Tollaksen resigns as River Hills village manager
River Hills Village Manager Tom Tollaksen is resigning his post. His last day in the office will be Jan. 27.
Tollaksen, who was appointed River Hills' village manager in September, 1996, said he believes his goals at the village have been largely accomplished, including modernization of public services, improvement of village infrastructure, and fostering of a competent, compassionate and creative village staff.
"Although I will no longer be village manager," Tollaksen said, "I look forward to doing what I can to continue the village's status as a strong and vibrant community."
Tollaksen said his decision to leave the village was not an easy one.
"There are other personal goals that I want to accomplish," he said, "and the timing seems right for me and my family."
» Read Full ArticleMandel breaks ground next week on Whitefish Bay project
Mandel Group Inc. will break ground next Wednesday on Beaumont Place, its apartment development in Whitefish Bay.
The development will feature three buildings totaling around 100 upscale units, and will be completed by summer 2014. The project site is behind the Fox Bay Cinema Building, north of E. Silver Spring Drive and east of N. Santa Monica Blvd.
The apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms, will rent for about $1,300 to $2,400 a month and target North Shore empty nesters.
Fox Point-Bayside School Board president stepping down
Fox Point — Fox Point-Bayside School Board President Debbie Friberg announced Tuesday that she will stepping down before she moves to Charlotte, N.C., in mid-June.
After the announcement, Friberg received praise and thanks from superintendent Rachel Boechler and members of the board before receiving a round of applause from teachers and residents in attendance.
“She has put in a lot of time and energy,” Boechler said, “specifically because it’s been a tumultuous time, and she led us in the search for a new district administrator.”
Board member Tim Melchert called her “a rock” on the School Board, and a guiding presence.
“Thank you so much for all you’ve done for the kids,” he said.
» Read Full ArticleBrown Deer Village Board approves Wal-Mart financials
Brown Deer — Trustees on Monday approved the financial dealings underlying the sale of the vacant Lowe's building on Brown Deer Road to Wal-Mart, but not before altering the agreements to grant themselves more power to regulate the retailer.
Trustee Andrea Weddle-Henning was the lone Village Board member to vote against the financial deals that allow Lowe's to settle their debt with the village and lock in a guaranteed property value for Wal-Mart to pay taxes on.
"It's just not the best fit," Weddle-Henning said after the meeting. "We're a small community here, and what happened (at a recently closed location off 76th Street and Brown Deer Road) is going to move here."
The approved agreements terminate the original 2006 development agreement between Lowe's and the village, on the condition Lowe's pay the village $1.25 million to cover a portion of the outstanding debt payments on the $2.4 million the village took out to kickstart the Lowe's development. Wal-Mart will fund the remainder of those debt payments by paying taxes on a guaranteed property value of at least $11 million, as stated in the agreements.
All of the financial agreements approved Monday only take effect if the Plan Commission and Village Board later approve site and operational plans, and if the sale goes through between Lowe's and Wal-Mart.
» Read Full ArticleBrown Deer apartments proposal set for May 28 hearing
A Plan Commission hearing on a disputed proposal to develop apartments in Brown Deer is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. May 28, at Brown Deer High School's Novak Fieldhouse.
General Capital Group would build the 44-unit Beaver Creek Apartments west of N. 60th St., a few blocks north of W. Brown Deer Road.
The townhouse-style apartments would be near General Capital's Beaver Creek Condominiums. The firm developed 10 condos and had planned to develop additional condos until the housing bubble burst.
Village officials say allowing apartments instead of condos will help generate property tax revenue, and bring more residents into the community.
Opponents have turned in petitions, signed by over 1,000 residents, opposed to the project. They say Brown Deer already has enough rental units, and needs the stability of more owner-occupied housing.
Whitefish Bay names Myrah interim superintendent
Whitefish Bay — Effective July 1, current Curriculum and Instruction Director Laura Myrah will serve as interim superintendent, according to a district news release.
Myrah will take over for outgoing superintendent Mary Gavigan, who announced last week she has accepted the position of executive director at the southeastern Wisconsin branch of the Cooperative Educational Service Agency. Myrah was very nearly chosen to become the new superintendent of the nearby Fox Point-Bayside School District, making the shortlist of three finalists.
Myrah has been the curriculum and instruction director for four years now, previously serving as an elementary school principal in the Elmbrook School District and West Bend Joint School District, and a gifted and talented coordinator and middle school teacher in the Port Washington-Saukville School District.
"Ms. Myrah's rich background in educational research and effective practice, her passion for students and learning, and her demonstrated leadership within our district will help the School District of Whitefish Bay move forward consistent with its area of focus and statewide initiatives," School Board President Pam Woodward said in the release.
"I look forward to building on my existing relationship with students, staff, parents and community members to not only continue our tradition of excellence but to enhance and expand it," Myrah said in the release. "I am enthused and proud to serve our district as Interim Superintendent."
Ryan Braun, Aaron Rodgers opening Bayshore restaurant
8-Twelve MVP Bar and Grill, a restaurant associated with athletes Ryan Braun and Aaron Rodgers, will open its second location at Glendale's Bayshore Town Center.
The new 8-Twelve will be located in the space now leased to COA, a locally owned Mexican restaurant which Marc and Marta Bianchini opened in 2009. COA closes June 30, and 8-Twelve is expected to open in the fourth quarter, said David Moss, Bayshore general manager.
8-Twelve opened its first location last July in Brookfield. Its name comes from the jersey numbers for Braun, leftfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, and Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. The restaurant is operated by SURG Restaurant Group, which is owned by Mike Polaski and Omar Shaikh and has a licensing agreement with Braun and Rodgers.
Much of 8-Twelve's produce, beef and pork is provided by Polaski's Hidden Creek Farm, in New London, as well as other Wisconsin farms.
8-Twelve's Bayshore location will feature private dining rooms, as well as a large dining room and spacious bar area.
» Read Full ArticleBraeger calls off Fox Point-Bayside recall
Fox Point — Fox Point-Bayside School District parent David Braeger announced Monday that his School Board recall effort, launched just shy of two weeks ago, is at an end.
In a statement Braeger said that attention from outside arts interest groups, which he says would use the district for their own political ends, and assurances from teachers union president Mark Conforti, have led him to rescind the recalls he had filed against School Board President Debbie Friberg as well as board members Alice Lawton and Tim Melchert.
"Although I am in total agreement with (interest groups') cause, I can't let these highly organized groups use our community and school as the 'poster child' of weakened curriculum and schedule," Braeger said in the release, adding of Conforti, "he is the chief negotiator and the voice of the teachers and I must respect that."
While Braeger indicated he isn't confident in Friberg, Lawton and Melchert, he said newly elected board members Michael Weidner and Libby Wick can "bring in new ideas and leadership." He added that he hopes the district's incoming superintendent — recently announced to be Vance Dalzin from Williams Bay in Walworth County — can change the atmosphere in the district and resolve lingering schedule and curriculum concerns.
Friberg didn’t offer any comment on the recall other than to say it hadn’t influenced her recent votes on School Board matters, and wouldn’t have factored into future votes.
» Read Full ArticleFox Point-Bayside chooses Dalzin as new superintendent
Fox Point — Vance Dalzin, current superintendent of the Williams Bay School District in Walworth County, was selected unanimously by the School Board to become the district’s new superintendent, according to a district news release.
He will succeed superintendent Rachel Boechler in August. In January Boechler announced her resignation to continue her work with Seattle-based nonprofit Center for Courage & Renewal, where she is currently board chair.
Working with search firm Hazard Young & Attea, the district began with a pool of 28 candidates, six of whom were interviewed. The School Board interviewed Dalzin twice and a group of district teachers, administrators, support staff and parents interviewed him once. Stakeholders in Williams Bay were interviewed as well.
» Read Full ArticleChris Abele delivering cardiac monitors at North Shore FD
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is presenting 45 new cardiac monitors to firefighters and emergency responders Monday morning at the North Shore Fire Department.
The new monitors include wireless Internet capabilities to send information to hospitals in a quicker and easier manner. The cost of the monitors was included in the 2013 county budget, according to a news release.
The presentation is being made in honor of Emergency Medical Services Week.
Walmart planned for Brown Deer gets preliminary boost
The Brown Deer Community Development Authority is recommending a new development agreement for a Walmart proposed at the former Lowe's home improvement store, reports Michael Meidenbauer at BrownDeerNow.com.
The Village Board will consider that recommendation Monday. It would replace the development agreement the village had with Lowe's, which closed the store in 2011. That agreement guaranteed the building's assessed value was high enough to generate enough property taxes to repay village funds used to help finance the building.
The new agreement calls for Lowe's to make a payment to help reduce that debt, with Walmart agreeing to invest at least $11 million in the site in order to generate property taxes to pay off the rest of that debt.
All of this is contingent on the village approving Walmart's site plans. The property is already zoned for big box retail use.
Mequon Outpost Natural Foods set to open by summer 2014
A new Outpost Natural Foods supermarket planned for Mequon is scheduled to open by summer 2014, after the Common Council this week approved city financing assistance for the project.
Demolition work to prepare the development site, at the northeast corner of Mequon Road (Highway 167) and Wauwatosa Road (Highway 181), is to begin in June, said Kim Tollefson, city community development director.
The Common Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to provide $229,241 in assistance for the $4.1 million development.
That cash will be provided through the city's tax incremental financing district along Mequon Road between Wauwatosa Road and the Milwaukee River. A portion of Outpost's annual property tax bill will be rebated to the cooperative over four years.
The 16,000-square-foot store, which is the first Outpost to be developed outside Milwaukee County, will primarily serve customers from Mequon and Thiensville. It also is expected to draw shoppers from such nearby communities as Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Cedarburg and Grafton.
» Read Full ArticleWal-Mart sale clears Brown Deer CDA
Brown Deer — After closed session negotiations Wednesday evening, the Community Development Authority unanimously approved a termination of its original 2006 agreement with Lowe's and approved a new agreement with Wal-Mart to develop the vacant Lowe's building on Brown Deer Road.
The CDA's actions amount to recommendations to the Village Board, which will consider the matter on Monday.
When the village partnered through tax incremental financing with Lowe's in 2006, it borrowed $2.4 million to jump start the development. Under the terms of the termination, Lowe's agrees to pay the village $1.25 million to satisfy the outstanding debt payments it would have otherwise funded through property taxes.
The Wal-Mart agreement acknowledges that the retailer will invest at least $11 million in the site. However much Wal-Mart ends up investing, multiplied by the village's assessment ratio — .95 in the 2012 tax year — will determine a fair market "floor value" that Walmart and any successors, at the least, will have to guarantee and pay taxes on.
Both the Lowe's termination agreement and Wal-Mart redevelopment agreement are contingent on the village approving site, landscape, architectural and outdoor lighting, and operational plans. Both agreements have no effect unless the sale between Lowe's and Wal-Mart goes through.
Al Calderone Club set to open Friday in Shorewood
Al Calderone Club, a pizza takeout and delivery restaurant, is due to open at 11 a.m. Friday at 4475 N. Oakland Ave. in Shorewood.
It's named for the original east side restaurant begun by Antonio and Maria Rosa Fazzari.
The restaurant will sell some pizza by the slice, and it has a counter that will seat seven. Owner Carmelo Fazzari is awaiting permission from the village to put tables outside soon that would seat another dozen or so.
The restaurant will sell thin crust, New York and Calabrese-style pizzas, as well as appetizers, salads and sandwiches.
Al Calderone Club will open at 11 a.m. daily. It will stay open until 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and it could stay open as late as 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Fazzari said.
Homestead's Pelisek earns honor from First Bank/ Sports Radio 1250
Homestead senior defensive back Riley Pelisek was named the football athlete of the year by SportsRadio 1250 AM and First Bank Financial.
For his work with the WIAA State Division 2 champion Highlander squad last fall, Pelisek received a $1,500 scholarship in a ceremony at the First Bank office in Mequon Thursday morning.
1250 Radio names an athlete of the week each fall and winter for first the football and then the basketball season. They then take all the weekly winners and choose an athlete of the year for each sport.
Pelisek, who plans on attending the University of Pennsylvania with the idea of going into the school's prestigious Wharton School of Business, was grateful for the honor.
"Every little bit helps," he said. Pelisek recently helped the Highlander boys' track team win its fifth straight North Shore Conference Triple Crown with the league outdoor title on Tuesday.
» Read Full ArticleAuditors draw different conclusions on Azana spa shooter case
Brown Deer — Two separate reports come to very different conclusions on the interactions between Brown Deer police, Zina Haughton, and her estranged husband, Radcliffe, now infamous for gunning down Zina, two of her co-workers, and injuring three others before committing suicide.
By and large, auditor Robert C. Willis, whom Brown Deer hired in the wake of public outcry over the October 2012 Azana Spa shooting, concluded that Brown Deer police acted appropriately while dealing with the Haughtons, given the circumstances.
"BDPD and its officers acted professionally, enforced all laws and acted reasonably and appropriately in any and all dealings with the Haughtons," Willis wrote. "The BDPD has adequate training and an exemplary policy on how to respond to domestic abuse calls."
Domestic violence experts Judith Munaker and Linda Besser, consulted to review Willis' findings, tell a different story. Their report, attached as an appendix to the end of Willis' audit, repeatedly takes Brown Deer police to task for a lack of follow-ups, and includes a list of mistakes ranging from witness interviewing, evidence gathering and a lack of information sharing with Brookfield police.
