Related Articles - Page 4
Committee Approves Plan to Improve Riverwalk
File number 081431 would allow the library to apply for a Public Library Innovation Grant which would be used to extend the summer reading program in to a year round program. Alderman Joe Davis pointed out that he brought the grant to the library staff’s attention and said “they have a great success rate, that if we leading them to water, they know how to drink”. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. What evidently has been a long an ongoing process to comply with a 2003 Department of Justice ruling in response to an American with Disabilities Act complaint will be going through another iteration. The 14th Amendment to the Riverwalk Development Agreement for Business Improvement District 15 would increase the budget for accessibility to $4.8 million. The original judgment included ten lifts, whereas the current plan will include six ramps and four lifts which should last better in Milwaukee’s climate. Progress has been made toward complying with the ruling in that the first of the new ramps has been completed and the Mason St. ramp will be completed shortly. This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.
Feb 24th, 2009 by Dave Reid
City Committee Makes Many Appointments
Soloman Chris Johnson, Welford Sanders, LaMar Franklin, Jo Spear Jr., Carla Cross, President and CEO of Cross Management Services, Inc., and Luc Monsanto, were appointed to Historic King Drive Business Improvement District. When asked about his interest in serving on the board, Jo Spear Jr. responded saying “instead of putting all my back into the district, I want to put all my mind in to it”. Carla Cross pointed out that the BID’s most recent accomplishments included putting up Christmas decorations and displaying of district focused flags. She went on to say that she “would like to work more closely with the Bronzeville team”. Luc Monsanto expressed his excited about being appointed by saying that “people always say this but I’m truly excited to be part of this board”. There were also a series of appointments and reappointments to the East North Avenue Business Improvement District that included the likes of Paul Miller, from Alterra, John Sidoff from Hooligan’s, Jeff Sherman, from OnMilwaukee.com, and Peggy Silvestrini from Beans & Barley,. This group has long participated in the development of the East Side with their businesses and by serving the community. When questioned regarding the new dorms on the East Side Paul Miller responded “the new dorm I think is going to be a great addition” and “I have seen no negative impact”. Jeff Sherman expressed his belief in the East Side saying “the east side is about density, it’s about discovery, it’s about diversity”.
Feb 3rd, 2009 by Dave Reid
Committee Approves Travel Spending
Committee approves funding for travel to National League of Cities’ Board of Directors and International Council events.
Dec 8th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committee Cuts Off Funding to West End Dev Corp
At the June 23rd, 2008 meeting of the Community & Economic Development Committee Alderman Bob Bauman brought forward resolution 080293 which cut off funding to the West End Development Corporation. This was done because of the groups inability to complete the redevelopment of WestPointe Commons despite nearly 7 years of efforts. Following that resolution the West End Development Corporation board voted to dissolve the corporation ending their efforts. Due to the dissolving of their efforts resolution 080447 was brought forward to reallocate the Community Block Grant Development (“CBGD”) funds that had been allocated to West End Development Corporation to other organizations. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.Resolution 080408 approved the Funding Allocation Plan for 2009. This plan allocates the Community Block Grant Development (“CBDG”) funds to various efforts which benefit low income citizens, by addressing urgent needs with the intent to prevent or eliminate blight. Alderman Joe Davis made a series of amendments adjusting the allocation levels. The amendment that stood out resulted in the creation of an entitlement allocation for Housing – Graffiti Abatement in the amount of $90,000. Funding of graffiti abatement programs has in this past year run out prior to the summer months and this new allocation appears to be a response to that funding shortage. This resolution and its amendments was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.
Jul 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committtee Votes to Freeze Funds for WestPointe Commons
The final two appointees to Business Improvement District #41 (Downer Ave.) were approved by committee today. Andie Zacher and Brett Grasse were added to the newly expanded board bring the total to seven members. Brett Grass from Lighthouse Development expressed that he has a “vested interest in the shopping district staying vibrant” and that his experience at Lighthouse Development should be of value to the board.. These appointments were approved and will now go before the full Common Council. Also of note was the appointed of first term Alderman Nik Kovac to the Arts Board. He expressed his desire to sit on the Arts Board by saying “I look forward to helping the arts and helping the city at the same time. He conveyed a strong belief that the arts are not only beneficial to the quality of life within the city but also to the economic development of the city. This appointment was approved and will now go before the full Common Council. The last item on the agenda was resolution 080293 which saw a vigorous discussion over the problematic development effort at 27th and Wells St. known as WestPointe Commons. First funded in November 2001 the project has yet to be completed and has spent almost $1 million in public funds. The motion before the committee was to freeze access to public funds until an audit was completed which would determine what went wrong and if the project should go forward. Former Alderman Paul Henningsen spoke on behalf of the project making a passionate appeal to allow the project to continue. He argued that despite its past issues, it is now close to completion and in combination with other projects in the area it could have a catalytic effect. In the end the committee voted to approve the resolution, essentially freezing public funds, which will now go before the full Common Council.
Jun 24th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committtee Approves North End’s Job Training Plan
Dick Lincoln from the Mandel Group presented resolution 071618 which is the job training program portion of The North End development that receives funding from TIF No. 48. He explained that it would be “a little bit different than traditional workforce development” in that in focuses more on mentoring and coaching of emerging businesses to “take them to the next level.” Specifically, the program will help emerging business develop business and management skills so these firms can enter into larger contracts and participate in The North End project. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council. Resolution 080209 changed the operating plan and structure of Business Improvement District No. 41 which represents the Downer Avenue business district. The changes would enlarged the board from five to seven members and it would adjust various line items within the proposed operating plan to allow the BID greater flexibility in their future operations. Although this resolution seems inoucous enough it gives the appearance as though these changes are connected to New Lan Enterprises’ controvsional re-development efforts on Downer Avenue. It appears this way because while Alderman Nik Kovac has worked to expand BID No. 41 both Boris Gokhman and Joel Lee have had their appointments to BID No. 41 held in committee. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.
Jun 4th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Committee Approves Appointments
The items that stood out the most on the agenda were resolution 071355 and 071358. These resolutions would appoint Joel Lee and Boris Gokhman respectively to the Business Improvement District Board #41. This BID represents Downer Avenue which has been at the center of a continuous development project by New Land Enterprises. These appointments were approved but at May 20th Common Council meeting because the BID intends to rework some details and BID boundaries.
May 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Community & Economic Development Holds North End Training Plan
Resolution 071618 would authorize the terms of a job training program utilizing part of the $500,000 that the North End development received as part of its TIF funding. Dick Lincoln, from the Mandel Group, presented an overview of the North End development highlighting their environmental remediation efforts, the creation of new public places and then covered the job training component of the project. Dick Lincoln said that “the focus of that job training program was going to be on developing the capacity of existing business rather than job skill training and workforce development. Essentially they will work with Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) firms to grow their business with the goal of being able to participate in the development of the North End development in the future. The committee felt this plan needed further review and additionally breakdown of the costs so it was held at the call of the chair.
Apr 9th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Economic Development Committee Hears STEM Presentation
One item on the agenda that stood out as significant was Dr. Keenan Grenell‘s communication from the Regional Task Force on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (STEM). The study argues that “increasing the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline in Wisconsin is a vital part of increasing and maintaining its economic stature” To promote the increasing of the economic stature the study recommends, the need to improve relationships between STEM organizations, to market STEM programs within the M7, and the creation of a “Research Institute for the Theory and Practice of STEM Entrepreneurial Wealth Creation” among other recommendations. This institute would be modeled after the successful IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and whose purpose would be to “create more STEM research, practice, and policies with the M7 region”. This report comes at a critical time as both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University are planning expansions of their Engineering schools and shows the value of these developments to the City of Milwaukee and our region.
Mar 5th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Prof. Levine Presents Bleak Job Market
Professor Marc Levine presented a a communication from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development regarding employment trends in the country’s cities. Professor Levine presented a fairly bleak view of Milwaukee’s job market and although he thought some of the efforts by the City of Milwaukee were positive he said they were “micro fixes because they’re not market changing”. He went on to say that “we need a bolder market changing strategy” if we hope to improve the job market here in the City of Milwaukee. Much like when he present his report regarding the jobless rate in the inner city he again pointed to a mass transit system, such as Denver’s $4.7 Billion 120 mile regional transit system, as a possible solution to jump start job growth and encourage business development in the future. Resolution 071451 proposed increasing the Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) requirements from 18 percent to 25 percent for City of Milwaukee funded construction projects. The goal of EBE requirements is to help small business within the City of Milwaukee access opportunities they might not otherwise be afforded. In the past the City of Milwaukee has averaged 22.9 percent participation for construction projects so this new target represents a higher goal of achievement but one that is obtainable. Alderman Ashanti Hamilton made the motion to hold the resolution for one cycle to get “all the pieces” in the resolution that the committee felt were needed.
Feb 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Community & Economic Development Committee Hears About Milwauee 7
Milwaukee Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux presented a report, file number 070876, on the progress of the Milwaukee 7 initiative. Northwest Side Area Comprehensive Plan,He highlighted the group’s efforts which included 425 site visits, helping to maintain some 2300+ jobs and creating 3300+ news jobs. Another significant highlight of the Milwaukee 7’s progress was the creation of an Immigrant Investment Zone. It gives immigrants permanent resident status if they invest $1,000,000 in new business within the investment zone. During the discussion of the Immigrant Investment Zone a question from the committee asked Marcoux about the possibility of a new World Trade Center building being constructed in Milwaukee. He responded by saying “There’s obviously going to be a cost associated with that, but I think that it will pay big dividends.” Alderman Tony Zielinski brought forward a resolution, file number 071136, directing the Office of Environmental Sustainability to study the feasibility of city financing of solar installations. The plan, based on a study in Berkeley, CA, would fund low interest loans to cover the initial capital costs of installing solar panels allowing for wider adoption of this technology. The Environmental Sustainability Director Ann Beier pointed out that as the use of solar panels grows in new construction that “we know there will be a demand for solar installers in the future”. Making the point that this is a program that not only looks at reducing pollution but this plan could lead to new job growth in an emerging market and new development.
Dec 7th, 2007 by Dave Reid
