Ski Ramp Still Causing Problems, No Parking at Hillview Launch

Ramp still causes concerns

The placement of the on Little Muskego Lake at the end of the season last year, but a resident has again raised concern over the ramp.

This time the issue is over the visibility of advertising placed on the ramp, which helps the club maintain and pay for the ramp. Resident Debra Johannes said she had already spoken with the Water Bugs and they had agreed to cover up the advertising while the ramp was docked at Chiconas Island, which is about 200 yards off shore from Johannes' home.

However she had additional concerns over the ramp's safety.

"It does move around a bit in storms, and I have some concerns about the safety because the gate is sometimes up and it's sometimes down," Johannes told the Public Safety Committee Wednesday night.

The gate keeps people off of the ramp while it's docked and there was concern that others could scale the ramp and injure themselves.

Generally the ramp is anchored at two points, but the committee determined that it may be coming off of one of its moorings, allowing the ramp to catch the wind and move around on a pivot. The committee agreed they would ensure with the Water Bugs that a closer look at the gates, anchors and attachments would be made to eliminate the concern.

Hillview launch will not have any nearby parking

In addition, residents near the boat launch on Hillview Drive have requested that 'no parking at any time' signs be placed along that street on the south side, as boaters from outside the neighborhood have been using the public launch to park while they use Little Muskego Lake. The access area and parking area are private, and the street was recently improved to include curb and gutter, but has also meant the width of it has been narrowed by a foot and a half.

The north side of the road is marked already as  no parking, but the south side is marked as 'no parking with trailer,' allowing vehicles to park.

Alderman Dan Soltysiak said the issue is a safety concern for cars backing out of driveways, vehicle traffic, but especially pedestrian traffic to the private lake access. He said the problem is made worse in that there is no cul de sac area to allow for vehicles to turn around to launch boats, meaning that they must back down the street from some distance to do so. sometimes more pronounced during the winter, when ice fishermen use the lake access point to walk onto the lake, and cars parked there make it hard to pass through.

The committee approved the request, and 'no parking anytime' signs will be placed to include the entire stretch of Hillview Drive.