Two Rivers City Council OKs rezoning for Boatworx

By Cindy Hodgson, Herald Times Reporter

TWO RIVERS — Boatworx Inc. cleared a hurdle in its path to relocate from Manitowoc when the Two Rivers City Council approved a zoning change Monday evening. The council voted to rezone the 3.75-acre former Eggers Industries site on East River Street from industrial to a waterfront business district.

The boat storage and repair company has a purchase contract for the Eggers property. Owners Dan and Tracy Kaderabek want to build yacht storage condominiums on the site, which is on the west side of the East Twin River between 18th and 20th streets.

Jay Orvis, one of four people who spoke during a public hearing on the rezoning, encouraged the council to approve the change. Orvis also said he hopes any business that locates there will have "good aesthetic qualities that our community can be pleased with and any tourists would find attractive."

"These are some awful, awful big buildings," said Gerald Zimmer.

He asked whether there has been any communication with the neighbors, and City Manager Greg Buckley said those within 200 feet received notice of the rezoning hearing and also will be notified when the Plan Commission meets to review architectural and site plans.

Zimmer also asked about environmental impact statements, and Buckley said while the city isn't involved with that there are state and federal environmental regulations that need to be met.

"This is just the first (of) a long series of steps I need to take," Tracy Kaderabek, vice president of Boatworx, said about the rezoning.

Environmental impact studies and discussion of architecture and landscaping would come next, she said prior to the vote, but the rezoning was required in order to proceed.

Kaderabek said the company will take steps to ensure the City Council and the neighbors of Boatworx are pleased.

A public hearing also was held regarding rezoning the property just south of St. Vincent de Paul, on the east side of Monroe Street, from residential to business.

Bill Mosuch, representing St. Vincent de Paul, was the only one to speak at that hearing, and the council approved the rezoning.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul plans to purchase the available property, remove the house and use the land as a parking lot for volunteers.

The council voted to extend its contract with Manitowoc Disposal for another five years, from 2010, when it would have expired, to 2015.

Two Rivers initially entered into the contract with Manitowoc Disposal, which picks up garbage and recyclables from 5,200 units in the city, in March 1995. The contract has been extended twice since then, each time with a lower fee, resulting in the city paying $9,235 per year less than it was 13 years ago, Buckley said.

The amendment approved Monday evening increases the annual cost from $325,000 to $346,450 based on a 121 percent increase in diesel fuel costs since the last contract amendment, which was in April 2002. It also calls for an annual price adjustment tied to the cost of diesel fuel, with the annual cost not to exceed $370,000 without further action by the council.

Even with the increase, Two Rivers still has the lowest per unit cost of eight comparable cities, according to a comparison sheet compiled by the city of Burlington and provided by Buckley.

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