(Viewed 2,233 times)

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Yerkes hearing draws 550 residents

another public information session about a New York developer's plans for the Yerkes Observatory and its grounds is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24.

More than 550 people turned up at the Williams Bay High School auditorium on Thursday for the second public information meeting on Yerkes Observatory, this one lasting about two hours.

Yerkes' owner, the University of Chicago, proposes selling the century-old observatory and 79 surrounding acres to Mirbeau Inn & Spa of Skaneateles, N.Y. for about $8 million.

Mirbeau proposes building a 100-room spa and a 72-home subdivision on about 47 acres. The observatory and 32 acres would be turned over to the village in a special taxing district.

The deal hinges on Williams Bay rezoning the Yerkes property from institutional to commercial and residential.

Yerkes is too old for cutting-edge research but still can be used for science and astronomy education. Since 1897, when the observatory first opened, the facility has become Williams Bay's symbol and prized landmark.

At a July 13 meeting, Don Weyhrauch, Williams Bay village president, invited residents to write questions to be answered Thursday night. More than 500 questions were submitted.

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist or an astronomer to see we won't get around to answering all the questions this evening," Weyhrauch told the crowd Thursday.

To address as many of the questions as possible, the questions were grouped into categories.

At least one question didn't fall into any category.

One resident wanted to know whether Mirbeau and the university were comfortable with the fact that Weyhrauch works for Aurora University, which had submitted a competing proposal for the Yerkes property.

Henry Webber, vice president of community and government affairs at the University of Chicago, said he was confident that Weyhrauch would approach the project in a fair and objective manner.

Some of the questions had a distinctively adversarial tone, such as: "Is Yerkes a gift or a liability for Williams Bay?"

Gary Dower, co-owner and managing director of Mirbeau, said the management and funding proposal set up by the university and Mirbeau would protect the village from liability.

A Yerkes Foundation would be responsible for funding, creating an endowment program and maintaining the observatory and its 32-acre grounds. An exposition district, set up by the village and run by a six-member board of directors, would collect $400,000 annually through room taxes and property taxes to pay the bills. Williams Bay has a 5 percent hotel-motel room tax.

The University of Chicago also promises to put up $2.5 million over five years to support the observatory until the Mirbeau development begins generating revenue, Webber said.

Income shortfalls would fall on the foundation, which would be responsible for maintaining the Yerkes budget, Webber said.

And should Mirbeau go bankrupt, that would fall on the Mirbeau stockholders and investors, Dower said.

Full story here: www.gazetteextra.com/yerkes080406.asp

=========

Charles would just shake his head.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Villagers don't support spa, resort in Williams Bay

WILLIAMS BAY-

If public support is an important element in the future of
Yerkes Observatory, the chance of a spa and subdivision going on the
property seems pretty slim.

At a meeting Thursday night, one resident asked for a show of hands of those
opposed to the proposal, and nearly all hands in the crowd of about 300 went
up.

The University of Chicago wants to sell the observatory and 79 acres to
Mirbeau Inn & Spa of New York for about $8 million.

Mirbeau proposes to build a 100-room resort-spa, a parking garage and a
72-home subdivision on about 47 acres, while the observatory and 32 acres
would be turned over to the village as part of a special taxing district.

Don Weyhrauch, village president, said the village board probably will not
approve a special taxing district to maintain Yerkes and its educational
programs.

He doesn't think a special taxing district will fly.

"It can be done, it's legal," Weyhrauch said. "We just don't want to do it."

Weyhrauch said the village will look for other ways to support Yerkes
preservation without new taxes or using property taxes.

"We're greedy in the bay," Weyhrauch said with a laugh. "We don't want to
lose it (Yerkes), but we don't want to pay for preserving it."

Thursday was the last scheduled public meeting for residents to ask
questions directly of spa developer Gary Dower and of Henry Webber, vice
president of community and government affairs at the University of Chicago.

After the formal proposal is made, it will be reviewed during public
meetings of the village plan commission and the village board, which also
allow public comment.

Moderator Jeff Hoffman, a UW-Extension educator, tried to keep emotions in
check Thursday night at the Williams Bay High School, but most questions
were hostile and skeptical.

Ann Callison of Williams Bay said she wanted to know why the university
didn't come to the village first and find out what Williams Bay wanted
before accepting a plan from a developer.

"Why don't you sit down with the village board and work out a plan that will
work to both your interests and ours here in Williams Bay," she asked.

While supporting the Mirbeau plan as the best plan available, Webber
admitted not meeting first with village officials might have been a mistake.

Gary Dower, co-owner of Mirbeau with his wife, Linda, also said he wouldn't
mind if he built his spa elsewhere on Geneva Lake.

During the meeting, Dower pointed out that creation of an exposition
district is not an obligation or requirement of Mirbeau's development plan.

Two Yerkes employees also spoke, and neither endorsed the Mirbeau plan.

Vivian Hoette, an educator at Yerkes, said she was concerned that the
University of Chicago still has not developed a plan for continued education
programs at Yerkes for after the university cuts ties with the observatory.

"Do you have a plan for education and research?" she asked.

Hoette said she loves Yerkes and her work there, but she'll leave if a spa
is built.

Bob Lowenstein, also a Yerkes employee, said the university could have
created an endowment by selling the 550 feet of lakefront south of the
observatory for $9 million to $15 million.

Webber replied that the university never got offers that high for the land.
And preserving an undeveloped lakefront was a priority for the university.

Also brought up was a proposal by Chicago investor and financier Richard
Driehaus, who proposes to hire three architects to design alternatives for
Yerkes preservation.

Webber said university officials want to talk with Driehaus about his
proposal.

Residents also wondered:

-- Will the development encroach on an environmental corridor established by
the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission?

Webber and Dower said they are working with the commission and state natural
resources officials to ensure that the development is within environmental
guidelines.

-- With houses built within 200 feet of the observatory and roads bringing
cars into the subdivision, won't the lights from houses and cars interfere
with the use of telescopes in the observatory? It was pointed out that the
village's light ordinance does not control ambient light from homes or car
lights.

Webber said the Mirbeau plan depends on review by University of Chicago
astronomy staff to make sure light pollution doesn't interfere with the
operation of the observatory.

Source: www.gazetteextra.com/yerkes082506.asp

================