Author Archives: Erik Brooks

Lots of opportunities to make a difference … get your groups together now, and plan to make a difference in your community!

In-person absentee voting is now open, and runs through Friday, March 31.

Anyone planning on being out of town or unable to make it to the polling place on election day — or for any reason, really — can cast an absentee ballot at the clerk’s office at City Hall, 2424 15th Ave. Hours are 7:30 to 4 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, and 7:30 to 5 p.m. on Fridays. Remember to bring your photo ID.

Here is a sample ballot for the spring primary.

Of course, I am running for re-election this spring, and I ask for and appreciate your support. You can learn more about my campaign here.

Other contested races are for South Milwaukee School Board, Milwaukee County Circuit judge Branch 47 and state school superintendent. There is also a countywide referendum question on the ballot around a wheel tax.

More details on voting here. See you at the polls!

I love this idea from the South Milwaukee Police Department.

I’m told Chief Wellens wants to make this a regular event, and I’d support that 100%, as they continue to enhance lines of communication with residents.

Hosting community meetings like this one, supporting local block watches, leading the education effort in the fight against drugs, actively engaging on Nextdoor, driving the crime alert email service, and now this — our police department is committed to making sure residents have the information they need to keep their neighborhoods safe.

I stand with them in that effort.

9.2 inches: That’s how much snow received during this week’s winter storm, according to measurements at our Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The storm was a tragic one for South Milwaukee, as a 64-year-old man who lives in the 500 block of Park Avenue apparently passed away while shoveling — one of four deaths in the area that may be linked to the storm, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Please keep this man’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

I also want to thank our Street Department for working long hours to clear the streets. They started salting Sunday night, shifted to plowing Monday morning and worked went well into Tuesday, dealing with this snow. They did their best to keep up with this historic storm, and I very appreciate their efforts. It’s hard, hard work.

I also appreciate your patience, as residents. I know it can get frustrating as we try to keep up with heavy snowfalls. But rest assured we are doing all we can to deliver this critical service well.

Lastly, here is a reminder of the responsibilities of property owners around clearing snow from public walkways.

From Chapter 12 of the municipal code …

12.20 REMOVAL OF SNOW AND ICE ON SIDEWALKS. It shall be the duty of every property owner of each and every parcel of real estate abutting on or bordering upon any street, avenue or highway or other public place to remove or cause to be removed all snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of or adjacent to such premises to the full-paved width of such sidewalks within 24 hours after such snow or ice shall have fallen or accumulated thereon. Determination of the ending of such twenty-four hour period shall be made by the Police Department. Rep. & Recr. 01/02/85, 1284, Rep. & Recr. 2/2/16, 2121 12.21

USE OF SAND OR SALT ON SIDEWALKS. In case the snow and ice on the sidewalk shall be frozen so hard that it cannot be removed without damage to the sidewalk, the owner of every parcel of real estate shall, within the time specified in the preceding section, ensure the safe traversing of the sidewalk abutting or adjacent to such premises by applying an abrasive material such as sand or salt and as soon thereafter as the weather shall permit, thoroughly clean such sidewalk. Rep. & Recr. 2/2/16, 2121

And if you don’t do this?

12.26 CITY MAY REMOVE SNOW. Whenever any property owner shall fail or neglect to remove snow and/or ice from any public sidewalk or roof as provided in this chapter, the Street Superintendent may without notice to the property owner, have the ice and/or snow removed. The fee for the City removing the snow and ice shall be set by the Common Council and included in the City’s Administrative Fee Schedule. The Street Superintendent shall keep an accurate account of the occurrences of the City clearing the snow and ice in all cases where property owners of abutting lots fail to do so and report the same to the City Clerk who shall prepare at least annually invoices for the affected property owners. If the property owner fails to pay the invoice, the amount therein charged to each lot or parcel of land shall be entered in the tax roll as a special charge against said lot or parcel of land and the same shall be collected in all respects like other taxes upon real estate. The imposition and collection of any fine or penalty prescribed for violation of Section 12.20 and 12.26 inclusive of the South Milwaukee code shall not bar the right of the City to collect the cost of the removal and cleaning of snow and ice from the sidewalk as herein provided. Repl. & Recr. 2/2/16, 2121

You can see the entire code here in our much-improved user interface.

There are also rules around use of sand and salt; throwing snow on railroad tracks or into city streets; and removal of snow from roofs, canopies and awnings. Report violators to the South Milwaukee Police Department, non-emergency line, at 414-768-8060.

Check out these South Shore headlines …

• These Milwaukee-Area Instagrammers Are Cashing in on Their Popularity (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• New Era for Pulaski Park (Urban Milwaukee)
• In Wake of Fed Raids, Caterpillar Denies Skirting Tax Laws (Chicago Tribune)
• Oak Creek Passes 89 Conditions and Restrictions for FedEx Development (NOW)

NOW has published a new police blotter.

Also, the Cudahy girls’ basketball team is in the WIAA Division 2 state finals after a 46-36 win over Hortonville on Friday. Good luck, Packers!

Thankfully no one was hurt. From the South Milwaukee Police Department …

On March 10, 2017 at about 11:07 am, the South Milwaukee Police Department responded to the 2115 10th Avenue (Tri City Bank). One subject entered the bank, walked up to the teller window, demanded money, and fled the scene in a vehicle. A short time later three subjects were taken into custody by St. Francis Police Department. No one at the bank was injured. The amount of money that was taken is unknown at this time.

Here is coverage from CBS 58.

Well done, SMPD, and all the other departments who assisted.

Lots on the agenda, and lots accomplished, at Tuesday night’s city council meeting. I already wrote about the passage of funding for a development of Caterpillar redevelopment strategies. Among other news …

• We honored a local hero — Fire Capt. Glen McCoy — for a recent award.
• The council voted to create a new Adopt-a-Tree program, where we’ll be partnering with property owners to plant up to 50 trees this summer, starting in neighborhoods where we’ve removed trees in the past three years. This Beautification Committee initiative is the latest example of how we’re stepping up our game in urban forestry. Look for more details in a future blog post.
• The council also voted to get a head start on spring construction projects, agreeing to advertise for bids for 2017 road construction projects on Southtowne Court, Drive and Place, as well as Montana Avenue (Fifth to Ninth Avenues).
• The council also approved additional study of — and the development of guidelines we can use in allowing them — around pedlets, a cool outdoor dining option popularized in West Allis and other communities. Two Milwaukee Avenue businesses are exploring the concept. West Allis is an innovator with pedlets, a modified version of the more common parklet.
• We became the first community to adopt the aerotropolis redevelopment plan — another example of our city’s commitment to a regional approach to economic development. Check out the press release here, and here is Business Journal coverage.
• We also passed a resolution endorsing the League of Municipalities efforts against “dark stores,” an unreasonable effort by some big-box retailers to reduce their assessments. Read the resolution for some real-world — and hard-to-comprehend — examples from across the state that legislation could prevent.

Bringing new life to the Caterpillar property might be the most challenging redevelopment and reuse project we’ve faced in the history of South Milwaukee.

I want to tackle that challenge head on. And we are.

On Tuesday, the South Milwaukee City Council approved spending up to $23,000 to contract with Graef Consulting to assist and advise the city, as we seek to partner with Caterpillar, One Liberty Properties (owners of much of the Cat site), and broker Colliers International in several key areas we think will aid in redeveloping the site.

Among the anticipated deliverables …

• A plan for potential reuse of the office space, expected to be the most challenging part of the property for redevelopment. This includes reuse concepts, parcel division options and a perspective on potential incentives and grant opportunities. We’ll also be taking a tour of the Century City site in Milwaukee, the former home to A.O. Smith and Tower Automotive, and apply learnings here.
• A marketing plan and profile for South Milwaukee and the downtown area that Colliers — and the city, for that matter — can use to help generate interest in the site with developers, business owners and others.

As I’ve written about, Cat is maintaining a manufacturing presence in South Milwaukee, and that’s good news. But much of its property south of Rawson Avenue is or is becoming available as professional workers continue to move to Arizona in the months ahead.

We’re focusing this early work where we feel we can do the most good.

Interest in the soon-to-be-vacant manufacturing space has been relatively strong — not as much for the office buildings. Our efforts will fill gaps that may lead to bringing new life more quickly to that portion of the site. Colliers has told us as much.

It comes down this: We, as city leaders, can’t sit idly by and simply wait and see what happens with this, hoping that a positive reuse and redevelopment comes before us. We need to be as proactive as possible, take a seat at the table and be a partner in determining just what Caterpillar 2.0 looks like in South Milwaukee.

Our city was born around the Mill Pond, but it grew up around Bucyrus, and now Caterpillar. This property is too important to the proud past and promising future of this city for us to be bystanders.

We will do everything in our power to get this right. This work is a good first step.

A note from South Milwaukee Police Officer Mike Hill …

After working a 4a-8a morning shift recently, I was able to make an observation that working dayshift hours does not allow. I was surprised by the number of houses that have no exterior lighting on during the night/morning hours. Driving through your neighborhoods and trying to see if garage doors were open, people in driveways or going through yards was almost impossible given the darkness. I would pass three houses with no lights on, and find one with lights on. If I were up to no good, I know which house I would avoid and which houses were easier for me to hide in the darkness. What I also noticed is that house numbers were impossible to read. If you needed medical/fire/police assistance to your house, and we can’t see your numbers, that can slow down response times! Lighting is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to prevent and/or reduce crime. Please turn your lights on at night!

Planning is underway for South Milwaukee Lionsfest 2017, but this much has already been decided: It’s returning to the same location at 16th Avenue, south of Rawson.

Please spread the word, and mark your calendars for July 28-30!

Thanks to Masjid Al-Huda for being gracious hosts for this iconic community event.

The South Milwaukee Lions also welcome any suggestions for making the festival even bigger and better. Let them know what you think — post your comments below.

Add this to the list of “cool stuff made in South Milwaukee.”

I had the pleasure recently of visiting the folks at Cheata Bikes Milwaukee, who have based their growing motor bicycle business in our fair city, at 2300 10th Ave.

Not sure what a motor bicycle is? Check out their website …

Motor bicycles have been around for more than 100 years! The original motor bicycle has its roots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Harley-Davidson entered the marketplace offering an affordable means of transportation in the early 1900s.

Whizzer, another U.S. company, began producing motor bicycles in the early 1940’s for World War II defense workers. Eventually Whizzer produced the Model F to sell to the general public.

Following WWII, a European company, Ducati, produced a motor bicycle called the Cucciolo. In 1948 Ducati sold more than 200,000 motor bicycles. These bicycles all had single-cylinder engines capable of about 35 miles per hour.

As time progressed, these bicycles lost their pedals, grew bigger and became more powerful—evolving into the motorcycles we see today.

Cheata Bikes brings the motor bicycle back full circle! Our Cheata Bikes facility is located in South Milwaukee in a historic turn of the century 8,800 sq. ft. building not far from where it all began at Harley-Davidson.

The building houses their corporate office, product development center and manufacturing facility, in downtown South Milwaukee.

The building itself has a great story. Built in 1923, it was home to the Doerman Shoe Mfg. Co., employing 150 people and manufacturing the popular “Great Scott” children’s shoe line until closing in 1956. It later served as a temporary home of the South Milwaukee Library, then home to operations for Bucyrus and Pyramax Bank.

Now, it’s home to motor bicycles.

Owner Ravi Bhagat tells me sales have been steadily increasing and are robust in 2017, with a marketing model that combines word of mouth with regular “sightings” at trendy locations like the Pfister, Iron Horse, Intercontinental Hotel Milwaukee and Hilton Garden Inn Milwaukee, and other restaurants and hotels locally, and even a design studio in California.

The idea: The more people see the bikes — which start at $1,795 — in action, the more they want ride one.

Here is what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had to say last summer …

“Everybody wants to sort of stand out,” Bhagat said, “and these things really stand out.” 

Bhagat, 53, is casting a line into a small but potentially rewarding pool, applying professional machining and finish … to the sort of hybrid vehicles garage tinkerers have been building for decades.

After a couple of years marked by fits and starts, Cheata has set up production in South Milwaukee. There, in a former Bucyrus-Erie building Bhagat owns, a small crew puts together bicycles that feature both working pedals and a 49-cubic-centimeter, four-stroke gasoline engine. The motors and frames come from China, but the bikes are assembled with extensive local input.

The wheels are built and trued in South Milwaukee. An Oak Creek company machines the sprockets for greater precision. A West Allis firm does sheet-metal work. Performance Coatings in Oconomowoc finishes off the aluminum frames with multilayer paint jobs.

The result? Yet another really cool product with strong local ties — made in South Milwaukee.

Simple question. Post your comments below!

Carol Deptolla likes The Tap Room, but I’ve had a lot of fish fries in South Milwaukee, and I know there are some really good ones. The one pictured above is from Tracker’s Pub & Grub, 1401 Rawson Ave.

Some ground rules: Please confine responses to South Milwaukee establishments, and please keep them positive. For negative reviews, visit Yelp or Facebook, or, better yet, keep them to yourself.

As of 8 a.m. today, Steve Scaffidi is no longer Oak Creek’s mayor. He resigned to take a new on-aire job at WTMJ radio.

I wish him well on his next adventure.

I am proud to call this dynamic, visionary leader a colleague and friend. Steve has led from the front in delivering a promising future for Oak Creek, and the entire South Shore, and he leaves big shoes for his replacement to fill.

We are stronger together as the South Shore, and Steve knew that. So do I. That is why I look forward to continued collaboration and cooperation with our neighbor to the south and west.

I also look forward to tuning into his new show, Scaffidi & Bilstad, at noon on weekdays. The South Shore’s loss is our airwaves’ gain.

Our Downtown Market is a regional attraction — and so are the indoor versions of this local favorite.

I’m told more than 100 vendors are expected on March 19, following a huge Christmas Market.

And mark your calendars for June 1 — the start of the outdoor season!