I received several emails that provided some additional information and thoughts on the subject of the intersection at Mequon and Wausaukee Roads at the very east edge of the village.

Trustee Wolter was kind enough to send an email covering a meeting held at the Germantown Library on Thursday afternoon, April 24th.  The City of Mequon and Village of Germantown were represented, Senator Darling and Representatives Ott and Jeskewitz attended and several Department of Transportation representatives were present.

The topic was the intersection in question and DOT was seeking a 'compromise' for the signalization of the intersection.  The plan that was in process of implementation at that time was for two straight through lanes, dedicated left turn lanes with islands, and dedicated right turn lanes on Mequon with a single straight through lane traveling north and south on Wausaukee Road.

City of Mequon officials thought this was 'overkill' since they consider the area to be rural, and their planning supports that it will remain rural in their eyes.  They preferred the roundabout solution and were pushing for that as the outcome of this meeting.  Germantown officials wanted the intersection to stay as the DOT had designed and based this on the increased traffic due to Waste Management trucks and the increase in auto traffic east and west during weekday commute periods.  They also foresaw an increase in traffic as building in TIF 4 increased.  The DOT was looking out 20 years so far as design and capacity.

The 'compromise' that came from this meeting was this: a single straight through lane east and west on Mequon along with dedicated left hand and right hand turn lanes while Wausaukee stayed as designed with a single lane in both directions.  The provision was that something might need to be rebuilt if traffic projections were to be reached in the next ten years.

Conversations I have had indicate that some are concerned about the village being required to pick up the future cost while the DOT is now paying 100% of the costs for the construction.  Others have voiced the opinion that a roundabout was their preference, as well, and cited the thought that we may have been able to forego all construction if enforcement were to be stepped up in that area.  Still others questioned the need for any change suggesting that there were single digit accidents per year from their observations.

So, there is apparently a compromise in place. Maybe this will stay in place since all the 'official' parties were at this table.  As is customary, some of the 'unofficial' parties will continue to disagree.  That is among the reasons we hold elections every few years.

President Kempinski has made his committee assignments for the coming year and the Board has approved those assignments.

Notable, and laudable, is the fact that Trustee Langer is no longer Chair of the Public Safety Committee and does not sit on that committee any longer.  Given Trustee Langer's former role as a POC firefighter for the Germantown department, this removes any appearance that might have suggested a personal agenda present in decisions made on that committee.

President Kempinski is to be thanked for this action to assure good governance and to reassure the community at large that local affairs will be decided without obvious biases. 

The new Chairman is Trustee Dean Wolter and the committee has a new member in the person of Trustee Jeff Werderman, newly elected as a trustee.

This committee deals with serious issues that affect our public safety: the police and fire departments and public safety in general.  These are among the most visible services provided by Germantown for its citizens, and are certainly among those services that impact life itself more than most other village functions.  Our firefighters and EMTs and our police officers are, in my opinion, doing a great job.  If there are ways in which the two departments might be improved, Trustee Wolter will likely work in those directions.  His service to this point has been very solid and there is no reason to believe that will change during this term in office.

Again, thanks to President Kempinski for this decision.

The Journal Sentinel reported this morning that the two suspects, aged 23 and 22, in the robbery of the Guaranty Bank branch in the Germantown Pick 'n Save are nicely ensconced in the Washington County Jail.

This whole incident showcases the cooperation and professionalism of both the Germantown Police Department and the Menomonee Falls Police Department.  Germantown's Police Chief Pete Hoell said that in his posting to my earlier Blog on the idea of banks in stores.  And, during an entirely unrelated meeting with Menomonee Falls Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald this morning, he mentioned the same thing about the two Departments.  Both communities have every right to be proud, and we all can feel very safe knowing that this level of inter-Departmental cooperation will exist in every similar occurrence in the future.

This also showcases just how dumb criminals can be.  The two were room mates in a Falls apartment.  Each was spending the 'loot' within less than an hour of the robbery, and one was caught on tape doing so at the Wal-Mart on Appleton Avenue in Germantown.  One, the driver, was arrested at the apartment just under one and one-half hours after the robbery.  The other was arrested at the same apartment some fourteen hours after the robbery and after the apprehension of his 'roomie'.  Darwin could have done an entire study with these two suspects.

The robber has been implicated in the January 30th robbery of another Guaranty Bank branch in the Falls Pick 'n Save; police also suspect that he may be tied to one or more earlier bank hold-ups.

Still, I have concerns about bank branches inside stores with little or no physical separation between the bank and the other facilities.  It simply seems to beg for serious consequences at some point or another in the future.  The teller was reported as saying she feared there was a gun in the robber's left hand pocket since he kept that hand in his pocket and since his note suggested that he was armed.  If he were to have 'flipped' imagine the things we might be discussing today.