Council News
What’s Your Beef?
Convincing residents to speak at a city council meeting on almost anything is a challenge, unless it directly affects their property. Explanations vary from busy schedules to general discomfort when speaking on camera.
Now there is another reason: A council member who implied he does not want to be bothered by people bringing their “beef” before the council.
Drilling Down on Municipal Water
On 11/25/2024 the Shorewood council hashed over the ongoing dilemma of the underwater municipal water fund.
It discussed incentives for residents, who have existing “stubs” to connect to the municipal water system. The council also laid out some ideas for a more “mandatory” approach.
Land Use Variance 1.0
Few people have reason to know about variances if they have not needed one.
The Shorewood City Council may want to allocate time to discuss an overall policy focusing on variances.
$7Million: Shorewood Spends BIG on Engineering Firm Bolton & Menk
Between January 2020 and July 2024 Bolton & Menk billed the City of Shorewood $6,968,361. That’s an average $126,697/mo. or $1,520,364 per year!
The amount of money billed by Bolton & Menk for engineering services in one single year is so staggering that the city could double the number of Public Works employees and still have money to hire 3-4 full time engineers.
Why did the City Council allow this to happen? You decide!
Just Answer the Question!
The draft minutes from the July 9 Shorewood Park Commission meeting have just been released. Two items, subtly related, stand out in the 22 pages of the document.
Confusion vs. Clarity
Arborvitae and a fence “erroneously” built in the city right-of-way (ROW) took up considerable time and energy at two Shorewood council meetings.
On May 28, because of vague language in the ordinance, the Council engaged in a confusing conversation, followed by an unusual 43 seconds of silence, when no motion was made to correct the issue of the matter.
Confusion, Disconnect and a Moment of Silence
Here is a summary of the May 28th Shorewood City Council Meeting. This included a presentation regarding Freeman Park and consideration of several controversial proposals.
Public Process Matters
What started as just another Shorewood City Council meeting on Apr. 22, quickly became questionable for what was said, and not said.
Before the Council could approve the agenda, administrator Nevinski removed items 2H and 6C. He did not explain what those items were for the audience. He only said there were “notice issues and concerns.”
STAND-OFF: Government v. Process
At the Monday, April 8th Shorewood Council meeting, the 3 attending members, (Labadie, Zerby and Callies*), without discussion, voted to approve the blanket spraying of Freeman and Manor Park soccer fields with an unspecified weedkiller. The recommendation by the contractor was for 6 applications per year, for up to 2 years. *All three are up for re-election this Fall. See it all here in the meeting video. Resident Greg Larson came to Matters from the Floor (MFTF) and asked the Council to name the herbicide. They could not. Labadie reminded him that questions are not answered at MFTF. Mr. Larson persisted. The Council refused to answer any questions or “debate” the matter. After some cringe-worthy moments, Labadie directed Larson’s question to Matt Morreim, who would not answer the question: what chemicals are being used. He asked Mr. Larson to contact him the next day for the information. Larson was dismissed
