Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Don't forget to dig out those fire hydrants!

Prairie Family Days--Here's Your Chance

Click here.

How about an IcePlex summer snowball fight? Worlds largest popsicle? Create some kind of world record breaking competition.

Do they do sandcastle competition by age groups?

More food vendors or better back-up maintenance to keep lines down to a minimum.

Water fights, ballon toss, egg toss.......

Special Village Board Meeting

They need a special meeting for this one item? Why didn't they deal with this at Monday's meeting? Best use of personnel and time?

3. Public Hearing

A. Consider Revocation of “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor and Class “B” Fermented Malt Beverage License issued to George Lyons for non-use.

4. Adjournment.

SNOW EMERGENCY ISSUED

Village has issued a snow emergency starting Dec. 18th and continuing until further notice (click here and here).

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Click here

The Bad: Click here

The Ugly: Click here

Say What?

Click here

Hujik said if he does decide to run, he hopes voters will see the positive developments in the district.

“We’re continuing to keep the finances moving in the right direction."

Recreation Commission

The Rec Comm tonight is considering gambling and alcohol at Prairie FAMILY Days. Need I say any more?

CDO Generating Lots of Negative Buzz

Every where I go, local residents ask "why aren't more people upset about the CDO mess and School Board's costly response". I agree. Any other community, these people would have all been recalled. Think about recalls when School Board's fire a popular coach and such that have happened around the state and in other nearby communities. I said I'd like to see them work out of the mess they created myself but we might as well all prepare for a special referendum to pay for this mess. They won't win because page 5 or 6 of the agreement the Board signed clearly states what they were getting into and purchasing.

Village Budget--Minimal Increase

Bad economy, bad times. We all would like to see reductions, like most others did with local taxes. Few have any extra money to spend, with layoffs and reductions, but I also want to see the roads improved. Especially when they do 180's on new development plans.

Pool? Needed not so much but I guess will help attract Triathalons and Olympics.

Click here and here and here

Gee, maybe Village Should have one of these :-)

Tell the truth: Burlington Liars have lots of fun

(Click here)

Texas J's Gentlemen Club

Kenosha News reported that the Club was moving to a site on Sheridan Road. If State condemns and needs land for interstate, why doesn't the State provide some area for them along interstate instead of further within the Village? Time for Village to beef up their ordinances to prevent this ridiculous move.

Have a Safe and Enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Uline and Pleasant Prairie Pool

Let's hope this is just the tip of the iceberg for good news for Pleasant Prairie. $8 million dollars should build a very nice pool. Let's be open with costs and how funded and maintained. I know RecPlex has done OK but IcePlex has struggled financially. Can the facilities be used to enhance Pleasant Prairie Family Days and help them with its financial issues?
With Obama as President, and his Chicago connections, along with Miles White / Abbott and Olympic Committee connections, and the Village's Triathlon successes, the Village should make for a strong case to have multiple Olympic events here in Pleasant Prairie.
Maybe we can get Abbott to fund an enhanced bike trail system, along with pedestrian bridges over major roads and such, to Prairie Springs Park and West of I94, to enhance that aspect for future Olympic bid plus allow for more healthy bicycle and pedestrian traffic from Village homes to the new facilities and jobs West of I94. Would also improve air quality and residents health as was discussed in 2030 Smart Growth plans.

Coal to sustain We Energies bills

I was hoping we'd see some savings this year.

Click here

10,000 HITS!!!!!

Thank you all for taking time to view my blog.

CDO and School Board

Again, what is the School Board afraid of? So now the Kenosha News, NY Times, and National Public Radio have all misquoted Mr. Hujik? Gee, you think someone would get the story straight, or maybe they have? Maybe the Public Relation firm isn't so smart for letting him talk with anyone. Another good use of taxpayer money.

Click here

SIgn of the Times

Village has admitted that budget is in trouble and jobs will be eliminated. What's next?

Didn't the Village supposedly save a bunch of money two years ago when they announced a last minute switch to a different healthcare provider? Now the rate goes up 20% when most everyone else is dealing with 9% or less? So maybe it is time to switch providers again.

Click here.

Village Meetings

Budget meeting at 8 AM tomorrow (Sat. Nov. 8th).

Two meetings Monday, Nov. 10th.

Plan Commission Meeting:

A. PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A FINAL PLAT, DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT AND RELATED DOCUMENTS for the request Fouad Saab, agent, for JM Squared LLC, owner, for the approximate 15 acre property, generally located on the west side of 28th Avenue, south of 116th Street, at the approximate 11900 Block, for the proposed 19 lot single-family subdivision to be known as The Orchard Subdivision.

B. PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF AN EXTENSION TO A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT at the request of Tom Ventimiglia, Asset Manager for Wisconsin Electric Power Company, on behalf of Alstom Power, an international manufacturer of capital equipment for the power generation industry, to extend the operational time frame of the currently-in-use Carbon Capture Pilot Test Project (or Carbon Dioxide removal) technology at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant located at 8000 95th Street.

C. PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT to amend Section 420-75 I of the Village Zoning Ordinance related to the Official Public Signs.

D. Consider the request of Mark Gumbinger owner of the property located at 9928 32nd Avenue to install street lights within the Rolling Meadows Subdivision.

Village Board (right after PC meeting):

Presentation of the Proposed 2009 General Fund, Capital and Debt, Water Utility, Sewer Utility, Solid Waste Fund, Clean Water Utility and Fleet Internal Service Fund.

Photo 28 is mine

Click here and scroll to photo 28.

Get Out and Vote!

No excuses not to vote. Make your vote count. Good luck to all the candidates and may the most popular candidate win! (joke)

Speaking of Railroad Tracks

Village Newsletter item:

Click here.

Supposedly less parked trains on Bain Station Road but Railroad Commissioner still hasn't made a decision whether Bain Station Road railroad crossings will be closed. Too bad we couldn't get radio alert, like Village, if train currently blocking crossing.

Railroad tracks and other things

If any of the language is offensive to the reader, please forgive the author of this story.

Subject: Railroad tracks and other things

RAILROAD TRACKS ARE HOW WIDE APART?

Does the statement, 'We've always done it like that' ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and the English expatriates built the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a Specification/Procedure/Process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with it?' you may be Exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of the rear ends of two war horses... or two horses' asses. Now, the twist to the story: When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. And the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything.... And the rest of the story is for you to figure out.

Bill, Going to Miss Your Columns

Bill Guida's weekly local column has been discountinued (click here)

Too bad. Always entertaining. Thanks Bill.

Classic

Time for some fun

I miss the vitriolic anonymous, so here goes: Vote for Alex Tiahnybok for State Assembly District 65 seat!

Click here

And for those of you who just can't, get your wallets out: click here (Does Abbott support him?)

ULIne

In case you were interested. Click here

The Orchard subdivision final plat coming soon to Plan Commission.

Final plat upcoming (10th day of November 2008 on or after 5:00 P.M.).

When will it start? Also very dependent on Prairie Trails East.

Economy may be a factor too (click here).

Been a long road for all involved.

KUSD Files Suit

Here we go!

Here's what really bothers me "Even if the districts win the lawsuit, it's possible they wouldn't get fully refunded for their investment, and could still end up paying millions in legal fees."

Click here.

Abbott Ready to Build

Click here

Plan Commission and Special Village Board Meetings Monday, Sept. 29th

What's the rush?

A. Consider Resolution #08-34 – Resolution authorizing Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Easements by and between Pleasant Prairie Land Association, Inc., PDD, LLC, KABA Development, LLC, the Village of Pleasant Prairie Community Development Authority and the Village of Pleasant Prairie.

Click here and check out VB and PC meetings link.

Mead Johnson looking at Chicago for headquarters

Since Abbott is in no hurry....Click here.

Anonymity opens up split personality zone

Here's one for anonymous (click here)

Abbott News--Abbott Denies Anything Happening!

While one of the projects involves the closure of its Whippany, New Jersey, manufacturing plant with its associated equipment dismantlement and environmental monitoring, the largest project of Abbott currently tracked by Industrial Info is the $150 million Phase I construction of the Pleasant Prairie Lifescience Campus in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The facility will occupy a 500-acre site and eventually encompass 3.5 million square feet of research, light production and administrative facilities. Phase I will involve the construction of over 300,000 feet of the project and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012.

In Kenosha News today, Abbott claims they have no timeline and that the above story that was reported is incorrect. So much for Mr. Anonymous' brilliant observations (see comments).

Click here to see story.

Special Village Board Meeting--Closed Session

FYI--The Village Board has scheduled a closed session for 5:30 today to discuss a possible promotion, compensation and performance evaluation of a management staff employee.

Speculation is Tom Shircel.

Jobs Guarantee Agreement--Good News for Pleasant Prairie

Nice to see some guarantees and movement. Who's next?

Two separate, but related, agreements aimed at securing 500 new jobs in Pleasant Prairie, as a result of the development of the new Uline Corporate Campus, were reviewed and approved by the Pleasant Prairie Village Board on September 15.

Click here and here.

Mudslinging in full gear

Just think of how much more we have yet to endure. Is there any impartiality out there? Glad they decided to stop the negative ads for today since it is 9/11 anniversary. Why not completely for the rest of the campaign? Sad reflection on our society. What are we teaching our kids? I haven't made up my mind but find the whole thing repulsive. (click here).

Pleasant Prairie to put prime sites on the market

In the next one to two months, the Village of Pleasant Prairie will put a pair of prime development sites on the market, said Village Administrator Michael Pollocoff. The two sites are located near the rapidly developing I-94 and Highway 165/Q interchange.

Click here

Empty promise--Milwaukee Public Schools spent $102 million....

Interesting article; lessons to be learned?

Click here

Trustee calls for routine updates on village budget

I wonder how ours is doing with the markets in turmoil and housing starts down significantly?

Click here

Did Prairie Family Days make money this year with the changes that were called for by Trustee #3?

School board will consider going after firm over CDO losses

An attorney for the district is currently reviewing the contract with the law firm, and the board is expected to decide at an 8 p.m. special meeting at the Educational Support Center, 3600 52nd St.

Pam Stevens, board president, said the meeting won't be open to public comments.

District representatives earlier said they were duped into the investment after saying for months that it was safe and would pay out at full value by 2013. Officials said Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Inc., the district's financial adviser David Noack, and the Royal Bank of Canada Ltd., could be part of any potential lawsuit. WHICH REPRESENTATIVE WAS DUPED?

Kurt Kromm, who was at last week's regular school board meeting to make a public records request regarding the CDO, said when he asked for information earlier, he was referred to the public relations firm, but didn't receive an answer. Carl Bryan, 18, who unsuccessfully ran for school board in April, said he, too, was referred to the PR firm and didn't get a response."My response to that is it's my job to deal with the media, and any individual responses should be directed to elected officials," Peterson said. Stevens said she spoke with Kromm and Bryan privately after the school board meeting about the CDO, but the board and administrators believed the PR firm was answering all questions."(We were) under the impression that all questions should be directed to the PR firm," she said. "We are clarifying that, but I don't have a problem with taxpayers calling me and asking me questions."

Click here.

This Should Be An Interesting Item--VB Meeting (Updated)

A. Receive Petition to create an ordinance prohibiting vehicle parking for more than 24 hours in front of a residence other than the person’s own residence.

Other items of interest:

D. Consider Ordinance #08-49 to amend Section 420-49 E of the Village Zoning Ordinance related to recreational vehicles. (Click here for latest developemnets)

E. Consider Ordinance #08-50 to amend Section 305-6 of the Village Municipal Code related the concrete driveways.

Libel Definition

li·bel
noun
any false and malicious written or printed statement, or any sign, picture, or effigy, tending to expose a person to public ridicule, hatred, or contempt or to injure a person's reputation in any way
the act of publishing or displaying publicly such a thing
anything that gives an unflattering or damaging picture of the subject with which it is dealing
in ecclesiastical law and formerly in maritime law, a written statement containing the plaintiff's grievances; initial pleading
to publish or make a libel against
to give an unflattering or damaging picture of
to bring suit against by presenting a libel ()

More on KUSD CDO

Will be interesting to see who is right, although I doubt we will. Shame on both parties. I wonder how many lawsuits for slander/libel we'll see? (Click here).

RV Ordinance

I hope it is a good one.

PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT to amend Section 420-49 E of the Village Zoning Ordinance related to Recreational Vehicles.

And It Gets Worse--Unified victimized by investment scheme

Click here and here. I wrote previous blogs about this.

Abbott to trim 1,000 jobs in global cost-cutting

So much for Abbott in Pleasant Prairie. (click here)

A lot of hope (click here)

Neighborhoods For Sale

Interesting series of articles by the Chicago Tribune on zoning and housing. (click here).

Better Names for Local Sports Teams?

The Board will vote on a new team agreement between the Village and the new junior hockey league:

Receive Recreation Commission recommendation and consider a one year agreement between the Village and the Pleasant Prairie Ice Devils for operation of a junior hockey league at the IcePlex.

We already have the Pleasant Prairie Predators and now they want the new junior hockey team to be called the Ice Devils? Can't we come up with better names for kids sports teams?

Just Sit at Any Stop Sign on 39th!

The Pleasant Prairie Police Department today announced it will join other police agencies throughout the country in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving this August 15–September 1, known by its tagline: Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.

Clcik here.

Wonderful!

More layoffs planned for Pleasant Prairie plant

GBC, Commercial Products Group, the former General Binding Corp., has informed state officials that it intends to permanently cut 75 more jobs from its plant in Pleasant Prairie beginning this fall. Click here.

Some Good Financial News for Village

Click here. Considering the financial environment, this is good news for the Village taxpayers.

Willy Wonka Jr at Bradford High School--All Shows 7PM

As Someone Said "What, No TIF, and Saving Taxpayers Money?"

Delisle said the property taxes from the park will help subsidize homeowners' taxes. Click here.

News for Longaberger Fans

Longaberger also announced it will open a factory store Thursday at Jelly Belly Candy Co.’s Wisconsin Distribution Center in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., for a six-month trial period. The store will offer retired baskets, wrought iron and pottery, as it does at The Homestead, near Frazeysburg. Click here.

Missing Anything?

We have metal collectors driving through our neighborhood with their big, noisy trucks the evening before and early morning of trash / recycling day. Yesterday evening, one of these guys in a big white moving-type truck (looks like he painted with a can of spray paint over the old paint job) tried to take one of our neighbor kids brand new bikes because it was in our driveway near street. My wife stopped him and he said "then you shouldn't leave it by end of driveway". I won't repeat what she said to him but he's lucky I wasn't there. I told my wife to call police next time and I'll be watching for them. I've already asked PPPD about it and they said to call them if it is a problem. I suggest you watch out for them and do the same.

Abbott plans 'very small' layoff

July 19, 2008

NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT

NORTH CHICAGO -- Abbott Laboratories will lay off a "very small number" of employees in coming weeks as part of what a company spokesman termed a departmental restructuring.
Abbott spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch, while declining to say how many employees will be affected, said Friday that the company is "making a few changes in our diagnostics unit (to) improve our business efficiency."
The cuts will include management-level employees at Abbott Park.
Late last year, the company laid off some 1,200 people from manufacturing jobs in California and Ireland. That number represented less than 2 percent of Abbott's global work force of 65,000.
News of the latest cuts came two days after the company announced strong worldwide sales and net income during the second quarter, which ended June 30.

Here's an Interesting Train Tidbit and WE Energies

Click here.

Anyone Afraid We Will Lose Village Appointed Staff?

Dick Ginkowski asked to have an evaluation of the Village Staff compensation. Does anyone feel this is necessary? Click here.

This is not good news for Pleasant Prairie

Wisconsin high court backs Walgreens on property taxes (click here).

7/7/2008 | Pleasant Prairie Village Board

Talk About Confusing.

Why would Village deny Prairie Trails East Final Plat:

B. Consider Resolution #08-26 to deny the Final Plat for the first stage of the Prairie Trails East Subdivision.

When this subdivision requires Prairie Trails East approval before The Orchard can do anything?

A. Consider the request of Christopher Jackson, P.E. of CJ Engineering, on behalf of JM Squared LLC, owner, for a Variance from Section 395-60 C of the Land Division and Development Control Ordinance related to 120th Street exceeding the maximum 800 foot cul-de-sac length within The Orchard Subdivision that is generally located on the west side of 28th Avenue, south of 116th Street, at the approximate 11900 Block.

New St. Anne Catholic Church Blog

St. Anne blog (click here)

Railroad crossing at Bain Station Road

Click here. We received letters on this a couple of days ago.

CDO Still Losing Money--Getting Ridiculous

UPDATE--click here:

Unified School Board member Mark Hujik told the Kenosha News that the districts invested in bonds rated AA and AAA that would pay out at face value by December 2013. But upon closer examination, the school districts bought into much riskier credit default swaps that Wall Street has had to write down in value because many investors dumped the investments and there are no buyers, financial experts said.

This suggests that nobody was qualified or understood these investments, but apparently, we don't have the right to question according to a certain Board member's VOP. Sad and costly.

Click here.

As the value of the CDO continues to fall, it appears Kenosha Unified and the other four districts that bought into the plan didn't invest in bonds as they had thought, but instead purchased credit default swaps.

"We believe our role was essentially an adviser and placement agent," he added. "We may have helped, but these school districts represented themselves as sophisticated investors, that they understood what they were buying. I don't know what they were told because I wasn't there. I don't know what was orally represented. They are not bonds. I can tell you that is in the written documents they got at closing and these papers were vetted at all levels of management."

Eric Olson's recent VOP says we are OK. I sure hope he's right.

Home prices post record 15.3% drop

Home prices post record 15.3% drop
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index has fallen for 21 straight months. Click here.

Village says not so significant. Click here.

Creating New School District--Caledonia Study Results

Clcik here.

Cheaper to stay in Unified, Caledonia residents told.

Reinforces thoughts of leaving would create more expense. Perhaps there are ways to do so and contract out services? Overall, doesn't look like feasible with current regulatory environment. Just my opinion anonymous.

Carol Beach Area to Undergo Hazardous Waste Testing--UPDATE

from Kenosha News (Click here). New info (Clcik here). Could be worse (Click here).

The Corps is meeting with the owners of the properties between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Southwest Library to discuss what will happen at a 6:30 p.m. session that day open to the owners and the public, said Marie DeVito, Carol Beach Homeowners Association president.

DeVito said the property owners plan to meet privately at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 28, at the library for a follow-up discussion.

Village Manager Position in Downers Grove, IL

Click here, then on link under Village Manager

80th Street options don't thrill village residents

From yesterday's and today's Kenosha News articles:

Plans showed 80th Street being extended since at least 1957, officials have said.

Village officials wouldn’t reveal the options before the meeting. WHY?

“The board hasn’t grasped the idea of what we’re trying to preserve here,” she said. “Maybe that’s the goal for the meeting.”

Still, no final decisions were made at Thursday's special board meeting held Thursday night, which covered three options for connections on 79th Street and 55th Avenue. Click here.

Neighbors told the board they did not want the extension because they didn't want the increased traffic and speed along 80th Street, but Village Board members said plans for the project are really already in place because dead end roads are a safety issue. SO THEN WHY DO THEY KEEP GIVING VARIANCES FOR "TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT" CUL-DE-SACS?

Neighbors opposed all of the options and queried the board on how willing they were to put up a gate that would only allow emergency vehicles through on 55th Avenue at the newly created 80th Street, but board members said they would not support a gate. THEY SUPPORTED A GATED CROSSING AT THE BIKE TRAIL.

After two and a half hours of somewhat heated exchanges, the group of about 40 neighbors decided they would consider the alternatives and give the Village Board an answer on Monday.

Here's a Familair Scene--Intersection Concerns

Residents living along a dead-end road — and hoping to keep it that way — have convinced village officials to discuss concerns about plans to connect it to a main street. The Pleasant Prairie Village Board will have a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Village Hall, 9915 39th Ave., with those residents to review details on why the roadway, 55th Avenue, is to intersect with an extension of 80th Street. The meeting is open to the public.

Village officials (who?) also argued that snow-plowing and garbage vehicles would not have to turn around in the 55th Avenue dead-end if there were an intersection with 80th Street. (Not a probelm if they put in one of their famous 'temporary' cul-de-sacs!).

A dozen residents of the neighborhood told the board Monday that opening 55th Avenue would ruin the neighborhood feel, create traffic that likely will exceed the speed limit, and place children — who don’t have sidewalks to ride and play on — in danger. (Exact same arguments we used to prevent bike trail crossing). I'm sure the Boards reaction was "HoHum, here we go again".

“The hazards exceed the benefits” (Same for bike trail users).

“It would add 35 seconds” saying that it was not a significant delay. (Again, same used).

The board’s reaction to the residents’ concerns might make a difference come election time (watch it!), others suggested a grassy area at the end of 55th Avenue where it would connect with 80th Street be restricted to emergency vehicle use. (Again, sound familiar to bike trail crossing?)

Village President John Steinbrink said possible options to address the concerns would be outlined at the Thursday meeting. He noted that residents had a lot of wrong information. (Who's fault is that!) In the end, the Village will use another area against them and/or say that it was always designed that way, and sorry, we can't help you. They'll piss off everyone else if they do anything different. So sad that they feel that their progress is more important than keeping neighborhoods the way they were. Like I said before, if it was their neighborhoods, then they'd actually do something about it (NIMBY). Propose a main road for new downtown through area across 39th by Village Hall and you-know-who would have a fit!

Village Amendments for Curb and Gutter and First Lift of Asphalt--UPDATE

Click here. Seems prices expected to rise significantly June 30th.

Seems that a number of developers are asking to pave their roads early. Hope Village takes necessary precautions to prevent what happened in Prairie Trails West Addition 1. Let's hope these Developers don't bring new meaning to the word 'asphalt'.

Click here and click on 06-16-08 VB Agenda.pdf file

I. Consider the request of Michael Dilworth for an amendment to the Development Agreement for The Settlement at Bain Station Crossing Subdivision to install curb and gutter and the first lift of asphalt prior to 50% of the homes being completed within the development.

J. Consider the request of Mark Bourque for an amendment to the Development Agreement for Ashbury Creek Subdivision to install curb and gutter and the first lift of asphalt prior to 50% of the homes being completed within the development.

K. Consider the request of Quinton Ackerman for an amendment to the Development Agreement for the Kings Cove Subdivision to install curb and gutter and the first lift of asphalt prior to 50% of the homes being completed within the development.

L. Consider the request of Doug Stanich for an amendment to the Development Agreement for the Westfield Heights Subdivision to install curb and gutter and the first lift of asphalt prior to 50% of the homes being completed within the development.

More on CDO--Seems Nobody is Sure About Anything

Click here.

From Kenosha News:

LAUREL - To the four Kenosha Unified School Board members who support an independent study of a controversial district investment program. Gilbert Ostman, Pam Stevens, Rebecca Stevens and JoAnn Taube all say they would welcome an objective assessment of the collateralized debt obligation investment program, which, depending on your source, is either comfortably profitable or awash in red ink. Since no one really seems to know for sure - and since the stakes are so high - it's clear to us that an independent audit is not only desireable, it's essential.

DART - To the three School Board members not quite so eager to embrace an outside assessment of the investments. To varying degrees, Marc Hujik, Eric Olson and board president (correction to KNews; Board President is Pam Stevens) Dave Fountain objected to the possibility of an independent review. Why? If the program is sound, let's get answers to the many troubling questions it has generated. And if the program is in trouble, let's find out now, while there still might be time for corrective action. To do nothing while the apprehension continues to build strikes us as the worst possible option.

Prairie Trails East--More Extensions

Item for Monday's Village Board meeting. He's already asked for one extension. How many are they going to give him? Oh well, hope it never happens as nobody wants the bike trail crossed with a road.

H. Consider the request of Ted Pickus, agent for Prairie Trails LLC for a one (1) year extension of the Preliminary Plat of Prairie Trails East and a one (1) year extension to comply with the conditions of the Final Plat for the first stage of the Prairie Trails East Subdivision.

More on CDO KUSD Debacle

Click here.

I like how KUSD keeps reiterating that no one was concerned before. Clyde Allen wanted more information, along with others, because few understood these investments. I'd like to hear the Village Boards response to the report after their finance guys presentation. So what do they think since they asked for this review? Let's get it out on the table.

School Commission Update II

Click here.

New story Click Here--Finance adviser recommends Unified hire impartial agency (didn't someone already recommend this?).

Here's a great line--"I don't recall Pleasant Prairie or anyone complaining when the value was at 134 percent," said School Board member Eric Olson. "But people want to make trouble now even though it's a seven-year (investment) to take care of our long-term debt.

So we have no right to be concerned when their unwise choice could cost us millions of dollars? Vote this guy out!

A follow-up report related to the creation of a new school district was also shared on June 5 by Village legal counsel in response to residents’ requests to investigate the possibility. “The report demonstrated that separation from Kenosha Unified would be a daunting process,” added Pollocoff. “Essentially, a group of citizens would be responsible for moving the process along, and it would require support from 20% of those who could potentially be registered to vote within the district.” There appeared to be no support from the School Commission for further investigation of the matter. Residents who had initially requested the information were not present for the presentation and have not indicated any further interest to Village representatives. The Commission voted to receive and file the report and to forward copies to the Village Board and Kenosha Unified for their review.

I guess it is up to the citizens if they want to get anything done according to Village. What was the original requesters response to CDO report?

What Happened to the Tornado Sirens?--Update

Last night, the siren went off near my house and we headed to the basement. After a minute or so, the sirens went off and stayed off even though the Weather Channel and radio stations were reporting Kenosha County (Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie) were under a tornado warning until 9:30 PM. Why weren't our sirens still going? I talked with people in Kenosha and they said the sirens continued all throughout warning. What gives?

I spoke with Chief of Fire & Rescue Paul G. Guilbert, Jr. and he stated that the sirens are activated by County Emergency when: 1) NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) notifies them (detects possible rotation--like you see on Weather Channel); or 2) a Police, Fire , or trained spotter sees a funnel cloud or tornado. The siren will go off for about three, one minute cycles and that's it; no continuous cycling. Then you are dependent on radio and TV for updates for when emergency is over (he suggested a NOAA Weather Radio in case power goes off; I told him I had recently won a NOAA Emergency Radio that has a hand crank from The Weather Channel emergency preparedness contest). There is NO all clear signal (holdover from the 1950's Civil Defense Days) but you may hear more than once if multiple sightings (like in January--three times/three cycles). I told him that we can also hear the Illinois sirens and that it can sometimes be confusing as to which ones are going off. He did state that high winds can also affect people's ability to hear sirens and that some people did call because their sirens did not go off.

Breaking free from Unified could be an uphill battle for Pleasant Prairie

Click here.

Village Board Trustee Steve Kumorkiewicz--He said costs for seceding probably would be prohibitive, considering Pleasant Prairie would have to purchase Unified school buildings and assume a part of the district's debt, among other costs. He said there were no estimates how much that would be.

Haven't we already paid for these buildings? Weren't people asking to find out what exactly it would take to do this? Wasn't that the whole point of these meetings???

District losing money on investment

Click here.

A controversial investment to help fund retiree benefits has cost the Kenosha Unified School District $214,000 more than it has earned since 2006, according to an analysis by an independent consultant for the Pleasant Prairie School Commission.

Tiahnybok to Challenge Steinbrink for Assembly

Click here.

Should be interesting.

Link is active (Click here).

Water Bills, Assessments, Carol Beach

Click here and here for links to Carol Beach article and Village website news, respectively. I'm sure it will generate lots of comments.

My assessment dropped 2.2%. How about the rest of you? Mr. Vita was kind enough to send me assessments for our entire subdivision.

Someone has commented about high sewer and water bills. What I know is that we have to pay for our water and sewer services from City of Kenosha in part because of Great Lakes Water agreement. Kenosha charges us more for water than anyone else in the area (how much is due to PP, I don't know). We also pay sewer fees that appear to subsidize Kenosha residents. Not fair but not sure what can be done about it either. Perhaps we can get water from Illinois if they get Lake access at a cheaper rate??? Highly doubtful, but I'm thankful we have an abundant clean source of water.

Assessments

Click here.

Assessments are based on sales of similar properties.

"In that case we'd point out the sales that occurred in their vicinity and say that Pleasant Prairie isn't acting like other states in the country" where the housing market has collapsed, he said.

Well, a house just sold in my area for 17% less than it's assessed value. Others have also sold for less than assessed value (-15 to -2%). Only one or two for assessed value or above and one of those had illegal improvements that the new homeowners got nailed on. So I guess we'll see real big drops next time around. All depends on what happens in next two years. Not that it really matters as you pay either way.

Village Board Meeting Monday, June 2nd

I won't be able to make meeting (my birthday and daughter's Band and Choir concert).

A. Consider Resolution #08-22 - Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $2,940,000 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2008C.

B. Consider Resolution #08-23 - Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $950,000 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2008D.

C. Consider Resolution #08-24 - Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $500,000 General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2008C.

D. Consider Resolution #08-25 - Resolution Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $7,550,000 Taxable General Obligation Promissory Notes, Series 2008D.

Assessment Notices Here

Click here. I've been tracking area house sales and assessments in my area. One house just sold for over 17% less than it was assessed. This house was built in November of 2001 and sold for nearly the same price as it did in 2002 when it was sold one year after being built. I wonder what the 2008 assessment will look like?

Here for more.

D.A.R.E. 16th ANNUAL D.A.R.E./DEPUTY FRIENDLY GOLF OUTING

D.A.R.E.
16th ANNUAL D.A.R.E./DEPUTY FRIENDLY
GOLF OUTING

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2008
10:00 Registration
11:00 Shotgun Start

Only $65.00 per person
Includes: Golf, Cart, Lunch, Door Prizes & Dinner
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REGISTRATION FORM

Step 1 PICK YOUR GOLF COURSE

_____Twin Lakes Country Club - (36 Foursomes) _____Nippersink - (18 Foursomes)


Step 2 GOLFERS NAMES

NAMES OF GOLFERS: PHONE OR E-MAIL (prefer email)

1.___________________ __________________________
2._____________________________ __________________________
3._____________________________ __________________________
4._____________________________ __________________________

Step 3 SPONSORSHIP (Please ask each person in your foursome about sponsoring a hole.)

_____ YES! I want to sponsor _____ hole(s) at $50 each.
_____ I would like to donate a prize to the Raffle Table! Please contact me.

Step 4 RETURN BY JULY 18, 2008 (PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO D.A.R.E.)

Please send this form AND payment to:
D.A.R.E. Golf Outing - 1000 55th Street Kenosha, WI 53140

Payment(s) Enclosed
Registration $
Hole Sponsorship $

Note: Your registration will be at the course you have selected above. After golf, join us at the Twin Lakes Country Club Pavilion for dinner and prizes. Door prizes will be distributed after golfing. Any questions, please call Deputy Rowe at 605-5128

Special Village Board Meeting--Closed Session

AGENDA Special Meeting VILLAGE OF PLEASANT PRAIRIE VILLAGE BOARD (Click here)

Village Hall Auditorium 9915 – 39th Avenue Pleasant Prairie, WIMay 27, 2008

Immediately following the 5 p.m. Plan Commission Meeting

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Citizen Comments (Please be advised per State Statute Section 19.84(2), information will be received from the public and there may be limited discussion on the information received. However, no action will be taken under public comments.)
4. New Business

A. Consider Time Warner’s Cable Application for a State-Issued Certificate of Franchise Authority.

B. Consider Whether to Enter into Closed Session Under Wis. Stat. Section 19.85(1)(e) to Discuss Negotiation of Specific Issues Involving the Cooperative Agreement between the Village of Pleasant Prairie and the Town of Bristol, because Competitive or Bargaining Reasons Require a Closed Session.

5. Village Board Comments

6. Adjournment. The Village Hall is handicapped accessible. If you have other special needs, please contact the Village Clerk, 9915 – 39th Avenue, Pleasant Prairie, WI (262) 694-1400

Public Works Director Fred Patrie Retiring

Congratulations to Mr. Patrie and good luck on his retirement. He was instrumental in preventing the Village from creating an ill advised, risky public road crossing at 122nd Street and 32nd Avenue across a pristine stretch of the Kenosha County Bike Trail. We hope his predecessor is as wise.

(click here) Also Tuesday, Clark announced that Public Works Director Fred Patrie has notified the county he will retire June 18. Patrie has also been working as the county executive's chief of staff since former executive Allan Kehl resigned March 31.

Controlled House Burn Lights Up Sky

Village burned down the old tatoo parlor on Sheridan Road north of Russell Road last night as a training exercise. Two or three more burns to happen in the next few months.

School Commission Meeting last Night

I have received multiple e-mails from people present at last nights meeting. Very diverse opinions but consensus was that more needs to be done and reviewed.

I will reserve comment until I have a chance to hear the audio and/or see written minutes. Here's link to Kenosha News report (click here).

Audio now available (click here).

Property Assessments

From Kenosha News preview: The city on Friday will start mailing out reassessments, which show a 4-percent increase from the 2006 reassessments. That smaller-than-average increase is a reflection of a weakened economy and housing market, the city's assessor said.

Village of Pleasant Prairie Notice of Meeting to Adjourn Board of Review to Later Date

Board of Review will meet on the 4th day of June, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. at the Village Hall Auditorium, 9915 – 39th Avenue, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, for the purpose of calling the Board of Review into session during the thirty-day period beginning on the 2nd Monday of May, pursuant to Section 70.47 (1) of Wis. Statutes.

Due to the fact the assessment roll is not completed at this time, it is anticipated that the Board of Review will be adjourned until the 25th day of June, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. Pursuant to Section 70.45 of Wis. Statutes, the assessment roll for the Year 2008 assessment will be open for examination on June 13, 2008, at the Village Hall, 9915 –39th Avenue, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Instructional material about the assessmentand Board of Review procedures will be available at that time for information on how to file an objection and the Board of Review procedures under Wisconsin law. Notice is hereby give this 19th dayof May, 2008.

School Commission Meeting Thursday, May 15th

Attend if you can (I can't but meeting is supposed to be recorded and Meeting Minutes written). Ask detailed questions. Are the KUSD people going to be there? Are their numbers real or fluff? No agenda yet (click here).

6 PM Village Hall auditorium

A. Consider Request of the Pleasant Prairie Village Board of Trustees to Evaluate the Investment Issues Surrounding the Kenosha Unified School District Post Employment Retirement Benefits.
I. Receive Report From Eugene Schulz of Piper Jaffray, the Village of Pleasant Prairie Financial Advisor Concerning the Investment Instruments Used By the Kenosha Unified School District.
II. Receive Report From William Johnston, Kenosha Unified School District Financial Director.
III. Recommendation of the School Commission.

Village Seeks Commission Members

Here's your chance to serve your community (click here).

Two alternates are needed for a one-year appointment to the Park Commission

One alternate is needed for a one-year appointment to the Recreation Commission

One member is needed for a two-year term, also on the Recreation Commission

One member is needed for a two-year appointment to the School Commission (I nominate John Roscioli)

New President Pro-Tem Monica Yuhas

Monica Yuhas was unanimously (Trustee Serpe was late but wanted to vote for her) elected President Pro-Tem should something happen to current President where they would be unable to make a meeting. A great first for the Village and one that I'm sure many would wholeheartedly support. Good luck to Monica who very much deserves this special honor for her go get'em attitude.

Citizen Comments

The Antioch Village Board has adopted a new procedure for allowing Citizen's Comments throughout meeting, and to streamline meetings by adding items to the Consent Agenda (click here).

"""Velan said it is common to group routine items, including accounts payable, special event licenses and second readings of ordinances, together for board action. "It is a time-saving measure," she said. """

Although Village does use some of the suggested new procedures already, there is an opportunity to streamline further since some felt meetings were too long and recently tried to move meeting time up. The ability to comment on agenda items, similar to format for Plan Commission, would be a welcome change.

Village Wisely Keeps 6:30 PM Village Board Meeting Start Time

Although it was clear who wanted the change, it was also clear that no other Trustee supported. I guess some people just don't learn from past experience.

Update From Kenosha News

Scott Pierce, former superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District, has been offered a contract for the top administrator job at the Central High School District in Paddock Lake. Pierce, who retired from Unified last summer and is currently the president of the Milwaukee Academy of Science in Milwaukee, became the school board’s choice after a second interview Saturday, a press release made public Monday said. Central currently has an interim superintendent, Ken Moe, whose contract expires in June. The board began the process of finding a permanent superintendent after Douglas Potter announced earlier this year that he would not be returning from a medical leave.The contract offered Pierce includes an annual salary of $125,000 and a start date of July 1.

Village Attempting to Change Village Board Meeting Start Times

J. Consider Resolution #08-17 - Resolution to Change the Start Time for Village Board meetings to 6:00 p.m.

Shooting (FALSE) rumors prompt students to leave Tremper High School

here

Update on PPSD-- PPSC Meeting May 8th, 6PM

I added link to newest Kenosha News article (click here and here). Seems there are other 'radicals' "insert all previous anonymous name callings here' in the Village that have similar ideas. Love the mention of blogs...hmmm, whose blogs could that be? :-) ("Preston said he's been in contact with several people as part of an online blog who want the idea implemented or at least considered. ") And to think Michael Pollocoff mentioned that blogs weren't a way to discuss items at a recent Village Board meeting. We do serve a purpose Mr. Anonymous! Doesn't take a Ph.D. to write one or respond either (tongue-in-cheek).

Click here (The "REEL" and visible Truth about PLEASANT PRAIRIE) & here (The (Somewhat) Daily RAG). Here is State of Wisconsin Site: (click here). Interesting idea. Are the schools up to residents standards? Are we getting our monies worth? Is the current KUSD Board putting our Village taxpayers at risk? (click here). Does this sound a little familiar? (click here). What do you think? or add comments to the Blogs linked above

Meeting Tonight on 80th Street Extension

Kenosha News article (click here). Arguments are similar to public road crossing and extension of 122nd street across Kenosha County Bike Trail (always been in plan, benefits all residents....). Donate land to LAWCON (or LCWF--Land & Water Conservation Fund program--here) if you want to stop as that's what killed the public road crossing. At last night's Plan Commission meeting, the Village talked about not telling or forcing people what to do with their land. Should be an interesting meeting (public notice link and here).

Check Out Mr. Pollocoff's Seven Questions in Kenosha News Today

Intriguing. here

Article Link to Carol Beach Water Problems

Here's a link to Kenosha News article (click here; Village link--click here). Glad to hear that 30 residents turned out for the meeting and also to hear that a number of them spoke out on the subject. Good for them. Hope that something can be done to help both Village and affected residents. Perhaps some Katrina like funds from federal government? Maybe create a special district that qualifies for federal funds? The DNR could have helped answer some of those questions. Were they invited? Special assessments are always tough. Maybe create a POA and charge fees to be used to offset work like a Tax Incremental Finance District bond???

(Anonymous--I checked my spelling but obviously, I didn't do all my homework).

Some Nice Pictures from Local Area Photographers

Check out these sites for some very nice nature shots:

Dick Ginkowski (here)

John Krerowicz (here)

Why Doesn't Village Website Link to News Stories?

The Kenosha News wrote articles questioning KUSD finances and Village Trustee #3's concerns (click link and see below or link sidebar). Why doesn't Village website link to these stories when they occur? Not everyone receives the Kenosha News but could link through the Village's website. I believe the Village is missing out on a great opportunity to let residents know they are involved; especially when some of the quotes were not discussed during the Village Board meeting and they wouldn't be available by audio or Meeting Minutes (i.e. quote on succession).

Pleasant Prairie to conduct probe into school district’s losing CDO
BY JOHN KREROWICZ
PLEASANT PRAIRIE — An inquiry into a Unified School District investment that has lost almost half its value is to be conducted by the Pleasant Prairie School Commission. The Village Board, at Trustee Clyde Allen’s behest, voted Monday to have the commission question school officials and report back to the board about what’s called collateralized debt obligation (CDO), which is being used to help fund Unified retirement accounts. The 2006 investment dipped to $18.4 million in early April, down from the original pay-in of $37.5 million. Unified officials have said the investment is safe, is bringing in more money than it costs and will return all of the district’s principal at maturity. Unified borrowed money and added its own funds to invest in the CDO, which made loans to companies — some of which are not doing well financially now — that are to repay the borrowed dollars with interest. Allen said he hoped and assumed that Unified’s financial position was solid in the matter. He said Pleasant Prairie property owners have a major stake in the situation because they fund about a fourth of Unified’s tax levy while village children make up about 12 percent of the student body. Allen asked village Finance Director Kathy Goessl whether she would recommend investing in such an arrangement. “From what I’ve read, I would not recommend the village invest in CDOs,” she said. Allen said he wanted the commission to bring back recommendations to the board. He later said recommendations could be about anything, including that taxpayers’ money was safe in the complex investment plan.
Allen said his intention in wanting the investigation was not to promote the village seceding from the Unified district. “That’s not even in the scope” of the review, he said. “My scope was to know what’s going on.” The first commission session to delve into CDO could be in May. There was discussion by the board about the commission possibly working through the summer to investigate and prepare a summary. The commission’s members include trustees Monica Yuhas and Steve Kumorkiewicz, who is commission chairman, and residents Linda Chiappetta, Patricia Molette, Carolyn Budwick and Debbie Koessl. The group is a liaison between the village and Unified.

Comments have deviated from original story

I changed this as some have decided to take it in a new direction.

I Felt the Earthquake...

Woke up and thought that this sounds just like the Loma Prieta quake when we lived in CA (Sacramento) only a LOT smaller. Had the same 'wave' sounds and movement. I said something to my wife but didn't realize until I heard on radio that there was a quake. Anyone else feel it? Click here and here.

More on Catholic Bookstore

In the end, the Village did the right thing. They will change the I1 allowable businesses to basically only allow only the Catholic Bookstore to comply. This is what I and others (click here) felt was right. Kudos to the Village for doing the right thing and kudos to the Catholic Bookstore owner for standing up for himself.

Plan Commission Meeting

Speaking of old gravel pits, the Paradise Lake development had a lot of water drainage concerns and will require a lot of variances and approvals by outside agencies. All outlots will be under the POA control (wonder if that will require CWU fee or if that will be in their covenants?). The old gravel road will need to be improved for a construction access and emergency road during construction (residents called it 23rd Avenue). Cul-de-sac will be 4,095 feet off of 104th Street and way over the 800 foot ordinance. Homes in general will be 1,500 feet from 104th Street. All homes will require a sprinkler system. Not sure how much the lots will be but the Village SUPPOSEDLY will require improvements to 22nd Avenue. I say supposedly because they said same for Prairie Trails East when they approved Conceptual Plan for 26th and 28th Avenue but Final Plat did not require. I suspect same will happen here. A second entrance won't be available until other surrounding areas are developed. Who knows how long until that occurs. You can listen to audio or read meeting minutes on all the other stuff including the Catholic Bookstore property. As Wayne Koessel likes to say, "this is just the conceptual plat so things can change". They most certainly do.

Any Lakes Left? Village Plan Comm. Mtg this Monday

I sure would liked to have seen this area become a local park with bike trail and walking path access. I realize it isn't much of a lake now but could be developed. I also understand why they are developing but is this another, and perhaps the last, opportunity lost?

PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A CONCEPTUAL PLAN for the request of Mark Eberle, P.E. of Nielsen, Madsen & Barber, S.C. agent for Louis and Krystyna Tricoli, owners of the properties generally located south of 104th Street at 22nd Avenue for the proposed Paradise Lake development including 20 single family lots and four (4) outlots.

Click here for area overview

Good Start to PPUSD

Click here (The "REEL" and visible Truth about PLEASANT PRAIRIE) & here (The (Somewhat) Daily RAG)

Here is State of Wisconsin Site: click here

Interesting idea. Are the schools up to residents standards? Are we getting our monies worth? Is the current KUSD Board putting our Village taxpayers at risk? click here

Does this sound a little familair? click here

What do you think? or add comments to the Blogs linked above

Water, Water Everywhere

Our pond overflowed its banks today. Right over the ground that buries the outflow pipe and into the large pipe under the bike trail. That pipe has water up to the top. I have never seen it like this before. My sump pump rarely goes off but it is going off every five minutes tonight. How's everyone else doing?

Kehl Pleads Guilty

Sure hope this is the end of this. I'd really hate to think still more are involved. The Judge when sentencing Troha said he thought Troha's money could be used better in community. How about paying for special election and all these others fines and court costs? The least he could do. I know the Judge felt they 'skirted' the rules and weren't well defined but they all new what they were doing was wrong. I wonder if any PACs or other special interest groups will get caught up in this mess?

Kehl to plead guilty in agreementApril 9, 20082-year prison term recommendedFormer Kenosha County Executive Allan Kehl has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to receive improper payments, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Milwaukee announced today.In exchange for the plea, the U.S. attorney has agreed to recommend a two-year prison sentence, the announcement said. The maximum prison term for the charge is five years.In the plea agreement filed today, Kehl admitted to wrongfully receiving $15,000 in cash from Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha -- $10,000 in 2005 while at Troha’s office and $5,000 in 2006 while the two stood in Troha’s garage.Kehl is the fourth person from Kenosha who has plead guilty or agreed to plead guilty in an FBI investigation of corrupt activity linked to an effort to establish an Indian casino Kenosha.

Monday Village Board Meeting--Dispatch Center Funding

Interesting Village Board meeting. Money was saved from what was budgeted for installation of water along Kenosha County Bike Trail (~$14,000 that Trustee #3 suggested to credit back to Capital Fund for Roads/Snowplowing) but then when it came to the dispatch center, the costs had increased significantly from ~$57,000 to over ~$77,000 (click here). The reasons described by Assistant Chief Mogenson were typical of project cost overruns but someone seemed to miss the boat. As another meeting attendee said, "who didn't do their homework?" No Trustee or President asked any tough questions such as why were these cost overruns missed in the original bid and what can we do differently in future to prevent this type of issue? The funding for the Dispatch Center comes from Impact fees and that in itself raises some questions of how that money is being used and what is the intended use of the Impact Fees? I understand the reasons for the remodelling, and need, but I think the explanations given and the discussion that took place were definitely lacking; especially since nobody talked about the final amount until Trustee #4 provided a motion with the amount. No one in attendance without a package would have known the overage was in excess of ~$20,000 until it was voted on.

Risk to Taxpayers--collateralized debt obligations

Kenosha might need almost $8 million in additional collateral or risk default on $28.7 million.

Click here and here

"They require deep and skilled analysis to understand, and unless the municipality employs its own specialist with specific analytical capabilities, it should otherwise only hold such things if purchased for them by a professional asset manager," Eric Jacobson, a bond analyst for Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, said after reviewing the CDO prospectus. "To buy an instrument of this type . . . without any special knowledge or ability, at the recommendation of a broker, is a very poor and arguably reckless decision."

Beaver swimming in pond at PTW

We have a beaver swimming up into the outflow pipe at end of 122nd Street in PTW. Sits on shore line and swims around pond. Slaps his tail when frightened.

Like Village Elections?

Click here

Village Administrator to take 7 Questions in Kenosha News

Mike Pollocoff, Pleasant Prairie Village administrator, has agreed to take questions for our next "7 questions" feature. It's the feature where we invite readers to send questions they want to ask a person of interest in Kenosha County. Then we'll take the questions to Pollocoff and publish his answers.
E-mail any questions you have to http://us.f525.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=connections@kenoshanews.com.

Election Results

V Pleasant Prairie Trustee 2
1364 Total Votes
Steve Kumorkiewicz 1301
Write-in 63

V Pleasant Prairie Trustee 4
1349 Total Votes
Michael J. Serpe 1286
Write-in 63

63 write-ins for an uncontested race is amazing. Who were the write-ins? Why the disparity in number of votes? Were those who didn't vote or write-in a candidate not considered in overall totals? Wonder what that number was? Just curious since last few elections have been very close and over 7000 voters have voted in past elections and nearly 4300 in last election for these two positions. What's curious is the almost the identical number of more votes for SK as for MS as this election (17 vs 15) even though nearly 4300 votes and an opposing candidate. What's up with that? Is that a voting glitch?

I know the spin routine and I'm sure I'll get a comment full from the anonymous' about the 'mandate' and 'landslide'...etc.

Village Votes to Videotape Meetings

Finally! The Village Board at last nights Village Board meeting voted 4-1, with Monica Yuhas casting the only dissenting vote, to spend $25,000 on installing equipment needed to videotape and broadcast Village Board meetings. In a long and time-wasting discussion, President John Steinbrink, Sr. said he was tired of watching cartoons and wanted to be able to see himself on TV whenever he wished. Mike Serpe and Steve Kumorkiewicz concurred with Steve suggesting that make-up sessions be provided beforehand due to the harsh lighting in Village Hall auditorium. Clyde Allen felt that a new bond could be purchased at only 40% interest to help defer costs onto taxpayers. Alex Tiahnybok was approved as video Senior editor and Bob Babcock Sr. and Jr. were asked and approved to provide commentary during broadcasts.



APRIL FOOLS!

Don't Forget to Vote

As RAG would say, don't vote, don't bitch!....and I agree, although you can write in whoever or whatever you want if you don't like any of the candidates.

Future Kenosha Alderman?

Click here, here and here.

Have a Safe and Enjoyable Easter Celebration

Here We Go Again with Cul-de-sac Variance!

The Village once again will put forward another variance to the 800 foot cul-de-sac requirement to the Village Board. As I stated in a previous blog (click here), variances, in the Village's own words, are supposed to be one-time items.

These are questions that I had Jean Werbie read into the record during The Orchard cul-de-sac variance and related Temporary cul-de-sacs:Will the temporary cul-de-sacs face the same 800 feet from an arterial street (like The Orchard) restriction/ordinance as permanent cul-de-sacs? If so, will they have to gain variances for each one?

My main concern was more related to the fact that a subdivision could build 100 homes and be at full build, have three entrances with two in place and one that ends in a temporary cul-de-sac (for example, Tobin Creek but I see Cove will connect soon and I believe fourth entrance was nixed that was to connect to Southshore). The ordinance requires a minimum of three access points for safety, traffic etc., if greater than 80 homes. According to what was discussed, the above situation could be in place for 20 years or more. Does that make sense? I know that it is unlikely but look how long PTW has been that way. That's why I was looking for something more defined as far as a timeframe.

VILLAGE OF PLEASANT PRAIRIE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that there will be a PUBLIC HEARING before the VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the VILLAGE OF PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, at the Village Municipal Building, 9915 39th Avenue on the 21st day of April, 2008 after 6:30 P.M. of said day, to consider the following:The Village of Pleasant Prairie will be conducting a Public Hearing for the request of Mark Eberle, P.E. of Nielsen, Madsen & Barber, S.C. agent for Louis and Krystyna Tricoli, owners for a variance from Section 395-60 C of the Land Division and Development Control Ordinance to allow for a cul-de-sac street to be greater than 800 feet from the nearest intersection for the proposed 20 single-family lot subdivision generally located south of 104th Street at 22nd Avenue to be known as Paradise Lake.The subject properties are located in a part of the Northeast One Quarter of U.S. Public Land Survey Section 25, Township 1 North, Range 22 East and in a part of the Northwest of U.S. Public Land Survey Section 30, Township 1 North, Range 23 East in the Village of Pleasant Prairie and further identified as Tax Parcel Numbers 92-4-122-251-0050, 93-4-123-302-0560 and a part of 93-4-123-302-0101.ALL PERSONS INTERESTED MAY BE HEARD AT SAID TIME AND PLACE. Formal petitions regarding this matter may be submitted at this meeting.Dated this 20th day of March 2008.Published April 7th, 2008.

Abbott, Takeda to divide TAP drug seller

Check here. According to story, Abbott will "evenly divide the value" of the joint venture. Abbott will take over the TAP office building in a Lake Forest office park once the deal closes in 30 to 60 days.

Article on Booster Socialism

Click here

Update--Catholic Bookstore Issue

From Kenosha News:

- Postponed a proposed zoning change that had angered the owner of the Holy Family Catholic Bookstore, 9249 Old Green Bay Road. The change would make property designations there match the village's comprehensive land use plan. But it also would decrease chances of selling the bookstore property, the owner has said. Village staff is to review the owner's concerns before bringing the matter back to the board. The village Plan Commission had approved the change, 5-2.

Not sure why the review because Village staff has already reviewed owner's concerns. That's why the redid the I1 designation to include more business types. I'm glad for the delay though and I still think Village should keep his B2 but restrict through non-conforming or something like that.

Anyone Tried Sam Adams Utopias Beer?

Truly the epitome of brewing's two thousand year evolution, Samuel Adams Utopias® offers a flavor not just unlike any other beer but unlike any other beverage in the world. Its warm, sweet flavor is richly highlighted with hints of vanilla, oak and caramel. With an alcohol content of 27% by volume, its complexity and sweet, malty flavor is reminiscent of a deep, rich vintage Port, fine Cognac or aged sherry while being surprisingly light on the palate. And like the world’s finest after-dinner drinks, Samuel Adams Utopias is not carbonated and should be served at room temperature.
In one of many examples where Samuel Adams Utopias pushed the boundaries of beer into the realm of other fine beverages, it received the highest recommendation (96-100 points) from the prestigious Wine Enthusiast Magazine (November, 2003 edition).
Due to legal restrictions, Samuel Adams Utopias is not offered in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, or West Virginia.

Anonymous Blogger

Interesting story in the news today (click here).

Here's another take on blogging (click here).

What do you think?

Property or Home Owner Association (POA/HOA) Meetings with Village

From January 7th, 2008 Village Board meeting. Comments from Trustee #3. Has there been any movement on this? I think this is definitely a great idea and much needed to enhance interactions between Village People and residential property owners. Just not sure of format as if more than one trustee present, I believe it would constitute an official quorum, but they have had special meetings like this in past with individual HOAs/POAs. I haven't heard any more about this at any of the Board meetings since this was first proposed.

"""Another idea I’d like to see, maybe discuss or brought up at the next Board meeting is maybe putting together, I don’t have specifics and my mind keeps changing on exactly how to do this, but I’d like to see some Village round tables set up with either here or contact the homeowners associations, go to them or invite them to come here, have meetings here or whatever need be. Have a series of topics. Per meeting you’d be able to say, one, if it’s with the associations that they could bring up their concerns, discuss them, address what they want to address. But if it’s a round table in general that’s not an association have several topics that are the topics of the evening or morning and discuss them, let them ask questions, comment, go through it thoroughly and then let them, the people that attend, submit ideas for what they want to see for topics for the next idea so it can cover what they want to hear. I think there would be something worthwhile discussing."""

David Rutter--Lake County News-Sun

AS I SEE IT Public utterings remain in orbit
March 8, 2008
You be the editor.
No, really.
You try it.
Let's see if it seems like a useful life's work to you.
You make the choices.
Let's say a mayor -- we'll call him Bonehead A -- utters something provocative, newsworthy, but arguably stupid. "Arguably" means it's true that he said it, but someone will want to argue about it. Count on the argument.
The first thing you learn in this job is that everyone wants to argue about everything, no matter how obvious the truth of it is.
And though you might do your utmost to understand why hizzoner is proposing something so assertively errant, he insists that's what he's saying, and he's sticking to it.
But that's not the end. Not hardly.
You know that once advisers around him hear what he's said, it's likely he'll come to whatever sense he has left and announce the next day that he never said it.
In the real world, you might call this a lie. In the realm of public policy, we call it "the being taken out of context" defense. It's the RU-486 pill of public discourse. It's meant to dislodge in the morning whatever was deposited during the previous evening.
So, Mister or Madame Editor, should you go ahead and tell the people who elected him what he's doing, just because someone once told you it's your job to do that? Or should you protect Bonehead A from his silly self?
And moreover, protect yourself from a liar-liar-pants-on-fire charge the next day?
I think it's generally more important to protect the citizenry from its zany elected officials than protect the officials from themselves, but that's just me. History suggests that's the wiser path to safeguard democracy, but public officials are not big on history. Or even democracy on most days.
As others have said, quoting an official with perfect accuracy can be the most effective punishment. But trust me, there's no need to trick or maneuver some public officials into making themselves look addlepated. They can do that on their own with no bidding. Mostly, you can't stop them. I've tried. They are a cussedly resilient lot.
You'll have just as much success lobbying an alcoholic to shun Michelob as you have telling a public official to settle down and think a little. Self-reflection is a rare trait.
But you'd be surprised how many people paid from public funds think it's somebody's full-time task to protect them from themselves. My job, I guess.
Yes, public officials get very agitated and dyspeptic when they are called to accounts. Or even quoted accurately.
Then there are quasi officials -- usually in the social service or sports arena -- who get upset when they are not saluted and rewarded for their good work, even when the question is not up for discussion at the moment. They are at the very epicenter of their universe and unlikely to move into a different orbit.
Apparently there is a deep craving for appreciation and public acclaim. It's the embodiment of Andy Warhol's prediction that the dawning Age of Aquarius would owe all of us 15 minutes of fame. But now it's 15 minutes of congratulations.
Maybe we're a society addicted to self-esteem strokes and, when they are late or unenthusiastically delivered, the anguish starts to bubble up. In the league of life, we now expect everyone to get a shiny first-place trophy.
This quest for fulfillment is a deity-bestowed right. Maybe protected in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution? I'm not positive on that one. Better look it up. Or we can just fight about it.

New Social Sins Listed By The Vatican

Pollution is not just bad; it’s a sin, according to the Catholic Church.

The church has announced a new list of "social sins" to go along with the seven deadly sins that have been around for centuries. The new sins are a more modern concept of sinning created in the past 40 to 50 years. A Vatican official, who heads the office that issues decisions on matters of conscience, was asked by the Vatican newspaper what are the new sins. He cited creating poverty, excessive wealth, abusing drugs, polluting the environment, anonymous blogging and other social concerns. The church says that while sin used to concern the individual, today it has a social resonance due to globalization. Moral theologians stress that the Vatican official's comments broke no new ground on what constitutes a sin. Some catholic experts say the emphasis on the social sins could be a preview of issues Pope Benedict the Sixteenth will address during his visit to the united state next month.

Zoning change irks Catholic bookstore owner

From today's Kenosha News:

http://www.kenoshanews.com/article_comments/view_comments.php?articleNum=2668614

Pleasant Prairie move narrows future options for property

By Denise Lockwood PLEASANT PRAIRIE - The owner of a Catholic bookstore is upset because village officials want to change the zoning for his property. Wesley Ricchio, owner of Holy Family Catholic Bookstore, 9249 Old Green Bay Road, bought his property in 2002 in an area zoned to attract a variety of businesses. But in a 5-2 vote Monday, the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission approved a proposal that would change Ricchio's zoning from one that allows a variety of businesses (B-2) to an institutional land use (I-1), which had recently been changed to also include religious book stores, medical clinics, banks, as well as institutional uses. John Braig and Donald L. Hackbarth cast the dissenting vote. If the Village Board approves the ordinance, it would bring the future use of the property in line with the village's comprehensive land use plan, which, per state law, has to be in place by 2010 and it would keep out any potential adult book stores.

But it would also restrict the types of businesses that could potentially move in if Ricchio were to sell. Even someone wanting to sell children's books need to get permission from the village to operate there. "The zoning change will have a negative impact on my property," he said. "The B-2 zoning offers more potential uses because it allows for more potential buyers." Some Plan Commission members had troubles with the decision, saying they "didn't feel right" about making the change, but staff lobbied for the change because the area would not be consistently zoned. Jan (sic) Werbie, the community development director for the village, said the property should have been included in an areawide rezoning, but it was an oversight that needed to be corrected. "We wanted to make sure that we were developing a certain type of character for this particular area of the community with respect to the other uses," she said. Werbie referred to the heavy residential area that surrounds the area, which did not want to see an adult bookstore going in, which would be an allowed use under the current zoning. She also told the Plan Commission that the land use plan changed because the village didn't want several large tracts of land serving as business districts that would be competing with one another. And that concerns Ricchio because the comprehensive land use plan in 2002 called for the area to be a business use." I understand their motive ... but my concern is that these land use plans keep changing," Ricchio said. "If they are so changeable, then what's to stop them from changing it nine years from now? "Ricchio lobbied to have the B-2 zoning when he purchased the property and even sunk $200,000 into the property between the land acquisition costs and updating the property at the request of village and state officials. Hackbarth asked if a business could move in that didn't fit the institutional use, if the zoning could be changed back to a business use. Werbie said staff would not recommend a zoning change. However, if a business similar to the Catholic bookstore would come forward, officials could evaluate that.

Your Comments

This proves it ... another GOOD reason for not living in PP.
hollydrMarch 11 - 02:04:01

Another example of Village is always right and you're wrong even when the Village changes their mind. Nobody has a backbone anymore and is willing to step out of their protective shell. Why not let him have his B2 with restrictions? Jean (not Jan) Werbie herself said that she can overrule and consider something else so why bother changing? I don't buy their reasoning. No exceptions? Anyone hear of a variance? The Village constantly allows variances from the procedures. This person followed the rules and then the Village changed them. This was the Village's mistake but they want a law abiding citizen who followed their rules to pay for it. Sound familiar? I'm sure this is a future lawsuit and you'll be seeing a lot more against the Village real soon.sov

"More Permanent Temporary cul-de-sac"

This was the phrase used by Community Development Director Jean Werbie when describing a change to the ordinance related to Temporary cul-de-sacs. Should we change permanent cul-de-sacs to Temporarily Permanent cul-de-sacs? Too funny.

Sheridan Road Closed at 91st Street

In case you weren't aware, Sheridan Road is closed due to high water at 91st Street next to the Drive in. Not sure what County is doing about it. Illinois usually scraps up ice and piles dirt along road to stop flooding. There always seems to be water along Sheridan Road in that area year round. Not sure what the problem is but traffic diversion for such a main highly travelled stretch of road is not good.

FYI--Remember in one of my recent blogs where I stated what would happen if Hwy 165 was shutdown? Emergency traffic would have to go all the way to 91st or Russell Road to get to most homes in Carol Beach in a timely manner. Here's a situation where I hope nothing happens on Hwy 165.

Scary--Snooping far too typical

Click here

Tobin Creek supposed third entrance from Mapquest

Village Board meeting

Some interesting discussion last night:

On the proposed variance for a cul-de-sac beyond current 800 foot limit; some thoughts and observations after Board tabled the measure for now:

• Citizen comments, especially Mike Wilkom(sp?) hit it right on the head. He and his wife own 8 plus acres and went to Village and reviewed the land use plans for The Orchard area before they purchased their land and built their home. Since the current rules only allow 800 foot cul-de-sac from main road, he and his wife thought at most there would be 8 homes of about 2 acres each (similar size to current properties in the area) because they would need other land to make a through, connecting road for two entrances. Now developer comes along and wants a variance so he can maximize the number of homes for one entrance (19 with 20 being max--Developer originally proposed 20 homes but had to give up some land for ponds). So Mr. and Mrs. Wilkom did the right thing, but if Village allows a variance, then their due diligence was wasted and the comments from Village staff that you should know what will happen with a property before you buy is now a questionable comment at best. The Village made this same comment during discussions about Bike Trail crossing to Prairie Trails West residents, but if a prospective homeowner went to the County, they would have found out the Village had no permit and would likely not receive one.
• Rick Renzuli (sp?) also spoke and had pictures of what he has had to deal with for last nine months while a new home was being built accross the street (28th Avenue) and was concerned how magnified this would be with a whole subdivision worth of construction traffic passing by his house; garbage, muddy road (he mentioned he has cleaned the road of dirt 22 times), cement trucks dumping their waste in drainage ditches...etc. (Pictures speak a thousand words and if you see someone doing something wrong, by all means get it on film. Village inspectors can't be everywhere). Rick proposed that a temporary road connection occur from Prairie Trails East to the Orchards through one of the cul-de-sac lots. Great idea since they already have to run sewer and water through same and would also make emergency access significantly shorter. One problem; The Orchard developers would have to work with PTE developer (sounds like this has already been a problem) and PTE has final plat approval and doesn't have to make any changes unless their permit expires (could sue if Village forces changes). Clyde Allen did the right thing by proposing a motion that would require a permanent connection occur instead of temporary road but he was quickly admonished by Mr. Pollocoff and his motion was not seconded and died (I think Clyde got off lightly considering the way Mr. Lauer and Mr. Tiahnybok were treated by Mr. Pollocoff and Mr. Kumorkiewicz in the past for similar issues). Clyde took it pretty well and it was nice to see some discussion about this issue by all members of the Board and staff.
• Monica Yuhas asked whether there were similar cul-de-sacs like the proposed one and both Jean Werbie and Mr. Pollocoff said many (greater than 40). What neither added was the streets they mentioned are mostly old streets that currently don't terminate in a cul-de-sac and most will eventually connect as through streets. How many times has this type of variance been granted where a permanent cul-de-sac was intended? And how many of the current streets will permanently terminate in a cul-de-sac? I'd like to see the answer to those questions before one claims 'many'. And, if there have been 'many' such grantings, then the whole idea of a variance is also questionable since these are supposed to be one time uses and not 'whenever we feel like it'. Mr. Braig, who is a current Plan Commissioner, was sitting in the audience shaking his head so one might think this variance idea isn't that great.
• Steve Kumorkiewicz asked about putting No Construction Traffic signage at 116th Street and 28th Avenue. When Addition 1 went into PTW area with similar signage, the trucks still rumbled down our street even though the road didn't go through. They had to back up and turn around by the pond and field where all the kids play and go back down the street to the required entrance (my wife videotaped a few times--scared the crap out of them!). Make the fine for violating an attention getter if you really want compliance.

Another question is what will happen during the proposed road improvements on 116th Street, slated for 2010 and 2011? What affect will this have on The Orchard and Prairie Trails East construction, along with the areas existing residents access to their homes (both 26th and 28th Avenues plus Tobin Woods), since nothing for The Orchard can happen until PTE has been started and the roads are in place? Is there a chance all this could be ongoing at same time? If so, it would put quite a strain on the one entrance from Russell Road for residents, trucks, busses,...etc. I also remember that when PTE proposed similar cul-de-sacs greater than allowed length years ago, Village said that it shouldn't happen (both Chief's didn't like the idea) and that's why they needed the Kenosha County Bike Trail road crossing. So I was fairly surprised to see no concerns raised from either Fire Chief or Police Chief since the proposed emergency Bike Trail crossing won't really help due to the current proposed road configuration to get to The Orchards as it is quite long and out-of-the-way with current approved final plat for PTE (down 39th Avenue to 122nd Street and all the way through and around pond in Prairie Trails West, across the bike trail--but first have to wait for emergency access only gate to open--East through PTE to near 26th Avenue, North on 26th, then over to 28th Avenue on 121st, up 28th Avenue to 120th Street and all the way to the end of 120th Street to the cul-de-sac) In addition, coming from 116th is a crapshoot at best with such a narrow road. But in the end, I'll bet developer will get his variance without a permanent road or even a temporary one based on past experince with issues raised by residents before Plan Commission and the Board.

Mr. Pollocoff presented about Snow removal and associated costs and where the Village currently is financially. See RAG's comments (click here) for more discussion or video (click here)/audio files (click here) when available. Just one clarification in Mr. Pollocoff's presentation, the symbol for Magnesium Chloride is MgCl2 (the two should be a subscript), not Mgcl (used to help salt melt ice and snow).

I had to leave after item D so can't say much about any of the other items, but I did here there was an issue with the Consent Agenda raised by Mr. Allen.