Fire Department Discussion...

The Village Buzz of January 6th concerning the Christmas day fire has drawn some intense response.  There is more to the story and I learned that from others yesterday.  I have agreed with village officials to wait until later today to post that information.

It will most likely be somewhat in conflict with the original information I received from another individual and I believe it important to print the 'official' version of this incident.

Please stay tuned.

Fire Department Staffing Question...

I received an e-mail from a concerned citizen (whom I know, who has no axe to grind and who isn't a 'crackpot' in any way) yesterday who raised the question as to whether we might be at the point where we needed to add to our full-time firefighter staffing numbers.  He was talking about the Christmas day fire and his e-mail read like this:

"I can't believe that our Village leaders will not provide us with full-time fire protection.  We have many dedicated on-call firefighters upon whom we rely for protection, however, on that Christmas day fire were 3 people who showed up on the 1st truck that went out, and they had to pull an EMT person from the ambulance to be the 2nd person on the other truck that went to the fire.  So Germantown had 4 firefighters at the fire and had to rely on mutual aid from surrounding communities.  As a result, the home sustained a lot of damage.

I think its time to really push the Village to upgrade the paid fulltime fire positions.  As our community has grown, we have seen the increased tax dollars gladly taken in, but not spent on the essential services like fire and police protection, and improved roads."

I recall having broached this subject some months ago with nothing much coming from it at that time.

What are the thoughts from those in the community?  Is it time for this subject to be aired fully?  Are you willing to see some of your tax dollars put to this use?

Wow!  It's Snowing Again (Still)...

The last prognostication I heard from the weather professionals this morning indicated that we could have another foot of snow between now and Christmas.

I visited with Dave Schornack, Village Administrator, yesterday on another subject and he mentioned that Germantown had burned 1,200 gallons of fuel just on snow clearing over the past week-end.  That also required that our village crew members were on the job for sixteen straight hours at one point.

Dave did mention that as soon as there was a sufficient break in snow falling, the village will begin to haul the accumulated snow banks away to make room for more.  It doesn't sound very promising for that activity in the next few days.

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Property Tax Bills...

That reminded me that I had planned to mention our community tax bills.

My property taxes, in total, increased $5 year over year.  I can live with that quite nicely, thank you!  There is a growing interest within Wisconsin to see the property tax system relieved of the ever-increasing pressure felt by property owners.  Among other things, that would see increases in sales taxes and in numerous fees.

An organization called Wisconsin Way has presented its plan for accomplishing this and we'll likely write about that plan in coming weeks.

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Winter Safety...

The snow that is costing us all money for road maintenance has more serious effects.

First, the rate of accidents, most relatively minor thank goodness, has increased even after we've gotten the 'hang' of winter driving.  The powdery dry snow falling this morning on top of snow-packed streets has certainly made for slick streets.

The huge piles of snow that have accumulated are making our intersections more hazardous and causing youngsters out enjoying winter to be more difficult to see.  We really need to adjust our driving habits and our driving speeds around the community to preclude loss of life in addition to damage to and loss of property.

Sendik's Food Market 60 Days Later...

I have yet to encounter a Sendik's associate who wasn't happy to be there and who wasn't happy to help me.

I have noted that the facility remains bright and cheery with a very clean floor, which I thought might be problematic given carpeting.  Winter will be a bigger challenge.  Shelves are always fully stocked; delicious samples are scattered throughout the store.

I don't know about you, but I am happy Sendik's selected Germantown as the site for one of their beautiful grocery facilities.

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Veterans Day 2008...

Remember that the 2008 Veterans Day ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial at the corner of Freistadt Road and Park Avenue on Sunday, November 9th at 10:30AM.  If you've not seen the memorial, it is worth your time.

A little history...

Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day when proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson for November 11, 1919 to celebrate all veterans of World War I.  It finally became known as Veterans Day on November 8, 1954 when Congress amended the act to change the name and to have the day honor all veterans who have served their country.  The President was Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The American Legion will also conduct a flag disposal ceremony following the program so that you can properly dispose of any torn, tattered and/or faded American Flag you may have.

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County Supervisors Cut Property Tax Levy...

The supervisors agreed to take half of the county's sales tax revenue into the operating budget for 2009.

Unfortunately, this budget cuts the $35,000 for the County Convention and Visitors Bureau and cuts $15,000 from the Fair Park.  The Village of Germantown is working to assist the Convention and Visitors Bureau since it receives significant promotion from that organization and felt that the funding cut by the county would have consequences for the community and its merchants.

The county set a 2009 tax rate of $2.71 per $1,000 which is down about $0.10 per $1,000 from this year.

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SRO Officer In Schools...

I had the pleasure of meeting SRO Tim Miller during the Citizen Police Academy session this past Wednesday evening.  He gave us an overview of his duties in the schools and discussed the changes that have been brought about since this program was initiated.  "SRO" means School Resource Officer.  The SRO is a sworn officer and funding for this position is paid jointly by the school district and the police department on a 75%-25% ratio, respectively.

Our high school is a much quieter place of learning than before the initiation of this program several years ago.  Student fights seldom occur now; the SRO has formed relationships that help both students and administration.  And, students develop, I suspect, a much different view of police officers having had this experience.  The SRO is available for class instruction whenever the subject matter entails.  SRO Miller, in this case, can 'tell it like it is' during driver education and health classes, for example.

This strikes me as a very good use of taxpayer dollars that provides both a current payback as well as future benefits.

Remodeled & Expanded Senior Center...

I had the opportunity to visit the newly completed Senior Center yesterday and was very impressed with the facility and the people involved.  The Open House ran from 1:00PM to 4:00PM and we arrived at about 3:20PM and were met with a very full parking lot and with parking available only on the street.  I don't have any idea of the actual number of folks who were present but I'd suspect it was somewhere in the 200+ range.

The Center has just about everything you could imagine for such a building including a new kitchen that can accommodate many cooks and many varieties of food simultaneously.  There are special rooms for exercise, a library, a computer lab, places to sit and visit, rooms for recreational activities, and great equipment available along with instructions on its proper use, especially for the older folks.

The newsletter detailed a wealth of activities on a daily, weekly and monthly basis with several special trips and outings.  The meals program had a wonderful selection of foods daily and I can see where many would gravitate here for both the food and the friendship. 

I know that there has been some animosity over the fact that the village didn't put the expansion of this Center on any referendum, especially as our community has been involved in the debate over a new elementary school building, and that the building expansion and modernization was done through bond issues to borrow the money.

I admit to being a "senior" although this was my first visit to the senior facility and I do not expect to become a member or use it on a regular basis for some time to come.

Our population is aging and the 'baby boomer' generation is retiring and will swell the ranks of retirees very quickly and to quite a degree.  We seniors are living longer today than ever before.  So, there will be a very significant need for what this center has and it is good, I think, that the community has had the foresight to attack the issue sooner rather than later.

That doesn't mean that we can overlook the other needs that exist, and the school referenda items will be there when we all go to vote on November 4th.

That having been said, I think the community should be proud of the Senior Center.  The ongoing budget needs should be scrutinized thoroughly, however, since there can be no 'sacred cows' in the current environment.

Perplexing Situation...

I have been struggling over the issues involved in the case of the alleged sexual harassment that was reported by Tom Kertscher, the resolution passed by the Village Board in unanimous support of Village President Kempinski, the budgeting process and the general cloud that hovers over some village workers.

It is true that the woman who made the accusations has not filed a formal complaint, at least so far as the public knows, and that may well be a necessary precursor before any other action could be considered.  I am not an attorney and do not profess to know the answer to my question.  If someone does, please comment.

It is true that the board has publicly resolved that it supports the president.

It is true, if the memo is to be believed, that the woman involved has stated that she simply wants to be left alone to do her job.

It is true that the village is involved in developing its budget for the coming year.

My problems are these:

Would the village and the president be sued by the woman who made the allegations if her position were to be adversely affected by the budget process as she has stated would be the case?  If so, is she, in effect, holding the budgetary process hostage?  Does that also transfer over to her job performance?  If so, is she now assured a position no matter the financial or performance questions that may exist?  If performance questions were to be raised, can she legitimately claim that her performance has been adversely affected by the harassment that she alleged? 

The identity of the woman has not been made public.  How do the other women working for the village feel about the notoriety that has been brought on them because they are women and might be viewed by some in the general public as possibly being the person who made the allegations? 

We have a 'she said' - 'he said' - 'they said' conundrum going on and it seems that simply hoping it will go away is fraught with problems.

Does that approach deal with the problem or simply delay the fact that it may have to be dealt with?

Do the citizens simply ignore the allegations and trust that the 'solution' so far revealed has been sufficient in this case?  Again, we are not privy to whatever process may have been used behind closed doors to bring this situation to the point it has reached. 

If there is no truth to the allegations, will the person making the complaint still be able to work in the same environment and be effective.  If there is no truth to the allegations, will the president still be an effective representative of the people or does he risk having been somehow compromised in this process?

I do not know if there is a good answer to all the questions.  I do think the questions are valid.

No matter how long nor how often I've pondered this set of questions, I have continued to arrive at the same position.

Toothpaste cannot be put back into the tube no matter if the squeezing of the tube was an accident or was intentional.  There may be no truth to the allegations made by this woman, as the board seems to believe, but the allegations were made nonetheless.  That toothpaste is out of the tube.  I cannot help but believe that her relationship with other employees has been affected whether rightly or wrongly, and I cannot help but presume this will never be something that doesn't have an effect on relationships.

For example, a male employee would have to think that he might be putting himself at risk if he were to meet alone with this woman if that were ever required.  Female employees could harbor a grudge as the result that would threaten to affect the overall harmonious environment in the building.

I believe that the village should be looking at some kind of termination buy-out that would help the woman through the process of finding other employment and that would bind the woman to making no other allegations or threats of suits against the village. 

I understand that this Blog will probably be something akin to a 'lightening rod' but I believe there is a very real problem needing resolution without any profession of guilt or innocence.  At this point, I don't care about innocence or guilt; I do care about the tenuous position the village could find itself occupying if something such as this isn't done.

I do not believe the current 'fix' is a lasting fix for the reasons I've discussed earlier in this piece. 

SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS...

JSOnline today carries an article by Tom Kertscher that begins, at least, to answer some questions that have been swirling in my mind for several weeks.  Rumors have been 'on the streets' since early-September to the effect that there had been turmoil within Village Hall.  This article points to a memorandum, written by Village Administrator Dave Schornack, that points to allegations by a village employee concerning sexual harassment supposedly involving Village President Tom Kempinski.

It seems there was sufficient impact in the allegations to warrant a special meeting of the Village Board on September 22nd, although that is supposition based on timing and the purpose declared for the 'closed meeting' being matters involving personnel.

The memo apparently indicates that the employee alleges her being tasked with personal work for Mr. Kempinski that included helping him apply for jobs.  All this supposedly happened on village time using village assets.

Forget, for the moment, that there were also supposedly sexual harassment elements included in the complaints made by the employee.  The simple accusation of the use of village employees for personal services on village time is sufficiently serious so as to warrant an open investigation.

There have been other suggestions of personal and/or non-village activities performed by staff on behalf of Mr. Kempinski.  One of these allegations centered on the Leadership Germantown project of Kempinski's that saw the Farmer's Market moved to The Livery in Rockfield.  That supposedly consumed some village employee time and materials.  The metal signage created to point people to The Livery was supposedly made by village employees using village equipment.

Individual allegations can usually be dismissed but the appearance of more than one or two such instances begs a public review.

Among the questions that arise is this:  If there was sufficient apparent substance to warrant the memo from Mr. Schornack, and he apparently felt that to be the case, and if there are other supposed situations where village resources were deployed on behalf of an individual, what else is there to be found in a detailed public audit?

If, as I suspect, some seek the resignation of Mr. Kempinski, the audit should be made anyway.  Citizens have a right to know about these allegations in light of this article and the disclosure of the memorandum that prompted it.

Becca Murray Proclamation...

Germantown's own Gold Medal Olympian, Becca Murray was honored by the Village Board last evening with a Proclamation lauding her accomplishments.  Unfortunately, she was back on campus at Whitewater to get re-oriented and back in that swing after her globe-trotting, but she will cherish this I'm sure.

Super Job, Becca!!

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Robin Norton Commendation...

Robin Norton was awarded a Commendation recognizing her ten years of contributions to our community in her EMT role with the Germantown Fire Department.

We have many unsung heroes and it is nice when one or more can be given a bit of the spotlight.

Thanks Robin!!

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IDL Solutions Lands Huge Contract...

The Small Business Times reported today that Germantown-based IDL Solutions Inc. has been informed that it won a $2.5 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  IDL is the lead partner in a joint venture with another firm, Pragmatics Inc.

The contract involves a 10-year effort in Information & Computing Technologies for the 21st Century.  The team will provide a broad range of IT infrastructure management and support services.  IDL has fewer than 50 employees in its Germantown headquarters and will be hiring although the exact location of those new hires is unknown at this time.  IDL also has offices in Vienna, VA.

The IDL-Pragmatics team has numerous sub-contractors in the joint venture company called IDL-Pragmatics Innovation Partners JV.

Let's hope that a large number of the new hires come to Germantown!

Germantown Police Department Building Follow-Up...

Several readers requested a timeline concerning the Germantown Police Department building process.  Chief Hoell had done just such a timeline for the Trustees and was kind enough to provide that for this piece:

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1982:  Both the original Police Building (N112 W16877 Mequon Rd.) and Library - now PD Annex - were built.   The shell of the range was completed but funds have never been approved to date for completing the indoor range.

1994:  The Public Safety Committee discussed an expansion project for the Police Dept.  No action was taken. 

1995:  The Village retained the services of HNTB to conduct a Needs Assessment Study of all municipal facilities.  The study recommended building a new library and that upon completion the police department should expand its building by connecting both existing structures.  HNTB estimated the cost of the police department expansion at $750,000.

According to the Public Safety Committee notes, the police department building expansion, indoor range and communications center projects would be moved from 1995 to 1996. 

1998:  Garage addition proposal submitted.

1999:  A request was made to budget $725,000 for the building expansion to be completed in 2003.  The amount was reduced first to $450,000 and then $350,000 at the final budget meeting. 

2000:  Garage construction started with a $270,000 budget. 

2001:  Garage addition completed.   January 16, 2001 the Public Safety Committee tours new garage.

Fischer, Fischer Theis, Inc. hired for $4,400 to design the police expansion.

2002:  Fischer, Fischer Theis, Inc. worked with the $350,000 budget constraints, submitted and received final approval from the planning commission for the architectural design plans.  The Village Board split the amount of which $167,500 was allocated for 2003 to remodel the interior of the old library, and $167,500 was set aside to connect the two buildings in 2006.  The Village Board then decided at the final budget hearing to withdraw all funding since the limited money budgeted created a design that fell short of their expectations for the long-term use of the police department facilities. 

2003: The Village Board approved $750,000 in the Capital Budget to connect the police department in 2004.

2004:  Police staff, primarily support services, moves into the old library (PD Annex). 

2004 – 2005:  Public Safety gave direction to hire Plunkett Raysich for $9,200 to design a connection and remodel both buildings based on space needs to accommodate the PD until 2025.  The total project, to include connection of both buildings and a total remodel, came in at $3,200,000 for a 2006 construction date.

2005-2006:  Homeland Security grant received to install building security upgrades.  Items chosen from a security study of the buildings and the ability to reuse the items with the building project.  Items added:  fob key system, lobby security drawer, fencing, cameras/monitor, and windows. 

2006:  Village Board tabled the PD building project till 2007.

2007-2008:  Third conceptual design for PD connection and remodel of both buildings.  Zimmerman Architectural Studios was hired for approximately $12,000.   This project is ongoing.  Cost estimate for a remodel of both buildings and connection was at approximately $6,000,000.  Village Board sent the plan back to be reviewed with the possibility of doing this project in phases. 

Notes on a couple important issues, but not inclusive:  90% to 95% of all the police department furniture is original (26 years old) and/or secondhand donated items.  Most of the furniture was not designed for computer usage.  

The completion of the indoor range has been discussed for 26 years but never completed.

The radio is too small to accommodate the county radio project coming in the fall of 2009.  The current radio console is outdated and not equipped to handle the computers. 

The radio and communications equipment should be removed from the basement.

Air quality due to electronics needs to be improved. 

Men and Women’s lockers are over capacity.

The flooring is old, worn out and in poor shape.  Also in need of repair are some of the ceilings and walls. 

There is no central location to handle and store evidence.  The evidence processing and storage is handled between two floors and the storage should be removed from the basement. 

No room to function as an Emergency Operations Center.

Because staff has outgrown the buildings, interview rooms were taken over for office space.   The police department is in need of both hard and soft interview rooms equipped with both audio and visual recording devices to be able to record interviews per State Statute.  The rooms should also be equipped with emergency notification/alert call buttons.  

A secure training and conference room that can be utilized by outside organizations and other law enforcement personnel is needed.

The PD Annex is an old library; it’s still an old library which is occupied by PD personnel.  This building is in need of security updates.

Records are stored throughout the PD and Annex; there is no central records location.

There is a strong need to create a safe work environment for the PD employees and the public while in and around the PD building and Annex.  PD staff should be able to move around without the constant exposure to the outside by having to walk through the courtyard.  The entrance to the main PD building is hidden from the parking lot.   We need the front door to be seen by those in distress because they may not have the time or ability to read a directional sign or follow arrows.  

The overall buildings are aged and worn.  They were built with the security needs of the early 1980’s in mind.   The safety of the staff and public while at the police department are paramount, and creating a professional, efficient work environment is an important aspect of this project as well.  

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This provides the rest of the story over and above the request that the department find $330,000 of "unnecessary" expense to be cut so the village can balance its 2009 budget without a tax increase.

I believe that the board has been neglecting the department and that we will ultimately pay the price.  As is evident, the simple impact of inflation has caused the building connector proposals to escalate significantly over time. 

My apologies for such a lengthy Blog but all this information seemed quite germane to the story needing to be told.  

"Your mission, should you decide to accept..."

That lead-in to the old Mission Impossible television show came to mind as I pondered today's Village Buzz topic possibilities.

I take some of our elected representatives to task now and then, and some of you readers do the same in your comments.  Maybe it is time for us to "put up or shut up" as the old saying goes (not really but it gets the point across).  If we have ideas as to how our governing entities could do things differently, lets put those on the table and see if any grow legs.

For example, we see privatized prisons popping up around the country.  That happened because the private sector found a use for capital that took a burden from the shoulders of the taxpayer.  I read of the latest Scott Walker budget proposals for Milwaukee County and thought that he has to be among the most creative politicians I've seen in some time (and, I hope he runs for Governor again).

What is there in our small world that could be done differently if we were to 'color outside the lines' for awhile?  At the risk of angering entrenched interests, I'll throw out a few thoughts along those lines (remember that there may be some current impediments but that most impediments are man-made and could be altered if we demanded that):

Why not look to the private sector to build a school building that we can lease?  The lessor could be obligated to handle all repairs, for example, over the term of the lease to assure that things that break get fixed on a timely basis instead of being delayed until they manifest as something worse.  I see many former hospitals that have been turned into apartment buildings, for example.  Just because a building is built to house students, doesn't have to mean that it would always be a school building.  As population ebbs and flows, this would give the taxpayer some welcomed flexibility.  Would this be workable?  We won't know unless we ask the questions.

What about a charter school or an Internet school option to take student-count pressure off the buildings now available?  Might that also reduce the personnel costs? 

Many communities have hired assessor organizations and building inspector organizations to do their specialized work instead of retaining this talent on their own payrolls.  Why not go through an extensive review of what we could do along those lines.  That might reduce costs.  It might eliminate our angst over rising benefit costs that have been negotiated and about which we can do nothing even as we watch the private sector deal with those same issues.  Current employees with those skills might welcome the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and build new companies that other communities could employ.

Would it be possible to contract for road repair and shift some of the uncertainties off onto a private sector entity?  Private business is accustomed to taking risk.  Government tends to have to avoid risk and that adds expense.  Road salting and snow plowing, for example, is a real problem given a hard winter and higher salt costs.  If a private firm were contracted, it would bear that risk.  I see many landscape firms that become snow plowers and salters in the winter.  Is that worth exploring?

Would it make sense to lease computer servers for the village's use and have those housed in a private data center that does that as its primary business?  The village wouldn't have need for the IT skills that it might today.  Leasing of such systems might prove more economical and is an expense for which we could plan.

In most of these examples, the private sector would probably be more efficient, less susceptible to the political winds that blow hot and then cold, more intent on running very tightly controlled operations, etc.  Where there is a true risk/reward relationship that is properly negotiated and vetted, I believe that the private sector is simply better at that than is a government body.  And, as the "sidewalk" issue shows, I feel certain that the private sector can get things done in shorter time periods in most cases.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept" is to come up with your own ideas that might be capable of altering the way we look at the world of Germantown government and the Germantown school system today.  I look forward to your comments...if you are brave enough/foolish enough to offer those.  Most of you, at least, have anonymity on your side.  I'm just hanging out there with my zipper down.

The "sidewalk" item in yesterday's Village Buzz referenced that I was seeking further information on the "as directed by elected officials" portion of the explanation from Daniel Naze, Village Engineer.

I really need to be sure that I want that for which I ask.  Trustee Dean Wolter sent me a six page e-mail that details the evolution of the sidewalk that now appears on the east side of Pilgrim Road south of Mequon Road.  I will gladly send that information to anyone who wishes to send me an e-mail requesting this information.

I want to provide a summary of this process for it really amazed me.

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July 11, 2007 Public Safety Committee Meeting:

A citizen presents a petition to the committee concerning sidewalks from Bel Aire to Mequon Road on the east side of the road.  The committee forwarded this request to the Public Works Committee for action.

August 7, 2007 Public Works and Highway Committee Meeting:

The Public Works Committee asked that the Public Safety Committee authorize a study for the intersection of Lyle Lane and Pilgrim Road and suggested that funding be placed in the budget for a sidewalk from Lyle Lane to Mequon Road.

Village Board Meeting September 17, 2007

This item was removed from the Consent Agenda and motion was made by Trustee Zabel with second by Trustee Vanderheiden to table until adoption of the 2008 budget and to have the project done in early spring. Motion lost.

Motion made by Trustee Langer with second by Trustee Sorce to approve installation of 166 lineal feet of asphalt pavement at a cost estimated to be $13,700.Motion was subsequently amended to permit use of asphalt or concrete with the cheaper of the two be used.

October 2, 2007 Public Works Committee Meeting

Request to contractors to bid on installation of an asphalt or concrete sidewalk from Lyle lane 166 feet to the south.  bids were received ranging from $13,000 to $25,625 for asphalt and from $6,950 to $8,300 for concrete.

Motion was made by Trustee Zabel with second by Trustee Steitz to accept $6,950 bid from Zenith Tech with funds to be disbursed from the Capitol Budget.

October 15, 2007 Village Board Meeting

Consent agenda item G for sidewalk was part of motion by Trustee Langer with second by Trustee Sorce for approval.  Motion passed.

October, 2007

Construction occurs.

December, 2007

Monies left from borrowing for roads in 2007 budget carried to 2008 budget (some $200,000+), additional $300,000 borrowed for road maintenance and construction for total of $500,000 with another $200,000 borrowed for sidewalk construction.

May 5, 2008 Special Meeting of Public Works Committee

River Lane project was approved

May 5, 2008 Village Board Meeting

Final Resolution - Issuance of General Obligation Promissory Notes:  Motion made by Trustee Langer with second by Trustee Vanderheiden to approve total of $1,480,000 at 3.70% interest.  (Trustee Wolter noted that this was for all approved 2008 budget items that required borrowing like equipment purchases, new buildings, DPW parking lot, roads and sidewalks.)

June 3, 2008 Public Works Committee Meeting

After considerable discussion, a motion was made by Trustee Langer with second by Trustee Wolter that a bid from Rennhack Construction be accepted not to exceed $52,402.10 for construction of the sidewalk from Lyle Lane north to Mequon Road.

August/September 2008

Construction commences on the sidewalk.

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As you can see, this passed through multiple committees and hands on its way from the original citizen's petition to completion over the course of some two years.  Not having been heavily involved in the governance of our community, I have to confess that I was astounded by the time involved in something that seems quite simple for a business person.

There will be two versions of the Village Buzz posted today given two relatively lengthy subjects each of which deserve a more detailed review.

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Germantown Police Department Budget...

I learned that our Police Department was being tasked by some members of the Village Board to reduce its 2009 budget request by some $330,000 as its share of the $900,000+ deficit solution.  I have followed the department closely enough to recognize that this request would very likely cut away muscle and not fat, and I asked Chief Hoell for information about what this level of reduction would bring in the way of policing in 2009 without sharing my position with him at that point.

Chief Hoell indicated that his proposed budget was already done on the basis that this was an austere year for the village and that he would have to make do without a lot of the things he'd like to see for the department and the citizens of Germantown.  He advised that he had been able to trim some operating costs but that other line items, such as fuel costs, were beyond his ability to control.  He said that, although there have been cost increases in other line items, the department had made do without similar budget increases.  If there were equipment breakdowns or if some large unforeseen event such as a major crime scene were to be confronted, there would be no surplus available with which to handle the occurrence.

He stated, simply, that "a $330,000 cut would cripple this department".  "We would become solely reactive at best and the safety of our officers would be at jeopardy."   He indicated that, if he took out insurance, bonds, heat and water expense line items, the $330,000 would be "pretty much our operating budget for 2009".

"If you take this money out of personnel, then as I stated above, we would become solely reactionary at best and no longer proactive.  We are already experiencing delays in our responses due to the volume of calls for service or simply cannot respond to a time sensitive incident.  The safety and security of our officers will be at stake and the safety of our community will slowly deteriorate."

He went on to discuss staffing studies:  "The Germantown Police Department is the least staffed municipal agency in Washington County per capita.  The same holds true for the metro area.  We continually update this study and attach it to our budget to keep our elected officials educated on where we stand for staffing.  The Depart. of Justice recommends approx. 2.2 officers per 1,000 people.  GPD has 1.58 officers per 1,000 people.  Granted the 2.2 is a bit high, however the national average is 2.0, the state average is 1.8".   (This is for communities having from 10,000 to 40,000 people). 

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Now, I'll take the opportunity to "editorialize":

The thought that we would cut our police protection budget by such an amount simply to be "fair" to the rest of the departments in this village is something I simply am unable to grasp.  This would likely result in a reduction of one-third in the on-the-road shift staffing; and that staffing is already quite sparse for the community from my perspective.  "Across the board cuts" are too often simply the easy way out for people charged with developing budgets.  Each department head has, I hope, put forth their best effort.  I rely upon the Village Administrator to assure that there is no "fluff" left in any department's numbers.  I rely upon our elected representatives to handle the balance of any mandated budget reductions with the best interests of all citizens uppermost in mind.

I believe this proposed cut would be to carry the funding of the police department to a level that would cause our services to deteriorate too far.  If we lose the edge we have today in that area, we will pay a very severe price.  The "bad guys" don't respect budget issues.  They respect force.  I hope and trust that wiser minds will prevail when the Finance Committee and Village Board again convene.  It is time for some serious leadership on a serious issue.  There are "issues" and then there are "life and death" issues.

I can only imagine the reaction if a member of the Board were to be poorly served by the department in a time of need due to this budget process.  I'll wager that the recrimination wouldn't be pretty, and I'll bet some heads would roll.  But those likely wouldn't be "elected heads" rolling.

Last Night's Special Meeting...

The reason for and results of the Board's special meeting last evening remain a tightly-held secret.  In spite of my digging, I have been unable to gather anything more than hypotheses and that is not something I would speculate about in this forum.

That having been said, I will continue the quest.

Garbage Pick-Up Funding...

I discussed, in an earlier Village Buzz segment, the fact that some discussion has been had over the manner in which garbage pick-up costs have been and might be handled in the future.  I had a most pleasant and informative visit with a gentleman from Germantown who stays on top of much that occurs within the community.  Dick Kent has compiled a treatise that he has provided to the members of the General Government & Finance Committee.  He has been adamant that this presents information only and does not attempt to suggest the proper approach.  I have extracted from and interpreted that information for the following:

Municipal Code Section 11:08 (2) is a cryptically worded code section that does not clearly define which residents are to be excluded from municipal garbage collection services.  Some of the classic explanations made to residents questioning why they are excluded from collection have included:

• your homes are not free-standing single family residences
• the original developer of your development signed an agreement that no successor homeowners would ask for Village garbage pick-up
• your "street" was not built to accepted standards and cannot be accepted as an official street for collection purposes
• homeowners in an organized development have greater bargaining power and the ability to contract for garbage pick-up and are, therefore, reasonably excluded from municipal pick-up

In one instance, he points out that a Village Trustee who owns a home in Lake Park does not receive municipal garbage collection while he can observe from his window an identical home that does receive such municipal pick-up.

There have been problems over interpretation for some time.  A Washington County Judge opined as to the difficulty of his task when deciding issues brought to his attention with this Code involved.

Among the solutions available, whether or not desirable, would be moving to a fee-based system for all and removing the tax-based costs from the budget.  Mr. Kent describes this as amounting to about a 5% reduction in property taxes while recognizing that it would be most unlikely that an actual reduction would be seen given the tough decisions facing the Board.

He also mentioned that commercial and industrial concerns would benefit from such a change since they pay taxes that include such fees but do not receive municipal service.

The question is certainly one that needs be discussed in light of the budget issues we face.  Again, it is pleasant to be a Blogger and not a Trustee in such situations.

Election Follow-Up...

Chris Micka, Deputy Clerk for Germantown sent along some facts concerning the past Presidential elections so far as turn-out relating to an earlier posting about turn-out vis a vis the referenda issues.

The Presidential races in 1996 drew 77.5% of the registered voters, and 79.6% of registered voters in 2000.  2004 had some 91.1% of registered voters turn out.  Chris indicates that, while it is difficult to predict, she would not be surprised to see more than a 90% turn-out this year.  That could generate something in the 12,000 voter range.

I am very happy to see that our Germantown voters have the civic-mindedness to vote in large numbers given all the important decisions that will be made that day.

Garbage Strike...

The Local 200 Teamster members voted 214-0 against the Waste Management proposal last Friday and the same proposal was again voted on yesterday.  The second ballot showed 199 against and 24 for the proposal.

The union leaders say they're ready and willing to resume discussions.  The company says that it will scale back the proposal that had been on the table and that it will begin to solicit replacement workers.

The union says that the company cannot legally solicit replacements since it has lodged a complaint alleging unfair tactics against Waste Management with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  I guess that will sort itself out as time passes.

So far, our service has not suffered since the first pick-up that was delayed by about 24 hours.  The question, from my perspective, is for how long can the imported workers be kept here to maintain service levels?  They came from elsewhere and they must be causing some problems by being here rather than where they've come from.  Sooner or later, it seems as though something will have to give on that side.

At the same time, how long will the union members be able to sit out?  Most of us are having difficulty given the higher prices being charged for seemingly everything.  That can't be easy if you're out on strike trying to get by on much less than you're accustomed to having available to spend.

Special Meetings...

The Germantown Village Board has two special meetings set.  A meeting has been called for 7:30PM tonight with a closed session shown for personnel matters to be discussed.

A special meeting has been called for 6:30PM Tuesday night with a closed session shown for discussion of a possible land sale in a business park.

Public Fire Protection Charges...

I received information from a Germantown resident who has asked that I not use the person's name.  I will certainly honor that request.  Both name and telephone number were provided.  This is not a trustee, by the way.

The Public Fire Protection charge is where the cost of infrastructure/water system capacity to enable fire fighting to occur is assessed to the citizenry.  It is also sometimes called a 'hydrant rental charge' according to my source.

This cost has been carried as part of the property tax in Germantown for many years.  It is part of the Fire Department budget.  The reason that it is on the property tax roles is so that people who are not on the municipal water system, and who, therefore, don't pay for the costs of that system are fairly charged for the fire protection they receive.

Germantown currently has a 2009 budget deficit of something in the range of $900,000.  Trustees are wrestling with how and where to find the means to cover this shortfall.  I am told that some discussion has been had that would see this hydrant rental charge removed from the fire department budget thus freeing up about $491,000 of expense to the General Fund and shifting it to the water utility alone.

This would make it easy to avoid a "tax increase" or cutbacks even while nearly another half-million dollars was made available to cover wants and needs. 

My source has indicated that there are some 5,825 water utility customers each of whom would see an average annual increase of $84 in their water bills.

This would also mean that those citizens not using the water utility for water but still being afforded fire protection would, in essence, not be paying a fair share of fire protection costs.  The fire department tankers are filled from hydrants in order that fires outside the water utility coverage area can still be fought.  The supply capacity must still be made available, etc.

Citizens must speak their mind on this subject but that is difficult since virtually no one is aware that this approach is being considered as a solution to part of the shortfall.

This would obviously not be a real solution.  Nothing would be cut from the budget to remove the shortfall.  We'd simply be playing a bit of a 'shell game' by transferring money from one pocket to another and adversely impacting the residents who live within the water utility's system reach.

I don't believe this is a good public policy approach.  The hydrant rental costs have been quite properly spread across all users and should continue to be managed in that manner in my opinion.

We have already been tapping surplus that has been accumulated in certain funds in order to have some money available for known future needs as well as emergency needs that might develop.  That 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' approach has already caused some future issues that are not yet fully understood.  Someday we'll be paying that bill and we'll be scratching to cover the needs.

Garbage Costs To Become Fees?

Another discussion topic is that of removing garbage pick-up costs from the village budget and making those costs into fees that would be assessed separately on the tax bill.

This is not necessarily a bad idea on the surface if everything is made known to the residents and if the change is done in a fair and equitable manner.

One such thought would be to move to a bi-weekly pick-up of recyclables such as was recently done in Menomonee Falls.  I understand that some trustees are exploring that idea and gathering knowledge so that they will be able to propose a reasonable package if anything does come forward.

Guest Blog - Police Chief Pete Hoell...

I felt, that as Chief of Police, I should probably chime in on this PD building project blog; I owe it to my staff and our citizens.

Just as a little background, I have been part of the Germantown Police Administration for approximately 14 years now.  As Administrative Sergeant, Lieutenant and now as Chief, I have been involved in the budgetary process those 14 years in a variety of degrees.  Obviously the last 4 years it has been my sole responsibility to present a budget to address the PD needs.

Also as background, I had hoped that the road improvement issue would not be connected to the PD building project.  Everyday our citizens see the condition of the roads and what they feel is needed.  Most people do not use the PD everyday, most if ever.  I would venture to say there is a large portion of our population who has never been inside our two buildings.  So I do understand that there may be some who do not understand the "need" for a PD building project.  But, a budget is about money and taxes, so the fact that the two are equated was anticipated.

When I read Mr. Fletcher's comment on the PD building, that it would "nice", I think this statement is not an accurate term for what we are asking for.  Granted, it may just be a matter of semantics or splitting hairs, but this project is by no means something that would be "nice".

I was looking back on my last 4 years of budget requests to confirm my original thoughts on the word "nice".  The requests that the PD has made have all been "needs".  I have never asked for anything that would be "nice to have".  I see part of the role as Chief is to operate this department as efficiently and as effectively as possible.  It is my duty to this community to be fiscally responsible and to watch every penny and stretch every dollar.  Again, if I am belaboring this point of "nice", my apologies to Mr. Fletcher.

I put together a time line on the PD building project for the Public Safety Committee a couple of months ago at their request.  The time line was supported by minutes of previous Board and Public Safety meetings.  This building project started in 1995 with a village wide space needs study and discussion of the PD space needs.  The last 7 years we have been dealing with conceptual designs.  There are many issues as to why we are requesting a PD building project, too lengthy for this blog.  However, I would certainly entertain any questions to this blog or directly to my e-mail: phoell@germantownpolice.org

Our current Public Safety Committee recently has made some difficult decisions, which has given me direction.  Granted, I would have been pleased to see the conceptual design move forward that Zimmerman Design presented, but that is not the case.  So now we are at plan "B" and we'll develop a plan that will eventually meet our "needs".  I also do not want to speak on behalf of our Trustees, but most have expressed to me that they do understand our needs and do see the issues we are dealing with that do need attention.  Therefore most do understand and have educated themselves to the PD building issues.

Security and efficiency are my most important objectives with this project.  I owe it to my staff and to the citizens who visit and do business at the PD buildings not to give up and to continue to move forward to the point of where our needs are met.

I am also pleased and very thankful for the support of our citizens.  Policing a community takes a community; your involvement, trust and support is very much appreciated.

Flogging A Deceased Equine? 

The Village Board agenda for Monday, September 15th includes another discussion on the Waste Management agreement.   This is as the result of the Board's direction to staff during the special meeting of a week or so ago.

The special meeting resulted in a sound reaffirmation that the current Waste Management agreement should be left as is unless and until something changed dramatically enough to warrant more consideration.  During that meeting, it was indicated that calls had been received but no one had been tracking those calls.  The Village Administrator advised then that the responsible person would begin to gather specifics.

The anecdotal discussion points seemed to indicate that, while there may have been some disruption caused by the strike of Teamsters against Waste Management, any disruption seemed well within the 'five day' delay language of the current agreement.

President Kempinski has told me that his actions were intended to be proactive and that he and the Administrator had held conversations with Veolia, the other company that tendered a bid for Germantown's business when Waste Management was selected.  I questioned whether or not he hoped to bring some pressure to bear on Waste Management.  He said that while he was thinking of the citizens, he did hope to apply some pressure although he was not concerned with the outcome of the Teamsters' strike.

As we look forward to the next regular meeting, my question is: "What has changed since the last consideration?"

My experience before was a one day delay at the worst.  We are on  Friday pick-up schedule and my garbage was picked up at 6:05AM this morning (Friday).  That was followed by the recycle pick-up about 30 minutes later.  From my perspective, the "what has changed" question is answered by stating..."it's back to normal".

So far as I can determine, based on an email exchange with Dave Schornack, Village Administrator, there have been no more complaints to him, and two had been logged by the Public Works department.  As was my experience, Schornack indicates that his pick-ups occurred on the regular day this past week, as well.

I have heard other anecdotal complaints about people in condominiums experiencing delays.  Those I've looked into were apparently condominium association agreements for pick-up and not violations of the village agreement.

While President Kempinski has told me that he has no interest in the outcome of the Teamster strike against Waste Management, he also indicated that he did want to bring pressure on Waste Management to assure that Germantown citizens got what they and the village were paying for.

It strikes me that this is, whether intentional or unintentional, a "perfect storm" in that it accomplishes both the satisfaction of the agreement and application of more pressure to Waste Management as labor decides whether or not to put the latest offer to a vote by membership.  There is a very significant issue involved and teamsters are very sensitive to it.  The Central States Fund operated on behalf of Teamsters to provide pension benefits has had some problems and there is a fear that, if proposals such as that made by Waste Management are approved, there could well be a 'run' on that fund with other employers trying to pull out.  That could leave the Fund under-funded thus threatening pension benefits unless employer contributions were increased to offset the shortfall.

So, let us hope that we don't see this on the agenda after Monday evening unless there is a reason.

Bridges To Somewhere...

I asked Dave Schornack, Village Administrator, where we stood on the bridge completion dates for both the Lilac Lane bridge and the Freistadt Road bridge near Hwy 145/Fond du Lac Avenue.

I had noticed some concrete being poured in the Lilac Lane site and it seemed as though that project had been ongoing for some time since I use that route often.  I hadn't the same feelings about Freistadt since I don't frequent that route as often.

Nothing like being selfish, is there?

Dave wrote back promptly to advise that both projects "are on track to be completed by the first week of October".

So, in about a month, we'll all be ooh-ing and ahh-ing over our new bridges.

Police Station Building Delays...

I understand that there is only so much money to go around within the Village of Germantown.  I understand that I'm a bit of a 'scold' so far as spending goes, too.

But, I have had the opportunity to tour the Police Department facilities and know that there is a very real need.

I also know that the chief, the officers and the staff will make do with whatever they have, but it is going to be very much like a group of sardines minus the oil going forward.  New radio/computer equipment is being forced on the department and there is virtually no room to accommodate that equipment and the people who operate it.  I'm sure the Public Safety Committee is cognizant of this, as well, but my fear is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease...and the chief and his department aren't known for being whiners.

They'll get the job done no matter what, but it sure would be nice if they had a little larger facility.  There is no opulence involved here.  It is a relatively spartan environment without frills.  Even with that, room to operate is critical.  If 2009's budget can't accommodate this need, then let's be very certain that it gets done in 2010...and that it doesn't get short shrift over and over again.

Sendik's...

My first visit this morning was fantastic.  These folks know how to do markets!  Every employee had a ready smile, each was willing to be helpful and created a great experience.  Prices seemed to be very competitive.  Food appearance was superb; selection seemed wonderful; ambiance was excellent...who could ask for anything more (great title for a song, huh)?

If this holds true after they've been open for a month or two, and other locations indicate that to be the case, we've got ourselves a real jewel!  Business seemed to be very strong with few parking spaces available.  However, all went very smoothly inside.  And, samples abound!

MIA?

Our fire chief has been under fire (no pun intended) for some time.  He has been the subject of a remedial program that was cause for his 'cost of living' increase being withheld.  To my knowledge, that money still has not been paid.

There have been repeated rumors that he is not always on duty when he claims to be on duty, as well.  He is required to log in and to log out through the central dispatch system when he comes on duty and when he goes off duty throughout the course of every