LAC LA BELLE, Wis. — The Town of Oconomowoc has merged with Lac La Belle to create a new village, but the merger has led their neighbors to file a lawsuit against them.
The City of Oconomowoc and the Village of Oconomowoc Lake are seeking to stop the merger. However, Lac La Belle's new Village President, Robert Hultquist, says they are moving forward.
“We were officially merged on January 1. We are now one organization. The Town of Oconomowoc merged into Lac La Belle,” said Hultquist.
This week, all members of the Village of Lac La Belle board resigned, and the Town of Oconomowoc’s board took over. Robert Hultquist, the former chairman of the Town of Oconomowoc, took on the new title of president of the Village of Lac La Belle. He says, for legal reasons, the Town of Oconomowoc had to merge into Lac La Belle.
The neighbors, the City of Oconomowoc and the Village of Oconomowoc Lake, are filing a lawsuit to stop the merger. The situation has left residents from all the municipalities confused. No one wanted to give their name, but most had the same response.
“I didn’t know about the lawsuit,” said a Town of Oconomowoc resident.
“They don’t want them to merge? I don’t understand what the problem is,” asked a City of Oconomowoc resident.
TMJ4 reporter Rebecca Klopf spoke to Oconomowoc Lake Village President Mike Bickler over the phone to ask just that.
“Is there a reason you entered into the lawsuit with them?” asked Rebecca.
But he refused to comment, instead pointing her to a press release he issued. In the release, the Village of Oconomowoc Lake says it had negotiated “a minor border adjustment” in May with the Town of Oconomowoc, but since the merger was announced, the Town has not responded to whether it would honor the agreement.
Watch: Lac La Belle's new president weighs in on lawsuit over merger
In the lawsuit, the City of Oconomowoc and Oconomowoc Lake say that, before the merger, they could “annex an area of the Town of Oconomowoc.” The new village president says that is what this lawsuit boils down to.
“Now that we’re a village, they can’t take our property anymore. Our borders are sacrosanct,” said Hultquist.
City of Oconomowoc Mayor Bob Magnus refused an on-camera interview but issued this statement: “We look forward to meeting in the coming weeks to address longstanding issues that have affected the residents of the city, town, and village. Engaging in collaborative and good-faith discussions is essential to ensuring that our residents receive the solutions they deserve.”
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