Welcome to the fifth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week we take a look at mothballing the new Talgo trainsets for the Amtrak Hiawatha line, the return of the bike corrals, Young Professional Week, free music from the Milwaukee Public Library, and more.

A public meeting was held at Milwaukee Public Library’s East Library last night to present updates and answer questions on East Library redevelopment proposal. The accepted proposal from HSI Properties/WiRED Properties to redevelop the East Library into a mixed-use facility includes approximately 100 apartments, a first-floor retail stall, and a first-floor, white-box condominium for a new East Library.

The Milwaukee Public Library Board of Trustee’s Building and Development Committee met at the East Library on Wednesday night to hear final proposals from the three respondents to the East Library Redevelopment RFP. Following a closed session for deliberations, the Building and Development Committee voted to move the proposal from HSI Properties forward to the full Library Board.

Wednesday night, Alderman Nik Kovac held a public meeting to allow feedback to be voiced regarding the three proposed alternatives for the redevelopment of the one-story East Library into a mixed-use facility. The meeting was a follow-up to a meeting last November discussing the potential of issuing a request-for-proposal (RFP) for the redevelopment of the East Library site. Attendees at the meeting were provided with an update on the process and allowed to ask questions about the process and proposals. The predictable East Side public meeting questions were aired, but which, if any, of the proposals will be selected?

Alderman Nik Kovac, whose district includes the East Library on 1910 E. North Avenue, held a public meeting on November 11th to solicit feedback on the proposal of converting the one-story, single-use library into a mixed-use building.The meeting, which was held at the East Library meeting room, attracted a standing-room only crowd, and included representatives from the Library Board (of which Kovac is a member), the Department of City Development, and the Mayor’s office

Information from the infosphere… Seattle mayor Greg Nickels is working on a plan that will encourage all city employees to use public transportation, by giving the free transit passes.  Milwaukee should get behind this. The Daily Reporter has a good look at the issues affecting the 27th Street ramp off of Interstate 94. Thrivent Financial [...]