South Milwaukee Blog

As I wrote about yesterday, the South Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of $968,000 in taxable general obligation promissory notes for water system improvements and expenses.

In plainer language, the city is borrowing the money from Tri-City National Bank to help the South Milwaukee Water Utility fund operations, upcoming bond payments and minor infrastructure needs. The utility will then pay the city back through revenues from utility users — you and me — allowing the city to repay the loan by 2013 … hopefully even sooner.

So, why the need for the cash infusion? A number of factors are at play here, but the two biggest drivers are an overall and continuing decline in water usage — including a major reduction by Bucyrus International, the city’s largest single water user — and costs associated with its recent plant upgrades.

And what does this mean for you?  Unfortunately, you can expect a large rate increase in coming months to help pay for the loan repayments and to make up for the utility’s declining revenues. I’ll keep you posted on that, once the increase goes to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission for review.

While I wish the city, and the utility, weren’t in this position, we are. And we’re dealing with it as best we can … ensuring that our our water utility remains vibrant and a real South Milwaukee strength.

It was a busy Common Council meeting on Tuesday night, and here’s a quick rundown of what went down.

• The meeting started with an uplifting South Milwaukee Police Department awards ceremony, where Chief Ann Wellens honored officers and citizens for their work in combating crime and saving lives in our city. I’ll have more to post on these stories in coming days.
• The Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of $968,000 in taxable general obligation promissory notes for water system improvements and expenses. I plan on posting more on this on Thursday, so stay tuned.
• The Council also approved, 4-3, increases to several of its fees, including those for bartenders and amusement devices. I voted no on this because the resolution also included a requirement that bars and restaurants obtain a separate $100 annual permit for outdoor seating and beer gardens. I support the fee as it relates to beer gardens, which will essentially act as smoking areas for bars once the statewide smoking ban takes effect in July. This fee will cover the cost of inspecting these beer gardens and the added costs of patrolling them by our police department. Again, I am fine with this part of it. I voted “no” on the ordinance, however, because I disagree with putting the same fee on restaurant owners. Simply, I don’t want to make it more difficult for places like Azteca, Nona’s and the Madison Avenue Market to have cool outdoor dining this summer. And a $100 fee for essentially putting a few tables outside of their front doors is unnecessary — and not business-friendly.
• We approved a South Milwaukee Yacht Club project to add a new travel lift well. Learn more in my previous post on this topic.

We’re also discussing tightening our ordinances when it comes to check cashing businesses and portable storage containers. Stay tuned on that one.

And I’ll close with some good news. We also learned at the council meeting that Moody’s recently “recalibrated” all of its municipal ratings, resulting in new (and better) bond ratings for many communities. South Milwaukee is a major beneficiary of this. Without changing anything on our end, the city now has a Aa2 rating, two steps up from our already strong A1 rating and just two steps below a “best of the best” AAA rating.

The end result of this? We can borrow money at lower interest rates — about a half a percent lower in most cases, simply because of the recalibration.

Being in this position at all is a major testimony to the work of our city administrator, staff and department heads — working in conjunction with elected officials — to keep South Milwaukee fiscally strong and well positioned for the future. Thanks to everyone.

The South Milwaukee Yacht Club is getting a major lift — literally and figuratively — for its 60th anniversary.

The Common Council on Tuesday gave the g0-ahead to the organization to construct a travel lift well for the launch and haul-out of vessels, pursuant to the terms of the lease agreement with the city.

The more than $120,000 project will be a major boost for the club, which currently contracts out to a crane operator to put in and take out boats each season. According to a note from Commodore Tom Schulz: “Having the ability to perform this task in-house would greatly enhance the marketability of our organization and help maintain a sustainable operation for another 60 years.”

The lift well will truly set the club apart from from others in the area and make South Milwaukee a “harbor of refuge” between the South Shore and Racine, Tom said. It will also provide another revenue source for the club — $12,500 per year, in addition to eliminating the $9,500 cost paid to outside contractors to perform the lifting service — and lengthen the boating season for members.

“This brings us to a whole other level,” Tom told the Public Works and Public Property Committee.

The reason the Yacht Club needs city approval is that it leases the property from the city, with a series of five-year termination clauses. The next comes around in 2013. Learn more about the SMYC, and access its newsletter, at its website.

This Journal Sentinel story, quoting state Rep. Mark Honadel of South Milwaukee, is the first time I’ve actually seen someone say the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is indeed moving ahead with Drexel interchange at Interstate 94.

From the online article:

Honadel said a Wisconsin Department of Transportation official told him Wednesday that the department will soon begin the process of acquiring land that will be needed for the interchange, which would be built in 2012.

“I am just stoked up to no end because it’s going to be good for the region,” he said. “The potential is awesome.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Here are a few headlines you may be interested in …

• Another Retail Center OK’d Along Howell Avenue
• St. Francis Agenda Gets to the Point: ‘Ugly Fences’
• Oak Creek Library Might Buy Gear That Blocks Cell Phones
• Mitchell Sets a Single-Month Record for Passenger Traffic

The story and video on WISN.com contain interviews with state Sen. Jeff Plale and state Rep. Mark Honadel — and potentially impacted Oak Creek homeowners — about the project.

Check it out here.

While it’s a nice in-depth story on the project, I guess I’d like to see official confirmation from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, however, before I fully accept that the interchange is a reality.

The South Milwaukee Water Utility and the engineering firm responsible for the utility’s recent filtration system improvements have received a prestigious award for the project.

From the Sheboygan Press story:

A Best of State Award was presented to Donohue and the South Milwaukee Water Utility for an upgrade to the utility’s water treatment plant. The Utility has one of the oldest water treatment plants along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Donohue designed a conversion of its existing sand filtration process to a modern ultra-filtration pressurized membrane system, the first of its kind in the state.

A creative design layout made extensive use of existing buildings, as all new systems were placed within the confines of the existing footprint. The construction cost for a typical membrane water filtration plant is $2 to $3 per gallon of water treated, but through Donohue’s creative reuse of existing facilities, the South Milwaukee project cost approximately $1.40 per gallon. The system has the capacity to treat 6 million gallons per day.

From the press release on the Donohue website:

Also of note is the complex construction sequencing that allowed the plant to continuously treat water while the facilities underwent a complete transformation during construction.

Douglas Fischer, South Milwaukee Water Utility Superintendent, summed up his thoughts on this project by stating, “Our new facilities are working great and the water quality is amazing. Donohue’s creative solutions to the design and construction challenges posed by the project constraints made this possible.”

Congratulations to the Water Utility And Donohue for a job very well done!

The Franklin Common Council — with the deciding vote cast by the mayor — on Saturday paved the way for construction of a Drexel Avenue interchange at Interstate 94 by approving $500,000 in spending linked to the project.

From the Journal Sentinel story …

The council agreed to spend the money on lighting on Franklin’s stretch of S. 27th St. The state said if Franklin picked up more of the cost of lighting, it would count toward the city’s contribution to fund the interchange.

With Oak Creek already deciding to kick in $4.4 million and Northwestern Mutual another $1.6 by the May 1 deadline from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, it looks like the Drexel project is a go.

That’s great news for South Milwaukee, which gets another access point for those who already live and do business here and, more importantly, those who might be considering coming to our city.

A strong transportation system is just the price of entry when it comes to competing for economic development, and we’re making strides in this area. Now, if we could only get those KRM commuter trains rolling and Lake Parkway extended …

The Franklin Common Council is meeting Saturday morning to discuss the proposed Drexel interchange.

So reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Here’s hoping a funding solution is found for this worthwhile project.

And while they’re meeting, I’ll be marching in the Little League parade. Be sure to wave!

So, the Interstate 94 interchange at Drexel is in doubt again … and plans may not accelerate unless the state or other local governments step up with increased funding.

At first glance, that seems like a dead-end proposal.

From the story in Thursday’s Daily Reporter:

Franklin officials are seeking help from the state or other cities as they face a Saturday deadline to get $500,000 for the Drexel Avenue interchange.

Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor and members of the city’s Common Council said they want the Interstate 94 interchange built but refuse to spend local taxes on the project, which is east of the city’s border with Oak Creek. The state is requiring local governments to pay half of the project’s $12.9 million budget.

In an effort to keep negotiations between Franklin and Oak Creek open, Taylor is offering to spend $350,000 on the project if Oak Creek agrees to widen Drexel Avenue from two to four lanes. Franklin’s Common Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to keep the offer on the table and continue negotiating with Oak Creek.

Taylor called on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to pay for the project itself, or for other local communities to help pay the remaining $500,000.

“If the city of South Milwaukee or others are going to benefit from this,” Taylor said, “there is room for them to contribute.”

But should we? I’d be interested to know what my readers think on this.

The benefits to South Milwaukee would be real, as a Drexel interchange at I-94 provides another freeway access point for existing residents and businesses … and, more importantly, residents and businesses looking to move here.

How much is that worth? It’s hard to tell for certain, but there is a value there.

I campaigned for alderman on a simple slogan: “Let’s invest in our city, not just spend.”

Is this an investment worthy of consideration for South Milwaukee? Post your comments below.

Here are a few headlines from the area you may be interested in …

• Drexel Interchange Project Hinges on New Deal (Daily Reporter)
• Eyewitness to Shooting of Suspect: ‘He Was Going to Run the Other Officer Over’ (Racine Journal-Times)
• Two Cudahy Students Arrested in Oxycodone Case (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The South Milwaukee Little League program is a point of pride for our community, a real treasure.

See why this Saturday with the league’s annual opening day festivities.

The day begins at noon with a parade through downtown to the Little League complex at 700 Mackinac Ave. Once you’re there, enjoy a brief ceremony, concessions, souvenirs, giveaways, raffles and, oh yeah, baseball. Games start at 1:30 p.m.

Learn more in this story at South Milwaukee NOW.

Also check out the eteamz South Milwaukee Little League page here and the Little League’s Facebook page.

So, Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman is upset that Northwestern Mutual would dare pledge money towards construction of a freeway interchange that would benefit hundreds of workers at its expansive Franklin facility.

“Outraged” is how the headline on WISN.com put it. Here’s his quote:

“So here you have a Milwaukee-based company, Northwestern Mutual Life, investing in an interchange in the suburbs which will harm their home city. If they have an extra $1.6 million laying around that they can use to fund an interchange on I-94 at Drexel Avenue, we have projects in downtown Milwaukee which could use a similar investment of $1.6 million and we’d be very, very happy to have it.”

Wow — so much for regionalism. When did this become a turf war, anyway? And how in the world does investing in this interchange “harm” Milwaukee? It doesn’t.

I argue that the proposed interchange at Drexel — which got a major boost with a funding commitment from the Oak Creek City Council Monday night — is a good project for not only Northwestern Mutual, but the whole area.

We hear all the time about the importance of improving our transportation infrastructure, especially our roads. This does it, while also making it a bit easier to live, work and play in the South Shore.

Oak Creek Mayor Dick Bolender put it best: “I feel very badly that this alderman feels that way in regards to the suburbs. I feel bad Milwaukee’s not getting things we are. But I also feel that interchange will not only benefit Oak Creek but also South Milwaukee because they use Drexel Avenue to come to the west. It’ll also benefit Franklin.”

In other words, this is a win-win. No matter what one Milwaukee alderman says.

One of the crazier police chases you’ll ever see ended with Oak Creek police shooting and killing a man suspected in several burglaries.

The Journal Sentinel has the full story. From the story:

Oak Creek police officers shot and killed a 48-year-old man Monday morning after the man crashed his car into a building while leading police on a chase, then jumped into the driver’s seat of an unoccupied police SUV and struck an officer with the vehicle, police officials said.

Police identified the man Monday night as Johnny Harris of Racine.

Joshua Wollinger, the man charged in the stabbing death of a South Milwaukee man on Sunday evening, had his initial court appearance on Friday.

Here are a few details that emerged courtesy of CCAP, the state’s online court access system:

• The court found probable cause to hold Wollinger, 1011 Milwaukee Avenue #3, over for further proceedings.
• Cash bond was set at $100,000.
• The case was assigned to Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kevin Martens.
• A preliminary hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. on May 3.
• Wollinger is indigent and will be represented by a public defender.