The state Department of Administration (DOA) is seeking additional information and revisions before it will approve a cooperative plan between the village and town of Jackson, agency officials stated in an April 18 letter to both communities.

“The Department finds that this Cooperative Plan meets one of the statutory standards but does not currently meet four of the statutory standards. However, the Department believes that with revisions and additional information, this Cooperative Plan could meet all of the statutory standards,” the agency stated in an executive summary of the its ruling.

Of the standards considered on whether to approve or deny the request, the DOA stated that the current plan met the “Compactness of Plan Territory” standard. The agency then stated that four other standards — “Content of Cooperative Plan Sufficiently Detailed,” “Cooperative Plan Consistent with State and Local Laws and Regulations,” “Adequate Provision for Municipal Services,” and “Planning Period is Consistent with Cooperative Plan” — are not met under the current plan.

The DOA gave both communities 90 days from April 18 to resubmit a revised cooperative plan to the department.

The DOA ruling is the latest action in a process with a history that goes back to a 1999 revenue sharing and cooperative boundary agreement between the two communities, which was amended in 2005 and 2008. According to the executive summary from the DOA, when the village adopted two ordinances in 2015 to transfer certain town areas into the village as part of past agreements, town residents in those area questioned the validity of past agreements and an organization called Jackson Town Residents Against Attachment (JTRAA) filed suit against the village and town. The JTRAA, town and village did reach a Memorandum of Understanding and the the lawsuit was stayed to allow a new cooperative plan agreement to be created to address past legal deficiencies of past agreements. Public hearings regarding the current plan were held on Oct. 16 and Feb. 26.

When reached for comment last week, Jackson Village Administrator John Walther said the village  “was not surprised” by the DOA decision to not approve the current cooperative plan.

“Understanding that the proposed Agreement may contain certain deficiencies, the parties had already submitted a letter to the DOA on March 8, 2018, suggesting additional information that might be added to the Agreement to satisfy the DOA’s statutory review criteria. The DOA has indicated that the revisions described in our March 8 letter will satisfy the remaining statutory criteria,” Walther stated.   “The parties will accordingly revise and promptly resubmit the Agreement to the DOA pursuant to s.66.0307(5)(d) of the Wisconsin Statutes.”

The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) is pleased to announce that Ryan Anderson, Director of Athletics & Activities at Menomonee Falls High School, has been recognized by this association as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator.

To earn this distinction, Anderson has demonstrated exemplary knowledge, contributions and on-going professional development in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s educational background, experience, NIAAA Leadership Courses and professional contributions. It is culminated with a practical written project.

Anderson is one of a very elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators nationwide to attain this level of professionalism.

The NIAAA is a national professional organization consisting of all 50 state athletic administrator associations and more than 10,000 individual members. It is dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.

Menomonee Falls Athletic Director Ryan Anderson (right) is pictured with Menomonee Falls Police Officer Jim Kirchberger in February during halftime of a basketball game in which Kirchberger was honored for his service to the school district as a school resource officer. Anderson recently received national certification as an athletic director from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

The back parking lot area of the Menomonee Falls Police Department was closed off for more than two hours March 28 while police investigated a report of a suspicious package.

According to information from Menomonee Falls Police, at 2:07 p.m. a Menomonee Falls company received a package that was “concerning” due to its appearance, unusual labeling and lack of postage. The package was brought in to the Menomonee Falls Police Department. Police summoned the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit to investigate the package.

The back parking lot area of the Police Department was closed off for two-and-a-half hours during the investigation. The Village Hall, library and a nearby school — in which classes were ending for the day — were asked to limit activities away from the parking lot. An examination of the package “determined it to not be a danger” to the public, police stated.

“The MFPD (Menomonee Falls Police Department) encourages suspicious packages to be reported to the police, but it is best for packages to be left in place for police to investigate,” Falls police said in a statement. “The department would like to thank those who were inconvenienced by the precautions for their understanding and cooperation, as well as the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and the Menomonee Falls Fire Department for their assistance. This matter remains under investigation.”