Germantown Firm Featured...

Creative Lighting Design & Engineering has a string of important projects going.  The most recent project was done for Milwaukee County in the rehabilitation of the Domes.  The newly installed lighting will be unveiled in early-November when the Domes are rededicated.  Marty Peck is the force behind the firm that has also done recent work for Potawatomi Bingo Casino and the Wisconsin Club.

Congratulations!

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Mequon Road & Pilgrim Road Intersection Work...

A reader asked what was going on with this intersection and Dave Schornack, Village Administrator, advised that the village is having water main repairs done following the three major breaks that occurred in that area last year.  Interestingly, to me at least, is that they are working to bore through the area rather than to create an open ditch.  I don't recall ever seeing that approach used before unless I saw it and didn't know what was happening.

Schornack reports that another two to three weeks will probably be required for completion.  So the work should be done easily before the real snow begins to fly.

The intersection is a bit convoluted now but slower speeds and extra attentiveness should get us through this without major issues.

Guest Blog - Pete Hoell, Vice President, Germantown Kiwanis

"I am currently a member of the Germantown Kiwanis group and we are in the process of investigating a community project.  As a Kiwanis organization, our primary goal is to support children through grants for activities and projects, scholarships, donations for children's programs and other miscellaneous children's activities.

Some of you may be familiar with Kiwanis as our primary fundraiser is the July 4th Festivities here in Germantown.

The project we are now investigating is to raise funds and finance the construction of a band shell at one of our fine parks.  Possibly at Fireman's Park to enhance the July 4th event and many other events in the park.

We do understand that there are other groups in the community who are working on projects like a Performing Arts Center and a Community Pool.  By Kiwanis choosing a band shell, that does not mean we feel these other projects are any less important.  We do feel however that the band shell project is much smaller in scale and could also be a great venue for the other groups to host fundraisers for the other fine community projects.

We are in the investigative stages of this project and would like to know how the community feels about a band shell.  For the interest of being brief for this blog, I'll refrain from listing all the benefits we have identified.  But to name just a few, the band shell could become a destination for music and other performing arts entertainment.  It will provide children an opportunity to share their talents and to entertain our community and its visitors.

While we are on the topic of the Germantown Kiwanis, we are always looking for new members.  The only requirement to become a member is the desire to help kids.  If you are interested in becoming a Kiwanis member, call the Kiwanis/July 4th phone at 262-424-4457 for more details.

Pete Hoell, Vice President, Germantown Kiwanis"

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Thanks Pete.  I encourage readers to make comments to help the Kiwanis determine your feelings.  Obviously, their projects are funded without taxpayer dollars.

Public Safety Committee meeting...

This committee meeting was called to order last evening by Chair Dean Wolter with Trustee Werdering absent due to vacation.  Trustees Ewert and Vanderheiden were present.

Among the items discussed were these:

The Fire Department presented its proposal for the purchase of 28 new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units.  These would replace the old units that are now comprised of units with seven different safety devices that can be confusing for firefighters.  The new units are equipped with new masks that feature a 'heads up display" (HUD) that permits the firefighter to glance at the bottom of his or her sight line to see the minutes of air remaining, will provide for uniformity to enhance training and that permit computerized overviews of firefighter locations in fire situations.  These units come with a price tag of $116,973.50.  The committee unanimously approved forwarding this proposal to the Village Board with a recommendation for approval.

Additionally, four new hydraulic cots and stair chairs that are much improved over the old units that have been causing injury to firefighters in some situations were discussed and approved for forwarding to the Village Board with a positive recommendation.

The upshot in all this is that an ambulance that had earlier been included in budget numbers at a cost of some $185,000 was agreed to be dropped so that these items (with a cost totaling some $173,000) could be recommended to the Board for approval.  The Village has four ambulances with the oldest being about 5 to 6 years and all are deemed to be serviceable.  This discussion actually began a year or more ago according to my recollection and was finally brought forward for action.

Preliminary discussions involving budgets for the coming year were conducted by Police Department and Fire Department personnel.

A proposed ordinance regarding student use of electronic communication devices that have been forbidden during school hours was passed to the Board with a recommendation for approval.  This would result in violations being written up and with fines in the area of $90 being assessed.  There is believed to be a need for something beyond the school regulations that seem to be disregarded in some instances.

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Sendik's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony...

Invitations have been sent to Trustees and others by the Balistreri Family to celebrate the opening of their Sendik's Food Market on September 4th at 9:30AM.

There will be several speakers including the developer and Sendik's representatives.  Also included are several state and local politicians and the head of the local Chamber.  I didn't see Trustees from the district that includes the new market included, nor were there any Washington County Supervisors from our community included.  Senator Darling was included on the speaker's list but Rep. Jeskewitz' name was not included.  President Tom Kempinski and Trustee Dean Wolter were on the speakers list, as well.

It is great to see the new store opening when it said it would.  Competition is a good thing.

Apparently there is a private, invitation only, affair being held the night before.  My invitation must be in the mail :)

Wal-Mart Security System...

Wal-Mart is installing a fairly elaborate ADT security system in its parking lots today.  There appear to be multiple cameras on multiple poles that will effectively 'see' everything in the parking areas. 

I suspect this may have been prompted by the fairly recent series of attacks on women who were either entering or leaving their vehicles.  There certainly could be other reasons behind this, as well.  It has become fairly common to hear of shop lifters being apprehended and this certainly won't harm that process.

Whatever is/was the reason for the decision, I suspect that mostly only the 'bad guys' will find this objectionable.  I know there are some who believe that all these security devices are a threat to our individual freedoms.  We can be 'seen' as we travel on expressways, we can be 'seen' as we pass through various intersections, we can be 'seen' by security systems both inside and, now, outside retail establishments.

While this kind of information could be used improperly, I have, so far at any rate, faith in our system.  I prefer that our authorities have more rather than less data at their disposal in order to catch 'bad guys'.  We read of the benefits to society on a very regular basis.

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Germantown Community Library...

Kudos to the fine folks at our library who always treat me in a most courteous and pleasant manner.  I only recently 'discovered' that I could read as much as I liked without having to spend untold hundreds of dollars to satisfy my craving for more and more books.

This is, of course, my better half's fault since she encouraged me to try 'fiction' instead of all the dull non-fiction stuff I had been reading most of my adult life.

My regular visits are always rewarded with a smile and a nice word or two.