South Milwaukee Blog

Big news for Grant Park and South Milwaukee: The beer garden is back!

The Parks Traveling Beer Garden will stop at Grant Park’s Picnic Area 5 from June 15 through July 10, putting it at the park for the city’s July 4th celebration.

There will also be a 5K tied to the stop this year — the Beer Garden 5K, set for July 7.

You can check out the full schedule here.

I’m excited to see the beer garden return, this time for nearly a month. The county tells me Grant Park was one of the more successful stops on the tour in 2015, and I’m sure it will be again this year. Mark your calendars, and let’s raise a toast to Grant Park!

Check out media coverage from WISN and Fox 6. 

I love cool events downtown. And local art. And local business.

Moran’s Pub is bringing them all together on February 13 through Sweetheart’s Art Night, a first-ever Valentine’s Day Eve celebration of local art and music presented by a new group called the South Milwaukee Art Collective.

The event begins at 7 p.m. Moran’s is located at 912 Milwaukee Ave.

You can see a full list of participating artists on the Moran’s Facebook event page.

I love the thinking behind the Art Collective, and I’m excited to learn more.

On its Facebook page, the group says its mission is “to showcase and promote local artists and musicians through the local businesses to have a positive economic impact on South Milwaukee.” James Moran and South Milwaukee artist Enrique Violetti are leading the group, which hopes to holding additional events at local businesses in coming months.

I’m hoping this is the start of something special.

I’m holding my latest Meet the Mayor session at one of my favorite local restaurants.

Join me from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Barbiere’s Italian Inn, 1021 Milwaukee Ave.

Bring your questions, comments or concerns, or just stop by, say hi and enjoy some terrific Italian food. Thanks to Matt and the gang for hosting me!

Headlines from around the South Shore …

• Planned Mosque Faces Opposition (TMJ4)
  • This version includes comments from neighbors.
  • And you can read my previous blog post for my thoughts on Masjid Al-Huda purchasing the former St. Adalbert’s property. They have not changed.
• Connects Learning Center Builds Personal Bonds With At-Risk Teens, Helps Them Graduate High School (NOW)
• Cudahy Woman Faces Homicide Charge, Accused Of Violently Shaking Infant That Later Died (Fox 6)
• Caterpillar Names First Woman To Top Ranks (Wall Street Journal)
• 16 Arrested For DUI In Milwaukee This Weekend (CBS 58)
• Woman Says Wreaths Were Stolen From Cudahy Cemetery (CBS 58)
• How Oak Creek Pulled Off The Rebirth Of A Huge, Abandoned Industrial Property (WUWM)
• Oak Creek Centennial Church Serves As Salvation Army Warming Center (NOW)

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.

Some good news for South Milwaukee and the entire South Shore in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel …

Average home sale prices increased 7.6% in South Milwaukee in 2015 from 2014 — the fifth-largest jump among Milwaukee County communities.

Prices were also up in St. Francis, Cudahy and Oak Creek, according to MLS data.

South Milwaukee’s average sale price was $137,715 in 2014.

The article states: “Increases in prices were driven in part by low inventories of homes for sale and an improving employment climate. Still-low interest rates have helped make monthly payments affordable for more consumers.”

I’d also add this: South Milwaukee is an increasingly desirable place to live. It’s my goal as mayor to make sure it stays that way.

I’m proud of what we accomplished in 2015. But it’s nothing like what we’ll deliver in the new year. Together.

Indeed, 2016 will be a watershed year for South Milwaukee. And I’m excited to help drive this positive change.

For me, it always starts downtown, and 2016 will be a critical year for the future of South Milwaukee’s city center. The work on our first-ever downtown plan will be wrapping up in the next couple of months, and then the hard work begins: bringing ideas big and small to life that will restore vitality to our central business district. I can’t wait to begin.

We’ve delivered some real momentum in 2015. We’ll build on that in 2016, and beyond.

Events will continue to be a big part of what we’re doing downtown.

I love events. They build community, business and buzz – and make South Milwaukee a great place in which to live, and visit. And we are becoming famous for them. The farmers’ market returns for its eighth outdoor season this summer, joining a growing list of terrific downtown events that have come to life in the last year, including food truck festivals, outdoor movies, trick-or-treating, and Christmas on the Avenue. And that’s just the start. From Rocketober to Heritage Days to July 4^th to Community Night Out, and many more in between, South Milwaukee will become increasingly famous for its collection of family-friendly events. And I’m quite hopeful this will be the year we bring a lighted Christmas parade to South Milwaukee. Something like this, in Manitowoc. More details soon.

We’ll also step up our economic development work when it comes attracting and retaining sustainable small businesses. The key word is “sustainable.”

We work hard every day on these efforts, and we’ve seen some real wins here in the last 15 months, with establishments like The Tap Room, MKE City Sippers, Nomi Coffee, Board Game Barrister, Ferch’s Beachside, JB’s Tee Shirt Factory and Burger King opening their doors … and longstanding businesses like DB Tax & Financial Services, Styled Aesthetic, Moran’s Pub and Ace Hardware reinforcing their commitment to South Milwaukee with plans to expand or renovate. We’ll work every day to make sure we don’t stop there. And we’ll help through an enhanced small business incentive program in the works.

We’ll also drive continued investments in our green spaces.

The upgrades to Grant Park last year will pay off big time in 2016 and beyond. Sand volleyball is returning, having Ferch’s Beachside open all summer and regular grooming will bring new life and energy to the beach. The newly resurfaced Oak Leaf Trail will attract even more users to our city, and the Sprecher Traveling Beer Garden is returning this summer, for an even longer run. Stay tuned for details.

We’ll also begin the hard and important work of revitalizing the Oak Creek watershed. The work to create a more vibrant watershed – environmentally, ecologically, recreationally – for the long term begins now. (Speaking of Oak Creek, the new Beech Street foot bridge over the creek is also complete, and it’s impressive. Check it out in the new year.)

Bringing beauty to South Milwaukee extends beyond the parks.

Our new Beautification Committee has some big plans for 2016. From targeted neighborhood beautification efforts to public plantings to holiday decorations to being a key voice on streetscaping improvements downtown, this group will make a big and visible difference in 2016.

One focus area for this group, and the city overall, is urban forestry. Tree removals have to continue, as we continue to combat emerald ash borer and deal with dead and dying trees, making up for lost time. But we have to get into the replanting business, and we will. Our new Arbor Day celebration is just the start. We’ll deliver and execute a stronger plan in 2016.

I also want to put us on the path to Tree City USA status in 2016. I’ve been coveting this for a while. It’s mostly symbolic, but it’s validation of the work we’re doing, and will do, around urban forestry. One hundred ninety-six Wisconsin communities can boast of this status, including Cudahy, Oak Creek and Franklin. I want to be No. 197.

One other initiative that looks to sprout this  year: a community garden. Growing South Milwaukee is taking root, and I’m confident you’ll see a garden in South Milwaukee in 2016. Stay tuned.

Throughout all of this, we’ll never lose site of why we’re doing every day — working our hardest to deliver to the best city services we can. My pledge in 2016: to continue to find ways to improve and innovate. One great example from 2015: the move to automated garbage collection, which has delivered a significantly more efficient, safer and cleaner service for everyone. We will continue to invest in ideas like that to make us better at what we do. We have to. In 2016, that will include everything from investments in energy efficiency to continuing to investigate partnerships with surrounding communities on services, as we look for creative ways to continue to do what is expected of us — and more.

In other words, we have lots to do. And I can’t wait.

By now, you have likely heard about what happened at Grant Park Beach last Sunday. Or you (like, more than half a million others worldwide) have seen the video.

The short story: A man has admitted to shooting a fireworks cannon containing more than 1,000 Roman candle rounds into the lake.

We first heard about this yesterday, once the video began to go viral, and our police department quickly tracked down the man, who now lives in Texas. We told him we’d be issuing a $315 fine for shooting off fireworks in the park. We have since decided not to issue a citation.

The police department has issued this release …

On January 6, 2016, SMPD was alerted to a Facebook video in which a subject is shown shooting numerous fireworks, from a homemade “fireworks gun” over Lake Michigan, in Grant Park, on January 3, 2016.

A 24 year old man, already considered a suspect by SMPD, later admitted to being the person in the video who shot off the fireworks. He stated he was embarrassed and apologized for the incident.  A records check showed the young man to have no prior criminal record.

It has been decided that no enforcement action will be taken against the young man.

The South Milwaukee Police Department does not condone this behavior. What occurred was dangerous to all involved.

This case is closed.

I stand behind their decision 100%.

While the video is pretty shocking — shocking enough to warrant significant coverage in the Daily Mail in London, England, where I first saw it on a Google News Alert — since no one was hurt and there was no damage, and given the response of the man involved, no citation is warranted.

I also initially thought we should issue a ticket. I’ve changed my mind on this.

I thank the police department for their work in this case, and for keeping us safe every day. This incident was very dangerous, and could have easily had a very bad and tragic outcome. We’re lucky it didn’t.