The Return of Lake Delton

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The Lake Delton Village Board says the state Department of Transportation will handle repairs to the breach in the community's empty lake and adjacent highway with the hope of restoring the lake by next spring.

Board members decided Monday to forgo the bidding process for the repairs so cleanup and restoration won't be delayed.

The village board also is working to get back into the National Flood Insurance Program.

Village attorney Richard Cross says even if Lake Delton is accepted into the program, there's no guarantee how much disaster assistance home and business owners will receive.

Lake Delton can't be restored soon enough, but restoration by next spring at least means the 2009 summer tourist season wouldn't be impacted by the loss of the lake.

That's good news.

There's bad news for the Lake Delton home and business owners devastated by the flooding.

It's uncertain how much disaster assistance the government will offer them.

Too bad they don't live in Milwaukee County, where the government is handing out assistance to people without any concrete proof of flood damage.

Flood victims in Lake Delton literally lost their homes and land, yet they still must pay property taxes.

From TMJ4:

People who live on Lake Delton still have to pay thousands of dollars in property taxes, even though they have nothing left.

...Tim Fromm's lakefront home was swept away and destroyed when Lake Delton overflowed its banks and emptied into the Wisconsin River.

“We're asking for whatever we relief we can get out of FEMA,” Kim Grimmer, the victims' attorney said.

So far, FEMA hasn't helped the victims, because FEMA couldn't come to an agreement with the village about the flood plain.

Fromm and his neighbors were optimistic they could get help Monday, but looked grim as they left the closed door meeting, comforting each other with hugs.

The victims were told not to talk to the media about what happened, but their attorney says the village discussed re-building Highway A, getting assistance from both the state and FEMA, and paying property taxes on land that was washed away by rushing water.

"State law is that properties are evaluated as of January 1st, and the assessors require you pay that price for the year,” Grimmer said.

Dear Gov. Jim Doyle,

Give these people a break!

Waive their property taxes from the time their homes and land were washed away.

If you won't do that, here's an idea: Hold a golf outing to raise funds to cover their taxes.

If you don't have time on your schedule for another golf fundraiser event, use the cash you raised for your campaign on June 10 to help these people out. They've lost everything.