Posted: March 3, 2010 |(0) Comments

Muskego — In three to five weeks, Muskego may have a plan for a city park along Little Muskego Lake, as well as complementary restaurants or stores.

Some lake properties on the north side of Janesville Road at about Pioneer Drive may be available for sale. They are located near what used to be DandiLion Park, a popular amusement park that closed in 1983.

Last week, the Muskego Common Council voted to hire R.A. Smith National to develop a site plan for a park with some businesses.

City officials are excited about the opportunity to open up the lake for public enjoyment and to re-establish a view of the lake that officials say is the heart of the community.

A park also may become the nucleus of a real Muskego downtown. And it would be the fulfillment of a call by Muskego's 2020 comprehensive plan to "bring back the lake," officials say.

Once Smith National - the low bidder among four consulting firms asked for proposals to do the study - finishes a plan, an extensive review will begin. The proposal will go to various city boards and commissions that will seek input from residents and others.

Smith National will make recommendations on whether a park might include a band shell, a shelter, beach house and other park amenities. It also will make recommendations on parking and lighting.

The city is to pay the Brookfield-based firm no more than $6,000 to conduct the study.

Some kind of commercial development, probably along Janesville Road, is seen as essential if the city is to offset the loss of tax base. Four homes on the targeted properties may be razed.

The consultant will recommend what kinds of commercial development would likely succeed and how much of the total estimated 9.5 acres might be needed for commercial uses to make the project cost-neutral.

But there is mixed opinion about whether analyzing property for its commercial uses is the city's place.

Alderman Neil Borgman does not think so.

Let developers pay

The city could reserve part of the acreage for a park and then let developers figure out what would be right for the rest of the land, he said.

"I don't see any reason a developer couldn't come in and spend their own dime," he said. "And the city draws a box around the area it wants to protect. I don't see spending city resources for doing that."

Alderwoman Tracy Snead said she, too, has that reservation, but the opportunity is so valuable that she wants the city to be in control. A developer can present a project that might not be in the city's best interest, she said.

But Borgman said the city's Community Development Authority defends the city's interests.

Alderman Keith Werner, who was instrumental in exploring the park opportunity, said what is done with the lakefront is too important to leave in the hands of developers.

"I fear if a developer has his own consultant, he can steer that any way he wants to go," Werner said. If the city has its own consultant, a plan can emerge that is in the city's best interest, not in a developer's best interest, he said.

"I think that this is money well spent," Werner said.

Lake may have public access

Larry Lefebvre, president of the Little Muskego Lake District and a candidate for District 3 alderman, also helped spearhead the effort to open up a park on the lake.

"There is nowhere to see the lake directly," he said. "If you drive all the way around the lake, you can't see it."

"This is an opportunity to bring back Muskego Beach, and it could be a destination for people who live on the lake if there is a restaurant," he said.