• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Concerns raised about child advocacy center site

Photo

Photo

Photo by Terry Mayer

Clockwise from left, Margaret Downing, Paula Hocking, Bill Henry, Sherrie Majewski, Sandra Wagie-Troemel and Mark Lyday discuss plans for the Walworth County Alliance for Children’s new advocacy center. The center is slated to be built next to the Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services along County Highway NN.

ELKHORN — Geneva Town Board Chairman Joe Kopecky said he wants to be clear: His concerns over a proposed five-acre site for a child advocacy center in the township are about the site, not about the idea of a new center or the organization proposing it.

"This has turned into a political football, and it should not be," Kopecky said. "The advocates have not been accurate in their discussions about my position."

At issue is a five-acre parcel of county-owned land in Geneva Township adjacent to the Walworth County Health and Human Services building on County NN.

The Walworth County Alliance for Children is proposing a new child advocacy center on the site, and the county has turned over the parcel to the alliance, which would be responsible for construction and operational expenses.

The alliance now is using space in the Walworth County Health and Human services building.

Alliance staff have said the area is too small and does not provide a "one-stop shop" for the abused children served by the alliance.

The new facility would offer space for interviews, medical examination, therapy, families and administrative staff. It would consolidate services where families can report crimes, work with professionals experienced in children's needs and get counseling, officials said.

"I am totally and completely supportive of the alliance and locating a new center in the general area," Kopecky said. "I really want to stress that I'm fully in support of the project. What I'm against is squandering county resources."

Kopecky has a list of objections to the proposed five-acre site:

-- It's too large for the 4,300-square-foot building.

-- Other sites in the same area are more suitable.

-- Elkhorn, if asked, might be willing to let the group develop a parcel smaller than the five-acre minimum required in the city's extraterritorial zone.

"I think the city would agree to relax the five-acre requirement, which would open up more alternatives for the alliance that, I believe, are more suitable for the building," Kopecky said.

The parcel is on county land within the township's borders, therefore the town has very little, if any, say about the project.

"This is not about the town opposing anything," Kopecky said. "But, we are all residents of the county, and we all have the responsibility to ensure that county land is designated for the best possible use. I don't think taking five acres of land with great potential for a 4,300-square-foot, one-story, wood-frame building is the best use of that five-acre parcel."

Robert Leibsle, the Elkhorn attorney who represents the alliance, agreed with Kopecky that the land transaction is a county, not a town matter.

"This issue is between the alliance and the county," Leibsle said. "This is strictly a business decision on this particular parcel."

Leibsle said selection of the five-acre parcel came after a long and thorough study.

"This decision was reached after exhaustive research," he said. "It was not a fanciful decision."

Leibsle said he was delighted that the town plan commission unanimously endorsed the proposed site.

"But, that's just one step in a multi-step process," he said. "This matter now goes to the full town board for consideration."

The alliance hopes to break ground in April.