This past December was a good reminder that we really do live in an area that gets snow !  Yes, here in Wisconsin, Mother Nature has been known to make life miserable by dropping a whole lot of wet sloppy snow, and then freezing it all into frozen slush.

 On December 20th I wrote a posting to this blog noting that the merchants on Capitol Drive were still hampered by the mounds of snow and ice piled up at the curb.  Shorewood had cleared the mounds along North Oakland Avenue, but hadn't gotten to Capitol Drive.  In previous postings, I had noted that crosswalks in the business district remained treacherous and needed clearing.

 On December 22nd, Tim Fotjik noted in his blog that it appeared that the Village was clearing snow for St Roberts from their lot. 

http://blogs.shorewoodnow.com/neighboring/archive/2007/12/22/if-you-were-looking-for-a-village-dump-truck-on-friday.aspx

Following up with Tim, he never heard from anyone as to why, or who paid for it. 

 Doing an Open Records request, I found out that YES, Shorewood did clean the lot at St Roberts at No Charge !

In fairness to those who are sometimes put on the spot to make a controversial decision, there was a safety element involved in the decision to clear St Roberts lot.  I think though, that Village Officials should bill St Roberts for at least the labor costs and nominal equipment costs involved.  And that if this is to be a policy, it should be extended on an impartial basis to other private property owners.

The Village Board also needs to recognize that snow and ice removal in the Business District is a priority, not only for the business owners to be able to engage in commerce, but also for the safety and welfare of the pedestrians.  Shorewood cannot be a "Walkable" community only in Good Weather !

We have seen in the past year that this current Village Board (which will also be the next Village Board due to no new candidates) has had no qualms about spending large sums of money on questionable projects.

Millions of dollars are going to a Streetscaping that is only about 10 years old.  And the Village Board Members voted to spend about Half a Million Dollar$ for plastic grass on the High School Field !

It is time that this Board gives the proper resources to the DPW to make Shorewood safe for its pedestrians in winter --- and for businesses to be accessible to their customers.

 WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ?  --- YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME

For some thoughts on issues other than Shorewood, visit my other blog at

http://nonconventionalwisdomperspectives.blogspot.com/

THIS IS AN E MAIL I RECEIVED FROM A READER COMMENTING ON THE RECENT STREETSCAPE WORK, D2D, ETC 

READERS COMMENTS:

So the SHS lot is once again accessible after only a short time in spite of the earlier dire predictions of a far more extended closure! While part of me is glad the 'crisis' there is over, another part is concerned that it seems like for the most part, there seems to be no real concept of a time frame for any part of this project! Looking at the piecemeal way things are proceeding on Oakland Avenue, per your pictures and my own firsthand viewing, and the lack of knowledge of such things as who actually decided to close the SHS lot and for how long, I'm beginning to wonder how things are being coordinated!
In addition, before viewing your blog today, I saw the ShorewoodNow picture of the groundbreaking ceremony after the final home football game weeks ago and I note daily, while driving past the field, that seemingly nothing has begun on the D2D front, either!! As this is some of the most favorable weather we'll probably see before winter, shouldn't things be in a more 'git 'er done' mode?!?

 RESPONSE TO READER

Dear Reader

 It does seem amazing that "voila" the SHS lot was open a couple of weeks before schedule.  It does bring to question whether the Powers Who Be put the pedal to the metal when they starting getting complaints --- or if they folks in charge of the work are that incompetent that they could be that far off in their projections for the time required.

Interestingly, the Village put out a Streetscape Update at the end of September, saying that the whole time schedule was being re-evaluated and could be changed --- while at the same time, the BID Director was telling folks that the work was being stopped and put on a new schedule --- all of this was while Trustee Dawn Anderson was writing a comment to defend the NO PARKING in areas where NO WORK was being done --- kind of sounds like Board Members were not kept updated and in effect got Blindsided !!

Regarding D2D -- it appears the School District is no better at handling a Public Works project, than the Village is.

It is obvious that the only work they have done is the Ceremonial Groundbreaking --- but they have stopped playing their games on the Home Field.

 From what I have heard, the High School has incurred a lot of new expense by transporting everyone --- including the band --- to home games played on other fields.  This is not an expense that was budgeted --- and seeing how there is no work being done on the field -- it is an obvious waste of taxpayers' money.

If any readers out there actually knows what is going on with these projects --- please write in and share the information with us !

Thanks

Dave