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.”

By Thomas J.McKillen, managing editor, published Feb. 2, 2018

A few weeks after one special election upset and a close local election, Gov. Scott Walker rallied local supporters to get out the vote in elections the rest of the year.
“The wake up call is that we cannot assume that our neighbors know about the positive things we’re doing here in Wisconsin — we can’t assume it,” Gov. Scott Walker said during the Washington County GOP Brunch and Caucus held in West Bend Jan. 28.
Walkers comments came less than two weeks after Republicans lost a Jan. 16 special election in northwest Wisconsin, as St. Croix County Medical Examiner Patty Schachtner upset Rep. Adam Jarchow to win a State Senate seat that had been held by Republican Sheila Harsdorf for 16 years before she resigned in November to become Walker’s agriculture secretary. That same evening, Rick Gundrum won a special election in Washington County, being elected to fill the remainder of the 58th Assembly District term. However, the race was competitive, as Gundrum defeated Democratic Party candidate Dennis Degenhardt by a 56.56 to 43.37, while Degenhardt won wards in the city of West Bend.
During his comments to local Republicans, Walker referenced his State of the State speech and noted it was twice as long as speeches he presented in past years.
“For years I’ve said the state of our state is strong. I didn’t say that this year: I said the state of our state is historically strong,” Walker said. “We have a larger workforce than ever before, we have a historically low unemployment rate, we made historic investments in the K-12 education, we had the largest economic development project in history of the state (the Foxconn development), one of the largest in the history of the nation. There are amazingly good things happening in this state.”
Walker cited data showing the state has the lowest unemployment in this history of the state (3.2 percent as of November 2017) while local school districts can now make employment and promotions decision based on merit. He further explained how targeted investments have been made in technical colleges and training programs. He also stated that the 25,000 people have been transitioned from receiving Food Stamps to being in the work force and also noted that under GOP leadership a tuition freeze has been in place at state universities for the past six years.
“These are the positive things we’re getting done for the people of Wisconsin,” Walker said.
When interviewed after his speech, Walker said the GOP can’t assume for this election that people know about the positive work that has been done over the past several years. Walker referenced the low voter turnout in the two Jan. 16 elections as to what the GOP should learn in response for the rest of the year.
“We can’t assume that people know about it. When you have 12 percent turnout, that means a lot of people assumed it was going to happen,” Walker said.
Walker added that “I tell people all the time I’m going to have a tough election, arguably the toughest election I’ve had, including the recall election. People go ‘oh no, it’s overhyped.’ I go, ‘no, the left — for reasons unrelated to Wisconsin, more related to Washington D.C. Whether it’s the frustation with the Senate or the president, whatever it might be — the left is angry and motivated. We’ve got to make sure if we’re going to win in November we’ve got to counter that with optimism and organization, getting our message out, telling people about the good and optimistic things happening in the state. If we do that, we can win. I think in the special elections of voters assumed it was in the bag and they didn’t need to worry about it.”
Walker added that the message included saying that “Wisconsin is not Washington” and laying out plans for the future.
“For me, my focal point has been and will be in this campaign in particular is to talk about things that matter. Talk about things that matter to everyday people. If you keep that in mind, then you don’t get drawn off into other things,” Walker said.

By Thomas J. McKillen
Managing Editor

The eventual expansion of Menomonee Falls Village Park to Appleton Avenue is among the changes proposed to the village of Menomonee Falls Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation (COR) Plan.

Tyler Zwagerman, village of Menomonee Falls Planning Technician, summarized the changes that are recommended to Village Park and Old Falls Village during a presentation at the March 5 Village Board meeting.

The COR Plan serves as a guide to recreation management and development of village parks, trails and other outdoor public spaces, and consider the appropriate level of service standards for park lands and recreation facilities. The plan also identifies and recommends park improvement. The most recent COR Plan was approved by the Village Board in November 2016.

Zwagerman said the proposed changes were reviewed and recommended for approval by the Park Board on Feb. 20. A public hearing will be held before the Village Board in April to consider the proposed changes to the COR Plan, after which the board will take final action on the revised plan.

Zwagerman cited “robust development” in the village that included hundreds of new residential units, with has generated funding through park impact fees charged on apartments and single family homes. With in the increased residential units, Zwagerman said there is an increased demand for community events.

“People are craving these community gathering type events where people can get together to know one another, enjoy food and drink together and really form a community,” Zwagerman said.

In response, Zwagerman said village staff examined  park uses, with an emphasis on Village Park and Old Falls Village.

“These parks are very important as they are, but we also know there was opportunity for them to serve the community more broadly as a destination,” Zwagerman said.

Proposed Village Park changes
Village Park is located on the south side of Garfield Drive in Menomonee Falls, across from North Middle School. Zwagerman noted that the Village Park Master Plan that was incorporated into the current COR Plan includes a performance space where a softball diamond currently exists, a splashpad near that area, and a stormwater retention feature at the west end of the park. He said those items are retained in the proposed update to the park.

The update for Village Park includes extending the park to Appleton Avenue to open it up to the downtown area.

“It’s been tucked behind from the vision of Appleton Avenue — not everybody sees it when they drive past or visit downtown and that’s something we want to address in that revision,” Zwagerman said.

The new proposal will include acquiring five parcels along Appleton Avenue to create a “special purpose park area” to serve the entire community, Zwagerman said. The space along Appleton Avenue would include covered pavilion space for a farmers market while one home at the site would be proposed to be used as the VIllage Centre Business Improvement district offices.

The splash plan and play area that is in the current COR plan is proposed to be near the existing restrooms.

Separate from the COR Plan, Garfield Drive is being reconstructed this summer. As part of that reconstruction, parallel parking will be replaced with angled parking, which will add approximately 70 parking spaces to the area.

Toward the end of his comments on the Village Park proposed changes, Zwagerman said “we do believe there are a lot of opportunities within this kind of vision to create partnerships for funding for a lot of pieces within here.”

Proposed changes to Old Falls Village
Old Falls Village is located at the southwest corner of Pilgrim and County Line roads, and has several historical buildings at the site. Zwagerman said there is currently not enough parking space for events at Old Falls Village.  Parking is proposed to be added in the short-term at the west side of the site where parking currently exists, with additional parking proposed in the long-term along Pilgrim Road.

An east-west trail through Old Falls Village from the west parking space to the parking area east of the barn is proposed to improve pedestrian circulation through the space.

“Right now people enter the park and they wander in where the barn is from the parking lot and the Publick House and you see a scattering of buildings as you come in — there doesn’t seem to be a lot of order to it,” Zwagerman said.

He said the plans call for creating a path system that creates and east-west and north-south flow. Signs and historic lighting changes are also proposed to the site to improve the visibility of the site.

“It’s conveniently located on two major arterlals on the north end of the community with tens of thousands of vehicles driving by it daily, but not everybody know what it is and what it’s about, so one thing that was talked about is making sure when people drive past the park there is something special,” Zwagerman said.

Zwagerman said the “near-term vision” for Old Falls Village includes a performance stage behind the railroad depot  and potentially a picnic food and beverage area. He added that a beer garden is being considered for the space for this summer.  He said the “big picture standpoint” long term vision includes a village component that could include a visitor’s center that would be modeled after a sugar beet factory that operated in the village along with a “village area” that could include a blacksmith shop .

Zwagerman then described the purpose of the visitor’s center proposed in the long-term vision.

“Old Falls Village and the historical society are really looking at ways to program this toward more sustainable revenue streams and for attracting new people who have never been there before,” Zwagerman said. “With the visitor’s center concept and a lot of the things you’ve seen here, it’s about creating spaces for new activities, new programming and new opportunities to bring people in.”

He added that a cafe or space for events such as wedding or other special events is being considered for the visitor’s center or existing sites. He said the barn at the site is being considered for use for special events. He said the performance stage and beer garden proposal are moving ahead this year while the new paths and lighting are in the revised COR Plan. Long term plans include the visitor’s center and a “main street” proposal further inside the park area.

Changes are Mill Park Pond and Plaza
The village has acquired land the northwest end of Mill Pond Park. Zwagerman said the village is proposing to add parking at the site along with picnic tables and kiosk.

Menomonee Falls Planning Technician Tyler Zwagerman summarizes changes to the village outdoor Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan during a presentation at the March 5 Village Board meeting.

Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON – The Senate is slated to approve a bill Tuesday to close the state’s troubled teen prison by 2021 — but likely with changes that could kill the legislation.

The Assembly last month unanimously approved a bill to close Lincoln Hills School for Boys north of Wausau and replace it with smaller, regional facilities.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) has said he doesn’t like aspects of the bill and wants to go a different route. His plan would close Lincoln Hills by 2021, but leave details about where to house those inmates up to future legislation.

Assembly leaders have said they won’t meet again in regular session this year and Fitzgerald has said Tuesday will be the last day of regular session in his house. If both sides stick to their word, nothing will get to Walker’s desk.

It’s one of several bills championed by Walker that may not get to him even though his fellow Republicans control the Legislature.

The legislation comes in response to a 3-year-old criminal investigation into child neglect and prisoner abuse at the teen prison. Lincoln Hills and its sister facility on the same grounds, Copper Lake School for Girls, have also been the subject of multiple lawsuits, including one that forced Walker’s administration to reduce its use of pepper spray and solitary confinement.

BY THOMAS J.MCKILLEN
MANAGING EDITOR
While the village and town of Jackson want the state Department of Administration (DOA) to approve a Cooperative Planned Agreement (CPA), several residents of the town spoke out during a public hearing on Feb. 26 against the current version of the agreement.

The public hearing, held at Living Word Lutheran High School, provided residents from both communities to comment on the current version of the agreement to staff from the state Department of Administration.

The issue revolves around land from the town that is to be attached into the village as part of past border agreements. The village and town of Jackson have been in the process of mediation in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit involving a border and revenue sharing agreement that was first approved by the two communities in 1999, with amended agreements approved in 2005 and 2008.

The boundary issue has been a legal matter after the village approved an ordinance in December 2014 stating certain properties in the town would be attached to the village as of Jan. 1, 2015 under language in the border agreement. An organization representing town residents called Jackson Town Residents Against Annexation (JTRAA) went to court to challenge the village action and received an injunction in their favor that prevented the attachment. The town of Jackson was listed as involuntary plaintiff in the civil case. In December 2015 Washington County Circuit Judge Todd Martens ruled in favor of the village that the border agreement is enforceable. In February 2016, Martens ruled in favor of the JTRAA argument that certain conditions of attachment were not met by the village. Martens then asked the sides to mediate the case in an attempt to resolve the matter out of court.
After reaching a Memorandum of Understanding on a possible agreement, the town and village negotiated the Cooperative Planned Agreement, which was submitted to the state Department of Administration in December. The agreement calls for attaching specific
portions of land from the town into the village in 2021 and 2030. A specific parcel
at the southeast portion of the town known as “Palorama Farms” will be attached immediately under the agreement.

In opening statements, attorneys for the village and town asked the DOA officials at the hearing to approve the Cooperative Planned Agreement. “The Town Board has asked the DOA to approve this agreement,” Tim Andringa, an attorney representing the town in the matter, told agency officials. He later added that “there’s been a long, long public process with a lot of public input already with respect to this matter. The town and the village, I believe, want you to approve this plan.”

Joe Cincotta, an attorney representing JTRAA, said “the core problem” with past agreements was a lack of notice that the attachments of lands from the town to the village. Following court rulings, all parties started work on the Cooperative Planned Agreement. Cincotta said during a public hearing in the fall, he said he and other town residents expressed concerned about the attachment of the Palorama Farms area, which would
become a village “island” surrounded by town land. Cincotta said he and town officials also expressed concern about town residents being able to keep their town addresses and not convert to the village system. Following the fall public hearing, the JTRAA filed a request in
December for a public hearing. Cincotta said “additional language” was included in the CPA regarding addresses and whether the addresses of town residents would be changed once their properties would be attached to the village.

“The current first responders and emergency service providers are familiar with the status quo. Changing addresses will not eliminate confusion but could create it,” he said.
During comments from residents, Town of Jackson resident Winter Hess said when previous boundary agreements were approved, they were not recorded at the Register of Deeds office. As a result, when he and other town residents purchased their property they were not made aware the town would be attached from the town to the village. Hess said the town property owners who would be affected by the new CPA “are not in agreement with leaving the town.” Hess cited information based on petitions signed by residents in several
subdivisions, and said 93 percent of residents in the Twin Creeks, 86 percent of residents in the Hidden Creek, and 85 percent of residents in the Sherman Parc subdivisions are opposed with having their properties attached to the town. Town resident Freda Johnson said she and her husband said they purchased their lot in 2005. They said they chose
the town of Jackson for its “rural feel” after being residents in the city of Milwaukee for several years.

“We wanted to live in the town of Jackson,” Johnson said. Johnson also said Paloroma Farms should not be attached to the village right away but instead should be attached with other town properties in the village in 2021.

Town resident Bill Saari cited new language in the CPA regarding addresses which states “the village makes no representation of warranties that the relevant property owners will be allowed to retain their post attachment addresses within the attached territory. The relevant property owners assume all risk over any confusion relating to having a separate
postal street address system that differs from the balance of the village.” Saari said the Post Office and Washington County Sheriff’s Department have not objected to keeping the current addresses for the town properties that will be attached to the village. Saari said the language added stating the town residents assume “all risk” to retaining their
current addresses “is unfair to us as citizens and should be taken out prior to the
agreement being approved, by the Department of Administration.

Town of Jackson resident Bob Seidel cited petitions signed by the town residents who are opposed to the current CPA.

“There is a statistically significant portion of the population who oppose this agreement,” Seidel said.

More than a dozen town residents spoke out against the current CPA. Following a break in the meeting, attorneys for the town, village, and JTRAA provided final comments. John St. Peter, an attorney representing the village, said “the village won in court” regarding the original boundary agreement. A judge later ruled the proposed CPA is consistent with a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the village, town and JTRAA. St. Peter later said the village extended sewer and water into the town areas that were jeopardized by a gas leak in 2012 without seeking to annex those properties. St. Peter noted the village agreed to delay the annexation of properties that were scheduled to be attached from 2015 to 2021. St. Peter said the village agreed to allow town residents to keep their addresses once those lands were attached to the village.

“We agreed to the addresses. We didn’t want that. That is part of the mediation, we agreed to it,” St. Peter said of allowing town residents to keep their addresses after attachment.

Andringa addressed the immediate attachment of the Palorama farms development
right away instead of in 2021. According to Andringa, the Memorandum of Understanding which preceded the CPA had language allowing owners of town property to annex into the village. Andringa said the developer to the Palorama Farms site sought to join the village right away. Andringa said the town could go to court to object to the annexation. However, the land would have been attached to the village in 2021 anyway and the town would have had to pay attorney fees if it lost the case.

At the end of the public hearing, a representative from the Department of Administration said the agency would issue a final ruling on the proposed Cooperative Planned Agreement between the town and village on April 19. Written comments from residents will be accepted by the agency through March 8.