Update: Check out Mike’s obituary here.
Services for Alderman Mike Karbowski, who died this week following an illness, are Friday at Molthen-Bell & Son Funeral Home in South Milwaukee.
Visitation is from 3 to 6 p.m., with a service at 6. A luncheon follows the service at the Knights of Columbus.
Molthen-Bell is located at 700 Milwaukee Ave., and the Knights of Columbus is at 732 Badger Ave.
We will miss you Mike!
Filed under City Council
It was another busy City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Among the bigger items we discussed and acted upon:
The council also approved increasing the number of Class A liquor licenses (those given to grocery and liquor stores and other similar retailers) which may be issued in the city to 12. That number had stood at 10, and all 10 have been issued. Increasing that number is an economic development issue in my mind, as it gives us the flexibility to say “yes” to a new retailer who may want to sell liquor (Walmart, perhaps). It also is a reasonable cap.
And, finally, we recognized the Health Department’s Mariana Liebsch and Martin Zabkowicz for their work in identifying a case of salmonella contamination that led to a national turkey recall. I’ll post more on this in coming days.
Of course, I’d like your thoughts on any of these subjects. Post your comments below!
Filed under City Council
The item was a late add to Tuesday’s City Council agenda.
Discussion/possible motion to amend the WRS provision of the city administrator’s contract to require her to pay one half of the actuarially required contributions effective when the non-represented employees must begin paying per the Wisconsin Statutes.
Sounds complicated, but it really wasn’t.
Simply, City Administrator Tami Mayzik was asking the council to increase the amount of money she pays toward her pension. That’s right. She was asking us to amend her contract to force her to pay for her retirement benefits.
The reason? Tami wanted to make sure the amount she pays toward her pension is the same percentage that other non-represented employees of the city will pay once the budget repair bill takes effect later this month.
That will be 5.8%. She currently pays nothing toward her pension, like other city employees and many others across the state.
The council passed the measure 7-0 … and Tami gained major respect from me for even bringing it up.
She could have easily not raised the issue, and we probably would have left her contract as is. But she did, and, in doing so, showed she is willing to share in the sacrifice that other, non-unionized city employees will have to make starting soon.
It was a selfless act of solidarity that shows the depth of character of our city administrator. Thanks, Tami.
Filed under City Council
It was a busy City Council meeting Tuesday night, with robust debate on everything from the future of the International Cycling Classic to the granting of bartender licenses.
Here’s a brief update on a few of the items …
We also unanimously approved a motion to retain Nancy Pirkey of Buelow, Vetter, Buikema, Olson, & Vliet, LLC as legal counsel for Police Chief Ann Wellens regarding a personnel issue, with funds from the legal fees account. This was approved in anticipation of the chief bringing charges against an officer with the Police and Fire Commission.
Filed under City Council
As you may have seen in today’s Journal Sentinel, the Police and Fire Commission has approved the hiring of Ryan Behling, son of outgoing Chief Jay Behling, as a full-time firefighter.
You can read the story here.
The City Council will vote tonight to recognize the hiring and place Ryan Behling, a paid on-call firefighter with the department for more than six years, in the proper pay range.
I’d like to know what you think of the hiring, which has drawn criticism from the firefighters union. Post your comments below..
Filed under City Council
As you know, I made improving the way the city communicates with its residents a key campaign issue. I said, and continue to say, that we must find new and creative ways to keep citizens informed.
That’s why I am proud to support the city’s purchase of a new phone-based emergency alert system.
The City Council at our meeting Tuesday voted 7-0 to purchase a system that gives city officials the ability to call all city residents — or large numbers of them — at once to share a message in times of emergency.
The uses are easy to see. In fact, the system would have likely been used during two emergencies in the past 10 months alone: the February water main break and the July flooding. During those two emergencies, we found it difficult to communicate broadly with residents and let them know key information, from whether or not the water was safe to drink to details on the extent of the flooding and next steps.
This system, the same used by Milwaukee County and Oak Creek, will solve that problem and give us another tool in our communications toolbox.
It’s also cost effective. Cost will range from $7,000 to $8,000 up front — to be funded with leftover public health emergency response grant funds. Annual upkeep is estimated at $5,000 to $7,000, based on the purchase of additional “call blocks” from the provider.
The system will likely be available in the first quarter of 2011.
Land lines will be automatically populated into the system. You will also have the ability to add your cell number. I will keep you posted on when and how to do that.
In the meantime, let me know what you think about the deal. Post your comments below.
Filed under City Council
Update: Here is the Journal Sentinel story on this. And be sure to vote in the p0ll on the right-hand side of the page.
Walmart wants to come to South Milwaukee.
The world’s largest retailer is proposing to build a store on a 10-acre parcel at 222 N. Chicago Ave. — a more than $13 million project that would provide another local shopping option and potentially more than 120 jobs to area residents.
This would not be your typical Walmart — and not a SuperCenter.
At 115,000 square feet, it will be one of the first in the area to be built using the company’s smaller, neighborhood-focused retail concept, a more upscale version of your traditional Walmart featuring groceries, a pharmacy and general merchandise.
The store would be “tailored to the character of the neighborhood,” according to Gatlin Development, the project developer, and it will serve an approximately two-mile radius, rather than the chain’s typical 10-mile area. The development would also include an outlot to potentially be used for development of a national chain restaurant.
The South Milwaukee store would create approximately 120 jobs, about 60 percent full-time, according to Gatlin.
The store is part of Walmart’s aggressive growth in the region, which also apparently includes plans for a smaller grocery store on 76th Street in Greendale and the recent remodeling of the store on South 27th Street in Franklin, among others.
Of course, more details will emerge in the months ahead.
Tuesday night, the project got a boost when the City Council approved the sale of a 3.6-acre parcel of land between Davis and Carroll Avenues — part of our Tax Incremental Financing District #2 — for $500,000 to Gatlin, which also has under contract the other 6.5 adjacent acres being used for the project.
(Full disclosure: I was not at the meeting because I was out of town on business involving my day job at MillerCoors. I expect I would have voted yes.)
I am interested to know what you think about the project. The proposed development will be subject to public hearings and approvals before several city entities, including the Plan Commission, Community Development Authority and City Council, so there is plenty of time to have your voices be heard on this. I’ll keep you posted when those opportunities occur.
Of course, you can call me anytime, or post your comments below. I’ve also posted a poll question about this on the right-hand side of the page. I appreciate your feeback.
Filed under City Council, Local Business
It was a pinkout in South Milwaukee on Tuesday.
The result? Well over $2,000 in donations to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the battle against breast cancer.
The Police Department, Fire Department, School District, City Council, businesses and more … South Milwaukeeans united for a great cause that involved much more than wearing pink shirts, hats and ribbons. They also came together to find unique ways to raise money.
At Rawson Elementary, it was a penny drive (more than $320 raised). At South Milwaukee High School, it was a specially designed “Red Rockets Go Pink” t-shirt sale ($1,280 raised). At E.W. Luther, it was a pink ribbon sale. At Lakeview Elementary, it was a balloon release.
And that was just the start. Learn more in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and in this story in the Examiner. And here is a summary of some of the school district activities. Fox 6 was also in town today.
Thanks to everyone who took part in this, and a special thanks to Police Chief Ann Wellens and City Clerk Jim Shelenske for leading the effort. South Milwaukee cares, and we can rally around a good cause. Consider Tuesday proof.
Filed under City Council, Community, Schools
The resignation of 1st District Alderman Mike McCarthy was the biggest news from Tuesday’s South Milwaukee City Council meeting.
Mike’s last day will be Sept. 21, when the City Council is expected to determine how to fill his seat, if at all.
Mike resigned the post because he is moving from the city, as he sells his house and buys a downtown Milwaukee condominium.
I wish him the best. In the 16 months I have been on the council, I have come to respect him as an independent thinker who acted with the thoughts of his constituents — and the good of the city — at heart.
As to the future of Mike’s 1st District seat, it is possible it won’t be filled. It’s a matter of timing. November is the earliest a potential replacement for Mike could begin, meaning that that person would serve less than two months before nomination papers are due for the upcoming April election. That is a pretty tight time frame.
What do you think? And do you have any thoughts about Mike to share? Post your comments below.
In other council news, we approved, 6-1, the condo trash collection policy I wrote about here. Alderman Mike Karbowski voted no, and Alderman Pat Stoner was excused from the meeting.
Filed under City Council
That’s the question before the South Milwaukee City Council on Tuesday night, when we’ll vote on a condominium trash collection policy that was essentially tabled from our last meeting.
We currently do not have a written policy on this — only a “practice” that is applied to all condo developments by the city. As part of that practice, the following criteria must be met for the city’s Department of Public Works to collect trash for condo units.
Under this practice, about a half dozen condo complexes in the city get their trash collected by the DPW. The larger ones in the city — including Marina Cliffs (80 units), the Village on College Avenue (64), The Sanctuary (24) and Heritage Reserve (16) — do not.
But should they? And is the above practice the right one?
That’s what the council will debate, as we consider a policy that includes all of the above bullet points … minus the cap on total units.
This issue is on the agenda now because of a request by The Sanctuary, which under the existing policy must pay for private trash pick-up because it exceeds the six-unit cap. It has asked to have the city reconsider its position on this, and that request has turned into the policy debate.
The debate is a necessary one. I feel we need a written policy on this. So the fact that we’re having this discussion at all is a good one.
Where do I stand? I support the revised policy — without the cap (and with requirements that tipper carts be used and be placed at the curb no later than 7 a.m. on collection day).
To me, the biggest question to answer should be, “Is the condo complex on a public or private road?” I believe the city’s bias should be toward collection of condo trash for those complexes on public roads. We already plow and sweep those public streets, so why not collect trash on them as well? And we collect trash for homes on public roads, so why not condo units?
Conversely, I don’t think the city should be asked to enter onto private property (roads) to collect trash for anyone. That’s a no-brainer to me. So that rules out the city collecting trash for Marina Cliffs, the Village and Heritage Reserve.
I also support removing the units cap because it seems arbitrary to me. Why six?
At the same time, I understand the need for the density maximum. I’d hate to have the city pick up trash for a densely populated condo tower — should one ever be built here — simply because it is on a public road.
Now, there is some disagreement here, and I expect a close council vote. And the opponents’ concerns are valid. The biggest is the “slippery slope” argument, as they argue that other property owners who currently pay for private trash pickup will see passage of this policy as license to seek public trash collection. There are also concerns about adding more work to the DPW, which is already stretched thin.
What do you think about the issue? Post your comments below … and vote in the poll on the right-hand side of this page.
Filed under City Council
Update: Here is the link to the actual agenda. You’ll also note an item about condominium garbage pick-up — a discussion about if, and when, the city should pick up trash for condominium owners. We currently do for some and not for others, with factors like density and whether or not the development is on a public road driving our practice. A formal proposed policy will be discussed be on Tuesday.
It promises to be a busy City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Expected to top the agenda is consideration of two different studies aimed at getting to the bottom of what has caused ongoing flooding in several problem areas in the city, including the areas around Parkway Drive and Hemlock, Blakewood Court and Brookdale Court.
Two of the expected agenda items are:
The goal of both studies is the same — to see what can be done to limit future flooding problems like those in late July. I emphasize “limit,” as I’m not certain any potential solution, no mater the scope and cost, can completely prevent flooding, even basement backups, during certain record rain events like the one we experienced on July 22.
Still, these studies may provide some answers for residents desperately seeking, and deserving, them.
I and other city leaders are committed to keeping residents posted on this issue and what these studies find.
(In the meantime, here is a copy of a letter with more information on the flooding and next steps being sent this week to hundreds of residents who called to report damage, ask for special pickups, etc.)
The meeting start at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Among other items expected on Tuesday’s agenda are consideration of ordinances restricting “convenient cash establishments” and portable storage units like PODS. Click here to see my previous post on this.
Filed under City Council
South Milwaukee Blog 