state-imposed levy limits to each fund the equivalent of seven full-time EMS positions, 14 total, to provide 24-hour EMS service to the two communities.

“It’s really important that we work together to ensure that they both pass,” said Williams Bay Village Administrator Becky Tobin of the two EMS referendums.

On the Nov. 8 ballot, the Williams Bay Village Board will be requesting elector authority to increase the village’s levy limit by 31.120% on an ongoing basis to provide additional funding for the provision of 24-hour emergency medical services within the village, resulting in a village property tax levy of $3,910,373 —an increase of $928,077 for each fiscal year going forward.

Separately, the Fontana EMS referendum resolution question on the Nov. 8 ballot will seek voter approval to exceed the village’s current $4,196,047 property tax levy by $678,077 to augment current EMS funding within Fontana’s village budget.

Marketing promotions outlined on Rowe’s timeline for the Williams Bay referendum, shared by Duncan with Bay trustees on Sept. 6, encompass a wide variety of communication avenues including a dedicated referendum website (williamsbayyes4ems.org); signs, banners and yard signs; a press release; storytelling and testimonial videos; social media campaigns; informational town hall referendum meetings; three direct mailers; newspaper letters to the editor; and participation in local group meetings.

“There’s a lot to do,” Tobin said, noting part of the plan is to work in close collaboration with Village of Fontana officials.

Objectives of the marketing campaign are to educate the community; spend efficiently on the campaign; collaborate with the Village of Fontana; reach a wide range of citizens through a variety of media; and motivate citizens to vote in favor of Williams Bay’s EMS referendum on the Nov. 8 fall general election ballot.

Tobin said she estimated that Williams Bay will spend $200,000 to $225,000 of the $300,000 it moved out of its reserve fund by the end of the year to pay for enhanced 24-hour EMS services that the village has contracted from Fontana since June, as the EMS service ramped up staffing under the contract.

Tobin noted that under the contract, Williams Bay is currently paying for four full-time EMS personnel, a number that would rise to seven if the referendum passes.

Williams Bay resident Jack Jones, 34 Elm St., appeared before the board to share his concerns regarding neighboring Bayside Motel, 47 W. Geneva St., including nuisance feral cats and fencing, noting the village had given the owner of Bayside “action items” to address “earlier this year,” requesting a status update.

Tobin directed Jones to contact code enforcer Allison Schwark regarding status update information

“The population of cats has declined but they’re not going away…,” Jones said of his continued concerns. “The chain link fence was damaged and cut up and they’re not doing anything about it … It’s big eyesore and somewhat of a hazard.”

The Williams Bay Village Board on Sept. 6 received complaints from village resident Jack Jones, 34 Elm St., regarding neighboring Bayside Mote…

Jones also expressed concerns that Bayside’s owner had allowed trees to grow into the fencing.

Addressing a different topic, Jones encouraged Williams Bay trustees and administration to explore possible implementing of paid parking as another revenue.

“All other communities around Geneva Lake and many, many other communities around the U.S. use this as a way to collect additional revenue without impacting current residents,” Jones said. “I have never seen a community that can’t use the money … I think it would be a great revenue stream, especially since we have such a high traffic rate of people coming in during the summer.”

Lastly, Jones said that with the village’s new comprehensive plan he’d like to see the village adopt “some visual standards or other standards be used or implemented to make the area across from Clear Waters Hair Salon more visually appealing.”

“I don’t feel it really fits with many other of the village businesses and it’s basically just a warehouse for the owner,” he said of the property located at 80 N. Walworth Ave., on the corner of Walworth Avenue and Geneva Street (State Hwy. 67), across Geneva Street from the Bay Centre Building. “It’s kind of an eyesore and I think it could look a lot better … That corner is kind of a cornerstore, everybody goes by it, so I’d like to see it better.”

The Williams Bay Village Board on Sept. 6 received a complaint from village resident Jack Jones about the vacant building at 80 N. Walworth Av…

In other developments at the Sept. 6 village board meeting, Duncan recognized employees marking milestone anniversaries in 2022:

Williams Bay Police Department Chief Justin P. Timm, 5 years.

Williams Bay Police Department Lt. Will Kostock, 5 years.

Williams Bay Recreation Department Director Dave Rowland, 10 years.

Williams Bay Public Works Director Wayne Edwards, 15 years.

Williams Bay Village Treasurer Lori Peternell, 5 years.

A round of applause was offered by those in attendance in recognition of the anniversary achievements.

Honor Guard and Color Guard members of Geneva Lake Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2373 lead the post’s 2022 Memorial Day parade down Geneva Street in downtown Williams Bay on May 30. The 10:30 a.m. parade ended at the Veterans Memorial in Edgewater Park, where the post held solemn 11 a.m. Memorial Day observances in honor of the nation’s war dead.

Flag-waving American Legion Riders motorcyclists from Lake Geneva, Mukwonago and other surrounding communities were among the more than 20 groups participating in Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373’s May 30 Memorial Day parade through downtown Williams Bay. For more photos from the event see page D3.

Williams Bay Fire Department assistant chief Paul Nicholson greets parade-goers and tosses candy along Geneva Street during the Memorial Day parade through downtown Williams Bay on May 30.

Members of the Williams Bay High School Band play patriotic music as they march down Geneva Street May 30 during the Memorial Day parade hosted by Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373. At the solemn Memorial Day service that followed at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park, the band, under the direction of band teacher Nate Weirick, played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “On Wisconsin.”

With the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park as a patrotic background, Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 Commander Ron Grabski presides May 30 over solemn Memorial Day observances. Here, Grabski gives his keynote Memorial Day address. Noted Grabski, “During the year we celebrate many holidays ... Memorial Day is different. It is not a celebration. It is a day of sacred remembrance of those who gave their lives so we can celebrate those days as a free nation.”

Kate Franzen, left, representing Quilts of Valor, presents a patriotic quilt to retired U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Jose “Marty” Martinez during solemn Memorial Day observances May 30 at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park in downtown Williams Bay. Martinez served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing patriotic Quilts of Valor.

As Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 Commander Ron Grabski (right) looks on, Williams Bay High School freshman Lacy Silverman reads the World War I poem “In Flanders Field” during the post’s solemn Memorial Day observances at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park. Silverman is the 2021 recipient of the post’s leadership award.

The Willians Bay High School Choir, under the direction of choral teacher Jessica Miles, performed “Thank You, Soldiers” and “The Armed Forces Medley” during solemn Memorial Day observances May 30 at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park in Williams Bay.

Solemn May 30 Memorial Day observances by Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 included the ceremonial laying of a wreath at the Veterans Memorial at lakeside Edgewater Park in Williams Bay. The wreath was laid at the Veterans Memorial by VFW member Army Sgt. Wayne Rulin, a Korean War veteran.

Williams Bay High School Class of 2022 senior Cole Birkett played the military bugle call “Taps” at Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373’s solemn Memorial Day observance at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park in Williams Bay. Birkett is the 2022 recipient of the post’s Gerald “Sarge” Eaton Memorial Scholarship,

Pastor Sean Walker (left) of Chapel on the Hill gave opening and closing prayers at the solemn Memorial Day ceremonies conducted by Geneva Lake VFW Post 2373 on May 30 at the Veterans Memorial at Edgewater Park in Williams Bay. Post Commander Ron Grabskl looks on at right.

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Since June, the Village of Williams Bay has contracted with the Village of Fontana for the Fontana Fire Department to provide its residents and visitors with paid professional 24-hour emergency medical service (EMS). Williams Bay and Fontana are both going to referendum on Nov. 8 to levy beyond their state-imposed levy limits to each fund the equivalent of seven full-time EMS positions, 14 total, to provide 24-hour EMS service to the two communities. Both communities have contracted with Beloit-based Cindy Rowe Marketing to market their respective EMS referendums in the run-up to the fall general election ballot. Pictured are Fontana Fire Department fire and EMS apparatus awaiting call in the Merle Robinson Fontana Safety Building, 190 Fontana Blvd. in Fontana.

The Williams Bay Village Board on Sept. 6 received complaints from village resident Jack Jones, 34 Elm St., regarding neighboring Bayside Motel, 47 W. Geneva St., citing nuisance cats and fencing issues. 

The Williams Bay Village Board on Sept. 6 received a complaint from village resident Jack Jones about the vacant building at 80 N. Walworth Ave., on the corner of Walworth Avenue and Geneva Street (State Hwy. 67) in the heart of downtown Williams Bay. Jones said he’d like to see the village adopt “some visual standards or other standards be used or implemented" to make the property "more visually appealing.” Said Jones, “I don’t feel it really fits with many other of the village businesses and it’s basically just a warehouse for the owner. It’s kind of an eyesore and I think it could look a lot better … That corner is kind of a cornerstore, everybody goes by it, so I’d like to see it better.”