Letter to the Editor: Village Board to Vote on Fox Point’s $1.9 Million “Footbridge to Nowhere”

If a small vocal group of people get their way, Fox Point taxpayers will now have to pay $1,917,000 for a useless “footbridge to nowhere."

This includes the new higher cost estimate of $1.75 million for construction, $142,000 in consulting fees and about $25,000 for legal fees and staff costs.   In a village of just 6,600 people, $1.9 million is an extraordinary and unprecedented expenditure of public money especially for something that is essentially a private footbridge used by only a handful of residents in a very exclusive neighborhood.

Consider this:  

1. Every Fox Point taxpayer will end up paying an average of about $810 in additional property taxes for the footbridge.  
2. A found that only 10 percent of the public want to rebuild the footbridge, 18 percent want it repaired, and 72 percent want it removed --- and that was before taxpayers were aware of the new $1.9 million cost estimate.
3. No Parking signs and a village ordinance prevents parking anywhere within ¾ of a mile of the footbridge. This severely restricts the public’s access and for all practical purposes makes the footbridge a taxpayer-funded amenity for a very small number of people in that exclusive neighborhood.
4. The only argument footbridge advocates have made to rebuild the structure is that it’s a wonderful place for them to look at the Fall leaves. Really?! Does that justify spending $1.9 million of taxpayer money? 

There are many other places in the village and surrounding communities to look at leaves --- and they won’t cost taxpayers a dime.

The Village Board will hear public comments and then vote on this matter at their Be there! This may be your last chance to stop this absurd waste of taxpayer money.  

Larry Booth
Fox Point