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New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government
Ralph Heun, a 38-year resident of New Berlin, will be blogging about issues of concern to the New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government, an organization that promotes fiscal responsibility among all units of government.
February 2008 - Posts
By Ralph Heun
Saturday, Feb 23 2008, 12:53 PM
If you buy a property that has sidewalks , you are well aware of their presence and that is acceptable!
The mayor talks about people with wheelchairs going to the store etc.
There are no stores within miles of the sidewalks, from Cold Spring to
Grange avenues. It goes from nowhere to nowhere.
If the people in Hales Corners & Greenfield want their track team
to run on the sidewalk, let them build it on the east side and that way
no one will have to cross 124th street multiple times to go to the gas
station or the beauty shop on Layton avenue.
If those non residents of New Berlin want more trails etc., they can advocate for those in their own cities and county. There
is a letter on fill to the Mayor and Council from First Weber Realty,
disclosing that the side walk on the west side of 124th would reduce
the value of those properties from 10 to 20 percent on properties that
have their backs to 124th street.
Paul Koller, Assessor, has said that those properties that have their
backs to 124th street already have lower assessments than properties
deeper into the sub division.
We have reason to believe that there are no lower assessed valuations due to property backs being towards 124th Street.
We call on the New Berlin Assessors office to prove his statement or to rescind his comments.
We have no problem with City Engineer J P Walker making recommendations to the Department of Public works.
However New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government have
stated numerous times that since he is a non-resident of the City
of New Berlin ( lives in Watertown), he should NOT be a VOTING member on the Department of Public Works committee. Since
we have City Staff members who have made drawings and plans for 124th
street, the question arises as to the need to spend another $197,000 to
have a design company tell the city what it already has decided. That
money can be put to better use elsewhere.
Ralph Heun President NBCRG Please do not use aliases when commenting!
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By Ralph Heun
Wednesday, Feb 20 2008, 05:29 PM
This uniquely timed meeting is at 5:30 pm at New Berlin City
Hall, and is to give interested persons an opportunity to speak out
about the construction of 124th street from Layton to Grange avenues
during Privilege of the Floor.
The plan presented by the DPW, calls for sidewalks, that may be
as far as 25" set back from the road, on the west side of 124th street
and will cause residents to loose some trees, lawns and gardens in
their back yards. The Cities of Hales Corners and Greenfield have not published any plans to include sidewalks on the east sides of 124th street.
"Alderman Moore and the other members of the Committee, which is
composed of Mayor Chiavatero, aldermen Ament and Augustine, and JP Walker, City engineer, needs to
listen to the citizens,,,,vote locally as he
professes to have a "green conscience" nationally....and understand the
Bicycle Association of Wisconsin does not mandate bike trails...nor
does the Alternative Transportation Committee which is almost
non-functional and without authority in the city of New Berlin...we
want "a little bit country" not a lot of SIDEWALKS romanticized as bike
trails, side paths..A sidewalk is a sidewalk and it must be
maintained..not with my tax money" !
by Sally Hanson If you have any comments about this project
and wish to be heard, you are invited to attend this meeting. Please be
courteous and make your comments known to your representatives.
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By Ralph Heun
Sunday, Feb 17 2008, 01:08 PM
| Guest editorial from a Citizen of New Berlin, Mary Hiebl
Bill Moore: While
browsing the Sierra Club website, I came upon your Testimony before the
Wisconsin Dept of Transportation from a hearing in Dec. 2007 I have
read your testimony in its entirety and having finished it, I am more
perplexed than enlightened. -
You seem to be keenly aware of the ridiculousness of 'putting money into more lanes while the mass transit situation in southeastern Wisconsin is among the worst in the world' yet you support any and all four lane expansions in New Berlin. -
You express concerns over land use control, improved arterials over more lanes 'SEWRPC
recently responded to remarks by the Florida-based traffic engineer,
Walter Kulash. When he suggested that land use control, smart growth,
public transit and improved arterials would be better answers than more
lanes...,' yet you argue forcefully for road expansions within New Berlin. -
You have taken a stand on overspending on new highways and new lanes 'let’s
"look ahead to the past" and stop the overspending on new highways and
new lanes; we must divert that money into public transit,
transportation for all, not just the majority.'. yet your New Berlin aldermanic voting record is the opposite of what you here proclaim. -
I
am unable to reconcile the following statement with arguments you
have presented to the New Berlin Common Council: Recognize
that constructing more lanes adds to the problem of global warming.
Think now about 50 years from now, not just 5 years from now...Please, no more lanes!
- I
could cite more examples but these few clearly point out the
inconsistency between your testimony and the reality of your aldermanic
voting record in New Berlin.
Concerned, Mary Hiebl
Testimony before the Wisconsin Dept of Transportation from a hearing in Dec. 2007 by Bill Moore
Concerning the reconstruction of I-94
I
live in New Berlin and one would think I would have less of a concern
about this section of I-94 than points west. But I am very interested.
For example, the daughter of a friend goes to college in northern
Chicago and has no car. In making arrangements to get her to our house
for Thanksgiving, we found that the best way was for her to take the
train to Kenosha where we could pick her up by car. Travel by the Metra
was quick and convenient. How much better it would have been had the
train been able to take her all the way to Milwaukee, or, better yet,
to New Berlin.
Highways only provide a means of transportation
to one segment of society: those with enough money to have a vehicle.
And so we put more money into providing transportation options for the
people who already have money, leaving the poor relatively stranded.
The objective of government should be to help spread the wealth around,
to make life just a little easier for those without the wherewithal to
have just a little bit better life. Putting money into more lanes while
the mass transit situation in southeastern Wisconsin is among the worst
in the world is an abomination and ignores the equality clause of the
14th amendment. We still have not learned the lessons of the Civil War.
SEWRPC recently responded to remarks by the Florida-based
traffic engineer, Walter Kulash. When he suggested that land use
control, smart growth, public transit and improved arterials would be
better answers than more lanes, SEWRPC said that that freeways were
constructed because of congestion. But that’s not the whole story.
Collusion between the auto, oil and bus companies, documented in a
recent PBS program, resulted in streetcars being downgraded and
dismantled rather than upgraded and expanded. Freeways were a result of
poor planning and special interest money buying out transit systems
across the country along with advertising dollars spent to increase
people’s desires to travel by car rather than a logical progression:
remember “See the USA in your Chevrolet”?
Alternatively,
Europe and most other countries did not fall into the same trap. All
people there have options. I ask you to imagine the United States with
no freeways. There would already be mass transit options for all
people; our population would be more congregated around transportation
centers, allowing more prairie, forest and farmland instead of urban
sprawl. We would have saved trillions of gallons of oil, making us a
richer country, with more oil available into the future for items like
plastics and other oil-based products. Since it might take a little
longer for goods to reach market by train than by truck, our
infrastructure would be more attuned to local products rather than
counting on China to make all our electronics, footwear and toys.
SEWRPC’s
response to Mr. Kulash’s concern about suburban sprawl and the
degrading of central cities was likewise unimaginative and incomplete.
Again, one should imagine a region without freeways in the first place.
Had SEWRPC done that, their answer would be very different.
While
it is impossible to return to the past, it is possible to learn from
our mistakes and the lessons learned from countries that did it right.
Let’s look ahead to the past and stop the overspending on new highways
and new lanes; we must divert that money into public transit,
transportation for all, not just the majority. Mr. Kulash proved it’s
the right decision monetarily. It’s the right decision for Wisconsin,
for the environment of our planet, for the poor and for all our
children. Listen to Mr. Kulash. Listen to the Milwaukee City Council.
Recognize that constructing more lanes adds to the problem of global
warming. Think now about 50 years from now, not just 5 years from now.
Reconstruct I-94 to its present lane configuration, and put the
residual in mass transit. And not buses, but fixed-track
transportation. Please, no more lanes!
Bill Moore
4260 South Victoria Cir.
New Berlin, WI 53151
262-785-9022 |
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By Ralph Heun
Friday, Feb 15 2008, 11:18 AM
COFFEE ROAD
RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
The
City has hired a consultant to do the design work for the Coffee Road
Reconstruction Project. This segment of the project will be from National Avenue west to Calhoun Road.
The
preliminary plans for this project include stormwater improvements (storm
sewers) along the entire length of the project and then north to Poplar Creek.
It will also include lane widening, completely reconstructing the base and
surface of the roadway as well as to lower (cut down) the hill just west of St. Francis Drive.
The
preliminary drawings also include 4 lanes from National Avenue to about Monterey Drive and then narrowing back to 2-lanes, with
curb and gutter. The plans include sidewalks/sidepaths in the entire project.
The sidewalks/sidepaths would be 8’ to 10’ wide with a terrace between Coffee Road and the sidewalk/sidepath.
I
will be holding a neighborhood meeting to give you as much information as I
have as of now and to make sure that the City addresses your concerns at the
very beginning of the design so that we are in a position to influence how this
section of Coffee
Road
is rebuilt.
While
those of you who live west of Calhoun Road will not be immediately affected, you need
to be aware that this would be the 1st leg of the Coffee Road and Sidewalk/sidepath project. If they are
installed east of Calhoun the next leg would be from Calhoun Road to Racine. So if you are interested in this project
please come to this neighborhood meeting.
This
neighborhood meeting will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 12:00 noon at your New Berlin City Hall 3805 S. Casper
Drive.
Dave
Ament
7th
District Alderman, New
Berlin
262-544-4534
dament@newberlin.org
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By Ralph Heun
Wednesday, Feb 13 2008, 03:50 PM
Guest editotial brought to you as a public service by New Berlin Citizens for Responsible government If you Have not Signed a
Petition ; Call Hansons at: 414-525-0563
& One will Be
Delivered
Show City Hall...Government is By the People—Not
Politicians !
Call it a Side Path, Nature Trail; It’s a Sidewalk Maintained with Your
Increasing Tax Dollars…
The Side Path
brochure recently distributed to residents is an insult to Taxpayers’
intellects. Why would anyone think that the State Bicycle Federation should determine
whether or not a Sidewalk is constructed ?
Will the Federation be responsible for maintaining it ? Will
construction of a path mean that you now ride a bike or walk to work, school,
shopping, etc. as the flyer implied
because you have the opportunity to “reduce congestion” ? When was
the last time you saw someone elderly or disabled riding a bike ?
No mandates say
that a path MUST be constructed…
The US Census
Bureau says that the Median Household Income in New Berlin is $67,946.
Logic says most people with that income
could afford a car. What ”large segment” of the population does not have access
to a car ?
While walking
and bicycling may promote physical fitness, we already have parks, safer, less traveled
roads within sub-divisions that allow people to exercise in this
MARK Your
Calendars Thurs. Feb.
21st 5:30 pm City Hall
Why do we oppose Sidewalks?
In the relatively short time that
residents have been aware of the thousands of tax dollars spent
on consultants,
city engineering time, etc., the Sidewalks...have varied in width from 10 feet to 30 feet….have
gone from the west side to the east side of the
street.. Little Or no forethought has gone into the short or
long term Impact of such a project.
Some people moved to New Berlin
because it is…
“a little bit country” and
don’t want the “little bit city” added with the addition of sidewalks. The
proponents of this project on one hand say that it will “enhance property
values up to 40%” . This is supposedly another quote from bicyclists. Let’s imagine, this was true. Would you want
to pay 40% more in property taxes?
As Realtors we believe it decreases
property values...Why ? Let’s use common sense…
- Increased Noise - Increased access to back yards promotes crime.
-Promotion of Greater Traffic, Less Privacy
- Destruction of Green Space by cutting down large trees homeowners lawns and gardens.
How Does the Creation of
Sidewalks Increase
Taxes ?
Sidewalks must be maintained, shoveled, swept, re-surfaced, replaced...with equipment
that needs to purchased, maintained and replaced.
This is done by city employees who need to be paid and have benefits.
Pretty Simple….More sidewalks, more expense.
Let’s show city hall WE aren’t simple. Thurs. Feb.21st at 5:30
We
know the meeting will go on for quite a while..come when you can...bring your friends, neighbors
and anyone who cares about property values and not adding further to the cost of running the city.
Remind city officials who elected them and why.
Thank
you for your Support !
JUST SAY NO to sidewalks, sidepaths, more recreational trails.
MARK Your
Calendars Thurs. Feb.
21st 5:30 pm New Berlin city hall City Hall
GO GREEN—Mail a Postcard, Make a Phone Call, Write an
E-Mail–
TOGETHER
WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE !
If you have not
signed the
Call Hansons:
414-525-0563
One will be delivered to you at your convenience.
E-mail: Council@NewBerlin.org
Mayor Chiovatero
Alderman Harenda
262-77-2441
262
971 1048
Alderman Seidl Alderman Ament
262-784-1352
262 544
4534
Alderman Poshepny Alderman Augustine
262-780-5440
262 617 1554
Alderman Moore
262 785 9022
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