In each of the last 3 election cycles, I have heard the question posed many times: "Would you support bringing back sidewalk snowplowing?" This is a question best addressed during budget season, since this is the time when real changes can be brought about through choosing which programs to fund, and at what levels.

For those of you interested in sidewalk snowplowing issue, or any other funding priority, now is the time act, since budget season is when programs like this are enabled. If you think we should repave our streets more often, or keep the library open later, or stop spending money on marketing Shorewood, or if you think you pay too much for parking tickets, this is the time to say so. Now is the time you can suggest finding a full time trampoline compliance officer…Or maybe we can put that one to rest once and for all.

The article in this week's edition of ShorewoodNOW mentioned that only 2 residents attended the budget listening session this last week. For those of you who did not attend, but who feel strongly about any of the issues above, I invite you to send me your comments and suggestions on the budget.

Some things to think about...

Should we bring back sidewalk snowplowing? Should we spend money to rejuvenate Atwater beach? Should we keep spending money on marketing Shorewood? Should renters have to pay $45 per month to park in public lots overnight? Should we fund a full time code compliance officer? Should the Library be open longer? Should the Library be given money for more books? Should we acquire the 5 acres next to the Milwaukee River? Should we have more Police? A new Police Station? Should all of our polling stations open for every election? Should we enable online payment of fines, bills, and taxes to the Village?

Which of these issues are important to you? Open dialogue is the only way our elected officials will ever know what is on your mind, or what issues are important to you.

Now is the time to speak up.

I received a reader comment on the trampoline issue, questioning who requested the trampoline ordinance in the first place. Because the person who requested the ordinance commented at the Village Board meeting, her identity is a matter of public record, and will be recorded in the official minutes of the meeting. As such, I believe it is fair game to report.

The person who brought this issue to the board was Barb Caprile, the Marketing Director for the Shorewood Business Improvement District.

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Steven, can you take one more comment about the trampoline issue before you bounce it from your blog? f what the trampoline owner suggested in her letter is true, I think there's still an issue to explore. Shouldn't someone look into whether or not the person making the complaint got an unfair advantage from a relationship with the village or the board?

It's just not good for a community to let people try to use this kind of influence to retaliate against neighbors. If what the trampoline owner said is true, isn't it a little funny that someone who markets our mostly friendly village took such an unpleasant approach to life in the community? If you're wondering why many people choose not to leave their names on this board, maybe it's because they don't want someone who disagrees to try to write an ordinance against their backyard grill! P.S., I agree with the person who said "What a waste."
- Shorewood blog reader, 8/9/07
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The trampoline ordinance was dropped today at the committee level. The Judiciary Personnel & Licensing Committee unanimously recommended that the full Village Board take no action on the ordinace.

Each of the committee members stated different reasons for rejecting the ordinance. Trustees Michael Phinney, Dawn Anderson, and Jeff Hanewall make up the Judiciary Personnel & Licensing Committee.

Comments

1. What a waste. As the disturbed resident finally made herself very clear, she said, "I don't want a trampoline next to my fence. I don't want a trampoline under my window." Note - the summation didn't mention safety. It was about how she'd like a bigger yard, or for her neighbors to have a bigger yard. Well, she lives in Shorewood and there are a lot of great things about Shorewood but the distance between the houses isn't that great. It's usually about 20 feet or so.

The people here are great. Bringing this crazy issue to the Board wasn't great. Talking to her neighbors - that would have been really great. Next time, before doing external research on an "issue", let's look at ourselves and see if this is one strange incident (non-communicant resident) or if it is an issue that is spread village wide. What a waste.
- Fellow Trampoline Owner, 8/7/07

2. It's too bad some people can't just walk over to their neighbor's house and say, "Hi, I'm sure you don't realize, but I'm being bothered by... and I was wondering if you have any ideas on how we can find a solution together?" Why run to the government to solve the problem? Then again, I don't like the other poster's insinuation that the Village Board shouldn't bother to get outside information when making decisions, as if everyone here knows all things at all times. Maybe if we took a look at what other villages do, and why, more often we'd be less likely to come up with silly ordinances that go too far in serving someone's persnicketiness and less likely to make expensive or dangerous mistakes because no one bothered to do any research.
- Shorewood Person, 8/8/07

3. Another of the great things about Shorewood is the absence of Homeowners Associations making arbritary rules about what we can have or do on our own property. Banning trampolines would be the slippery slope towards this. I am personally neutral on the subject of trampolines but strongly in favor of the freedom to bounce at will on one's own property. Thus I applaud the Village Board's decision.
- Shorewood Resident, 8/8/07

From Steve: Out of pure curiosity I have to ask, why do commenters rarely include their names? I can tell they are different people by the IP addresses attached to each comment, and I can tell when the same person leaves a series of comments. But I do often wonder who they are. Any thoughts on why people generally do not leave their names?

I receive this letter from Lisa Erdman, whose trampoline apparently prompted the trampoline ban ordinance.

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To: Steve Koczela
From: Lisa Erdman
Date: 8/3/07

It my trampoline that is in question, so I feel it is very important to respond to the ridiculous level this issue has come to.

My neighbor whom has an issue with the trampoline never spoke to me about the concerns prior to the offical notice from the village of Shorewood. We have no prior negative history. It offends me that this issue could not have been dealt with between the two of us. I still extend the offer to her to call me if the children are to noisey in the yard and she is trying "to nap in the afternoon."

You are correct the issue at hand is not a safey issue. The trampoline has a net around, is 3 feet from the fence, and 3 feet from there house. Our insurance automatically covered the trampoline under play ground equiptment, the same as a swing set. It is a fact that if trampolines damage other peoples property and many claims are made insurance would exclude or charge more for covering them.

At the last board meeting the argument was that the 18 foot trampoline could blow over and damage our neighbors home. I can not find a single case of this ever happening. As far as I'm concerned there are many trees in our neighbors yards that could fall on our house, the point you can't start making rules for what if's in life.

Shorewood is a child friendly community. I think it is my disgression for whether a trampoline is safe for my family, not the village board. There is another meeting August 6th regarding this issue, I encourage anyone interested to attend. At the last meeting an ordinance was already written and if we hadn't attended the meeting this ordinace would have been placed because of one couples complaints. Without notifying anyone else in the community. If this trampoline is taken down we are going to put a swing set in it's place. So I have a feeling this isn't the last you'll hear from me.

I would also like to address the 'privacy issue' that trampolines supposedly present. Under the current ordinace the trampoline must be 10 feet from all structures. Guess what. We live in the city and 10 houses can see in my back yard from there up stairs porches. Creating a community that families can work together to fix issues is the answer. The trampoline in question is NOT in front of the bedroom window nor any of the neighbors home. It is at the rear of the house 5 feet back and 3 feet from there fence.

I urge the complaintant who has taken it to such extremes to talk to me about the issue. We have a very close neighborhood, no one knows the complaining couple, good or bad. However I would like to point out the close relationship they have to the board, she does much of the marketing for the village of Shorewood.

I feel this is an ordinance written for one resident whose complaint is not safety it is the noise of children playing in the yard in the afternoon. So I encourage them to speak to me and come to a conclusion rather than involve the entire city. With a trampoline or not there will be children playing in my yard. Lets not make all the children in Shorewood lose a healthy and fun way to enjoy the summer because of your inability to compromise with us.

- Lisa Erdman, 8/3/07
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Pardon the headline. It was irresistible.

The Village Board took no action on the trampoline ordinance at this Monday’s meeting. Several residents who wished to comment on the proposed ordinance asked for the delay.

After the last post, I received several comments which suggested possible reasons for the ordinance being either safety, or privacy.

Privacy, I can see as being a municipal government matter, especially if it relates to the interaction between neighbors. Trustee Margaret Hickey explained the driving force behind the ordinance as follows. "As to the trampoline, it has to do with someone who is a neighbor to a family with a trampoline. They have put the trampoline right next to the person's bedroom window and are invading their privacy, both visually and noise-wise."

While I might personally wish that neighbors could work out these issues on their own, I understand this is not always the case. To me, the issue here is the invasion of privacy rather than the trampoline itself. Perhaps we should focus on the invasion of privacy as the primary issue in this dispute rather than the product that is enabling it.

I am less supportive of the notion that we need to establish ordinances relating to product safety on private property.

One commenter wrote the following. "Used incorrectly, trampolines can be extremely dangerous and result in death and paralysis....To me, trampoline safety is a serious community issue and I hope that we don't end up with an all-out ban, but that a serious discussion of safety issues is held and that parents pay close attention to safety rules (and check their homeowner's policy)."

While I admit to deficient knowledge in the matter of trampoline safety, I question the notion that potentially dangerous products are necessarily the responsibility of the Village Board to address. I am especially dubious of this responsibility if the primary danger arises when the product is used incorrectly. I have many potentially dangerous products in my home. I have garden clippers, saws, ladders, hammers, shovels, and garden hoses. Any of these, if used improperly, are dangerous, but I doubt anyone would argue that we need to step in and establish ordinances requiring me, for instance, to keep my fingers out from under the hammer.

So if we need to spell out that neighbors should not peek in one another's bedroom windows, then so be it. But can't we do that without the slapstick debate on banning trampolines?


Comments

1. "Steve, think of trampolines like you do pools and you'll see why there are ordinances against them and why homeowners' policies are strict about them. A kid sees an empty trampoline or pool not fenced off, can't resist sneaking over to use it, and... suddenly, there's a tragedy. This is why every community has some law requiring fences around pools. There are, unfortunately, times when as a community we have to step in and say sorry to step on your toes, homeowners, but that's a disaster waiting to happen."
- Nancy Peske Darrow, 7/6/07

Agenda item 7.b.viii for tonight's Village Board meeting reads as follows. "Consider adopting Ordinance restricting trampolines on private property."

I may not stay for the entire meeting tonight, but if I am still there for this spellbinding debate, I will definitely report back.

Comments

1. "As to the trampoline, it has to do with someone who is a neighbor to a family with a trampoline. They have put the trampoline right next to the person's bedroom window and are invading their privacy, both visually and noise-wise. We did not take any action on a proposed ordinance."
- Trustee Margaret Hickey, 7/4/07

2. "Actually, it doesn't seem like a bizarre agenda item to me. Trampolines are considered an attractive nuisance; many homeowner's policies are nullified when the homeowner puts a trampoline in the backyard. Every time I watch Supernanny, I'm disheartened to see yet another family bonding on their backyard trampoline and breaking at least 2 if not 3 of the safety rules.

Used incorrectly, trampolines can be extremely dangerous and result in death and paralysis. At the same time, they're a fabulous tool for giving kids exercise--and especially great for children with sensory integration issues who have a very high need for certain types of movement, such as jumping. To me, trampoline safety is a serious community issue and I hope that we don't end up with an all-out ban, but that a serious discussion of safety issues is held and that parents pay close attention to safety rules (and check their homeowner's policy).

A great compromise, by the way, is an indoor tramp such as the Jumpolene (although repairing leaks is part of owning one), a mini tramp, or a wooden launch pad."
- Nancy Peske Darrow, 7/4/07