You may have seen news coverage recently that the United States Postal Service sorting facility project originally proposed more than a decade ago for the southwest corner of Nicholson and College Avenues might have new life. Check out coverage here, here, and here.
There is just on thing missing in the process so far — you.
The project planners have yet to engage the governments of Oak Creek and South Milwaukee in any meaningful way, and have not committed to a robust public process as their plans are brought to life.
That’s not acceptable.
With that in mind, both the Oak Creek and South Milwaukee City Councils passed similar resolutions last week calling for local community input around the revised plans and impact of the project.
From our resolution …
WHEREAS, on July 30, 2019 the City of Oak Creek received a letter from the United States Postal Service (USPS) declaring its intent to construct a mail processing center on the properties (the Project), and providing the City of Oak Creek the opportunity to review and comment on the project; and
WHEREAS, on August 1, 2019 the City of Oak Creek responded to the United States Postal Service and formally requested the opportunity to review and comment on the project; and
WHEREAS, the City of Oak Creek has not received any correspondence from the USPS in response to its request to review and comment on the project; and
WHEREAS, the City of Oak Creek has yet to receive assurances from the USPS that it intends to honor its agreements with the City of Oak Creek with respect to the construction and operation of a postal service processing and distribution center on the properties
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that for and on behalf of themselves and the taxpayers of the City of South Milwaukee, and for the reasons herein above set forth go on record as requesting that any construction and operation of a postal service processing and distribution center on the properties take place in accordance with the construction and operational standards that were agreed upon as part of the initial rezoning approval.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, any development of a postal service processing and distribution center proceed in accordance with the standards established by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act standards for soliciting, assessing, and incorporating local community input.
I’ll keep you posted, and continue to fight with Oak Creek and our federally elected leaders to ensure we’re not shut out of this process.
South Milwaukee Blog 