City Council Approves Negotiated Settlement

Fond du Lac City Council voted 6-0 in favor of paying over $377,000 to Lakeside Forward to formally cancel an Enhancement Agreement signed off by both parties back in 2020.

City Manager Joe Moore made it clear to Council what would happen if a negotiated settlement was not approved. “You’re guidance to me was to negotiate the termination of the Lakeside Park Enhancement Agreement…and we’ve done that. We’ve done it in such a way that avoids a lawsuit. The alternative to the negotiated settlement is a lawsuit.”

City Attorney Deb Hoffmann said the donor group did have the right, based on the agreement, to add additional costs to the city. “If they had gone to court, they could have attempted to try and force us to perform our requirements under the contract, and they are not going to do that.”

Hoffmann also noted that once the settlement payment is made, the door will close on any further payments being made. “So six months from now, when they (LSF) realize there was this other really big bill we missed, they’ve waived. They will eat that. This settles everything.”

The payment is set to be made within 30 days. What effects the canceling of the agreement has on the city, both good and bad, will take much longer to see.