South Milwaukee Blog

Still lots of holiday happenings around town, including a South Milwaukee Christmas Market with more than 110 vendors this Saturday and a special show at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center next week.

• Saturday, December 3: South Milwaukee Christmas Market. Enjoy more than 110 vendors and live music, and meet Santa.9 a.m. to 3 p.m., South Milwaukee High School, 801 15^th Ave.
• Sunday, December 4
  • Breakfast with Santa. Santa will be at Pat’s Oak Manor, 1804 15th Ave., giving out stockings for the kids. Feel free to bring your camera. Reservations please at 414-762-4660. Cost is $8.75 for adults, $5.25 for children 3-1o years and $2 for children 2 and under. Breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m.
  • Christmas Choir Concert. 4 p.m., Sts. Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, 1308 15th Ave.
• Thursday, December 8: Cantus: “We All Will be Together.” The premier men’s vocal ensemble in the U.S. comes to South Milwaukee. 7:30 p.m., South Milwaukee PAC, 901 15^th Ave.
• Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11: Ye Old Christmas Feaste. Pre-dinner music at 4, dinner (prepared by students) at 4:30 p.m., South Milwaukee High School. More details here.
• Saturday, December 10
  • Live reindeer visit and photos. 10 a.m. to noon, South Milwaukee Ace Hardware, 1009 Marquette Ave. It’s one of a variety of activities Ace has planned for the Christmas season; other activities include tree sales, a “Letters to Santa” mailbox and a giant stocking giveaway. More details here, as Ace goes all in on Christmas — I love it!
  • South Milwaukee High School’s National Honor Society presents Santa’s Workshop in the Heritage Hallway at the high school. The free event for preschool to elementary school-aged kids includes cookie decorating, ornament making, crafts and more. 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, December 11: Breakfast with Santa. 9 a.m., American Legion Post 27, 920 Monroe Ave.
• Thursday, December 15: South Milwaukee Library Holiday Party. 6-7:30 p.m. Family fun for all ages.

Did I miss anything? Please contact me!

Winter parking restrictions are now underway, so be sure to purchase your parking permits.

From the South Milwaukee Police Department website …

Winter Parking Permits

Cost of the permits is $30.00 per month or $100.00 for the entire 4 month season.  Any resident who wishes to park on the street between the hours of 3am and 6am must purchase a parking permit.  Alternate side parking rules also apply.  Winter parking is enforced 7 days a week.

Residents can purchase Winter Parking Permits at the Police Department Monday-Friday from 7am – 8pm.  There will be no permit sales, or citation payments accepted, outside of these hours OR on weekends and Holidays. 

PLAN AHEAD, get your permits early.  Parking permission will not be given because you did not have time to purchase a permit.   Get in early and get your permit purchased.

Winter Parking Restrictions

During the period from December 1st to March 31st, no person shall park a vehicle on any street in the City of South Milwaukee between the hours of 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM.

However, vehicles may be parked during such hours if a permit is obtained from the Police Department after the filing of an application and the payment of $30.00 per month permit fee, $27.00 if obtained after the 15th of the month, or $100.00 for a 4-month permit.

Any vehicle parked in accordance with the above shall only be permitted to park on the EVEN numbered side of the street on those nights whose calendar date before midnight is even (N and W sides of the street are even), *Where parking is normally permitted only on one side of the street this section shall apply.

We are being more proactive than ever when it comes shaping the future of South Milwaukee, especially our downtown. We have to be.

From our comprehensive and downtown planning efforts completed last spring to our new downtown grant program to our work on designing streetscaping upgrades to our ongoing study of downtown management/ownership structures, we are taking real action to control our own destiny in the heart of our city.

One more example of this: Work we’re contemplating around planning for the redevelopment of the evolving Caterpillar campus, which the company has said will shrink to become primarily a manufacturing facility in coming years.

We’re just getting started on this important effort, and a proposal from Graef Consulting to potentially develop design guidelines and a site master plan for the handful of properties coming available was first discussed at our Plan Commission meeting on Monday night. I expect we’ll see a more detailed plan for potential action in early 2017.

The Business Journal and Biz Times published stories about this work today.

As the Business Journal story noted …

Caterpillar leases the campus buildings south of Rawson Avenue from real estate investor One Liberty Partners Inc., of Great Neck, N.Y. An 86,391-square-foot warehouse on 10th Avenue is on the market for lease, or possible sale, to new occupants, said Pat Hake, Colliers International/Wisconsin associate broker who is marketing the warehouse building with Steve Sewart of Colliers.

In Colliers’ marketing materials, it also says four more buildings, with a combined 429,110 square feet of office and warehouse space, could become available to new tenants in 2017 or 2018. Those include the sprawling Machine Shop building and the corporate office building at the south end of the campus near Milwaukee Avenue.

In other words, even with a significant manufacturing presence remaining in town (the good news in this scenario), much of the Cat campus south of Rawson Avenue is coming available for reuse in the next two years. While I wish things were different — I’d much rather have Cat bursting at the seams, with employment levels similar to those at the heights of mining booms — this is an opportunity for us. We need to take it, and to play a role in shaping the future of that property.

We need a holistic perspective on what we want on the bulk of the site — and, just as importantly, what we don’t want. At the same time,  we need flexibility; we can’t overplan. We will make sure to strike that balance in whatever plan we embark on.

And we will avoid the alternative: sitting by and simply waiting for something to happen with perhaps our city’s most important parcel of land, just hoping for the best.

Much more to come.

The South Milwaukee Police Department has worked hard to enhance its communications with residents.

Led by Officers Hill, Shields and Fournier, they’re now active on NextDoor.com, and they continue to share valuable crime fighting information via email alerts, where they now regularly share a list of calls for service.

To sign up for the email list, send an email to mhill@smwi.org.

This week’s update includes this item …

Please remember to lock your doors to help prevent theft. It is especially important now, with Christmas shopping, that you lock you car door doors and put packages in the trunk so they are out of view. If you purchase expensive items (TVs, computers, appliances, etc) consider not putting the boxes out at the curb, it is an advertisement as to what is inside your house. Take the boxes to the local dump to dispose of them. Also, consider having purchases shipped to your place of work, or other location where they can be received in person, rather than your home to help prevent thefts. Boxes left on doorsteps while you are at work are an easy target for theft.

I also encourage residents to sign up for Neighborhood Watch. Contact Officer Hill at hill@smwi.org for more information.

And here is the department website.

Stay safe this holiday season!

South Milwaukee lost a dedicated community servant last week, one who also left his mark on his employer, his church and the South Milwaukee Lions.

Blaine Schultz passed away at the age of 94 on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.

Here is his obituary. From it:

Blaine was an active involved citizen, serving on the South Milwaukee Redevelopment Committee, SM Street Beautification Committee, and the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee and more. He was an election proctor for 20+ years. A member of St. John Lutheran Church in Cudahy since 1959, he served there as President of the congregation, on the Board of Elders, Head of Education Building committee, the evangelism committee, taught Bible study and was a lay liturgist. He also dedicated 49 years of active membership to the South Milwaukee Lions Club where he was awarded the Birch-Strum Fellowship, Presidents Award, named a Knight of Sight, Eye Bank transport driver and was twice awarded the Lions Club’s highest honor, the Melvin Jones Award.

Services are Thursday at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cudahy, 4850 S. Lake Drive. Please join me in offering prayers for the entire Schultz family.

One thing our new city attorney, Chris Smith, has focused on in his first six months on the job: working proactively to tighten some of our city ordinances to hold would-be lawbreakers more accountable and help our police officers better do their jobs.

Proof: Two changes to our municipal code passed at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

First, the council voted 8-0 to repeal and re-create Section 24.01 of the municipal code to adopt various state offenses as violations of our municipal ordinances.

Simply put, by doing what we did, police officers will now have the option of writing a ticket for various offenses, if the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office chooses not file formal state charges. These are the offenses can now be subject to municipal ordinance violations: unauthorized presence on school grounds, reckless use of a dangerous weapon, entry into a locked vehicle or locked coin box, identify theft and forgery, and various prostitution offenses.

Without passage of these ordinance changes, people who commit these crimes could face no consequences if the DA chose not to prosecute. Not anymore.

The council also passed changes to our ordinances requiring city licensees, including bar and liquor store owners, to cooperate with law enforcement investigation, or face penalties if they don’t.

In addition, the council recently passed changes to the truancy code that will give school officials the ability to recommend that a student be issued a truancy citation before the student is considered a habitual truant. This early intervention technique will stop students from ever getting to a habitual status.

I support all of these changes — reasonable enhancements to our code that may make would-be criminals think twice about breaking the law in our fair city. I thank Chris for driving this, in partnership with our police department, applying what he’s learned from other communities in how they approach these situations.

I’m told there will be more proposed changes to come. Good.

I am thankful for so many things this holiday — family, friends, food on the table, a roof over my family’s heads.

I know it could be very different. We are blessed.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to lead this city. We’ve accomplished a lot, and there is much more to come in the days, months and years ahead. I’m excited for the future. But, for today, and every day, let’s be thankful for what we’ve done, together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s one of the most important things we do — and this year, it was perhaps the most difficult.

The South Milwaukee City Council unanimously voted to pass the 2017 city budget on Tuesday night. It’s a document that again shows our commitment to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, your money.

I shared a lot of context in a previous post. Here are the final, updated details …

• Expenditures increase 1 percent to $19.7 million.
• Revenue falls 0.8 percent to $8.95 million.
• The tax levy increases 2.3 percent to $10.76 million.
• The city tax rate increases 3 percent from $8.82 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $9.09 per $1,000. So, for my house (assessed at $160,000), that means the city portion of my tax bill will be $1,454.34, or $43.44 more than my 2015 bill.

The biggest change from the budget published last month is a 3 percent (or $88,000) increase in health insurance costs for the city — a figure that we brought down, with increased out-of-pocket costs and switching providers, from an initial 25 percent renewal. To fund the added cost, we cut from a number of areas, including $20,000 in seasonal help from the Street Department.

In the end, we found a way to work, once again, within the significant constraints put us on by the state and deliver maximum value for your tax dollar. This is getting harder and harder, and continue to make the case for legislative remedies.

Residents have come to expect a certain standard of city services, and it is my job as mayor to make sure we deliver on that expectation, while also driving innovation and efficiency around how we deliver those services. And we’re doing that.

This budget delivers on that promise.

Adding even more events to make South Milwaukee merry, highlighting the big events next weekend … hope to see you around town!

• Saturday, November 26: Downtown Tree Lighting. Meet Santa, purchase the SMCBA’s annual ornament, donate to the Human Concerns food drive and listen to live music and grade school choirs. 4-5:30 p.m., Heritage Place (10^th and Milwaukee).
• Sunday, November 27: South Milwaukee Old Fashioned Christmas
  • 1 p.m. South Milwaukee Lions Christmas Parade from 12^th and Milwaukee to City Hall.
  • After the parade at City Hall: Pictures with Santa, arts, crafts, food and more.
  • 4 p.m. Enjoy a free show by South Milwaukee High School a cappella groups Delta V and the Pop Rockets, as well as the madrigal singers, and a special guest to light the tree.
• Saturday, December 3: South Milwaukee Christmas Market. Enjoy more than 100 vendors and live music, and meet Santa.9 a.m. to 3 p.m., South Milwaukee High School, 801 15^th Ave.
• Sunday, December 4
  • Breakfast with Santa. Santa will be at Pat’s Oak Manor, 1804 15th Ave., giving out stockings for the kids. Feel free to bring your camera. Reservations please at 414-762-4660. Cost is $8.75 for adults, $5.25 for children 3-1o years and $2 for children 2 and under. Breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m.
  • Christmas Choir Concert. 4 p.m., Sts. Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, 1308 15th Ave.
• Thursday, December 8: Cantus: “We All Will be Together.” The premier men’s vocal ensemble in the U.S. comes to South Milwaukee. 7:30 p.m., South Milwaukee PAC, 901 15^th Ave.
• Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11: Ye Old Christmas Feaste. Pre-dinner music at 4, dinner (prepared by students) at 4:30 p.m., South Milwaukee High School. More details here.
• Saturday, December 10
  • Live reindeer visit and photos. 10 a.m. to noon, South Milwaukee Ace Hardware, 1009 Marquette Ave. It’s one of a variety of activities Ace has planned for the Christmas season; other activities include tree sales, a “Letters to Santa” mailbox and a giant stocking giveaway. More details here, as Ace goes all in on Christmas — I love it!
  • South Milwaukee High School’s National Honor Society presents Santa’s Workshop in the Heritage Hallway at the high school. The free event for preschool to elementary school-aged kids includes cookie decorating, ornament making, crafts and more. 9 a.m. to noon
• Sunday, December 11: Breakfast with Santa. 9 a.m., American Legion Post 27, 920 Monroe Ave.
• Thursday, December 15: South Milwaukee Library Holiday Party. 6-7:30 p.m. Family fun for all ages.

Did I miss anything? Please contact me!

South Milwaukee’s busiest downtown street, 10th Avenue, is getting 50 new trees.

From the memo by our city engineer …

As part of various public works projects starting in 2008, 54 tree grates were constructed around existing green ash trees planted circa 1988. Given the age, size and condition of the trees, and EAB, replacement has been contemplated for several years, with the exception of 2 oak trees, 2 ginkgos, and 1 maple. Removal was considered earlier this year, however the dry weather conditions hampered any planting. Asplundh Tree Expert Company was able to proceed much quicker than expected to remove trees and perform stump grinding.

A contract has been authorized with Johnson’s Nursery for installation of 50 trees within the existing tree grate locations. Seven varieties of trees have been recommended by Johnson’s. (State Street Maple, Autumn Fantasy Maple, Kentucky Coffeetree, Tuliptree, Japanese Tree Lilac, Cathedral Elm and New Horizon Elm.) …

Planting a variety of species is common practice so all trees are not affected if a disease or insect becomes prevalent (such as ash borer). Planting during the dormant period is also common practice, and trees are scheduled to be planted by the week of November 28th.

I am happy we’re able to make this investment in the look and feel of our downtown — and this investment in our urban forest.

Our current budget includes funds for continued removal of trees affected by emerald ash borer, and others that are dead or dying, and  the proposed budget — the subject of a public hearing tonight and more council debate on Tuesday — includes $25,000 to develop a plan for an improved  urban forestry program.

This downtown planting is a good start. I wonder when the last time the city planted 50 trees at once — if ever.

I never experienced this before last year, at my 40th birthday party, and now I’m hooked.

Professional wrestling is part of our proud past. Remember Da Crusher?

This continues that tradition. It’s good, clean fun. Emphasis on “fun.”

From the South Milwaukee Fire Department …

At approximately 11:01PM last evening (Nov. 17, 2016), SMFD received a 9-1-1 call from a female caller stating that her upstairs apartment was on fire and two children were trapped.  SMFD responded and, upon arrival, discovered a fire in the kitchen of an upstairs apartment at 1300 Manistique Avenue and that all occupants had evacuated the 3-family dwelling.  The fire was quickly extinguished and extensive overhaul ensued as the fire had extended into the attic of the building through an above-range exhaust fan and duct system.  As a precaution, all power was shut off to the building as the fire exposed parts of the electrical system.  The cause of the fire was accidental as the occupant left a pot of melting candle wax on an active burner as part of a candle making process that eventually ignited and caused the surrounding cabinets to ignite and extend upward into the attic area. No one was injured and the American Red Cross was contacted to assist the 10 occupants of the three apartments.

Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.

We heard you, and we’re acting. Here is the note we’re sharing on the city website and social media channels …

We appreciate your continued patience with leaf collection.

Our Street Department crews have been working as hard as they can to collect leaves, and will continue to. We are also announcing changes to help in the collection process.

• First, through the end of the year, we will be waiving the $2 usage fee for our self-deposit station for residents disposing of leaves. If you are disposing of items other than leaves, you will still have to pay the fee. There is no per-bag fee for leaf disposal.
• We are also adding crews to the process. We typically have two leaf crews out during normal hours, but we are now aiming for three when possible.
• We have also authorized overtime this weekend, with eight employees focused on leaf collection and disposal, and we will have crews working on overtime until 7 p.m. on weeknights for the time being, starting Nov. 18.
• Also, we are extending leaf pickup until the first snowfall requiring plowing, as we have done in other years. Of course, this is weather dependent, but we are committing to picking up leaves for as long as we can until snow season starts.

We hope these measures will help reduce the number of leaf piles along the streets, and make it easier for you, our taxpayers, to dispose of leaves.

We continue to make our pass through the city, meaning that each street will be processed over the next couple of weeks. With that in mind, we continue to ask that you not put new leaf piles out, as our original Nov. 15 cutoff date has passed, and we can no longer guarantee we will pick up leaves left out after that date. And please do not park on leaf piles, as this hinders collection. 

 Also, while we will continue to collect, please be aware that if a snowfall occurs requiring plowing and there are still leaves on the street, the leaves will be plowed along with the snow and end up in yards.  This cannot be avoided if the weather does not cooperate.

Again, we thank you for your patience. This is a very costly and time-intensive service that is an annual challenge to deliver. We also continue to ask you to consider to mow or mulch, when and where possible. This will reduce demand on our city crews, and it’s better for the environment.

I want to thank the Street Department for their hard work in collecting leaves so far this year. It’s hard, sometimes tedious, work.

We’ve already collected more than 27 truckloads of leaves. But there’s a lot more to go. These steps will help us get more of them, quicker.

Please note that yesterday (Tuesday, November 15) was the last day to rake leaves into the street for collection by city crews.

Please do not rake leaves into the street the rest of the fall.

Great partnership with a local business … mark your calendars!