[Please see the comment at the end of this post about the Milwaukee River Work Group.]
The Milwaukee River has become a huge issue in this race, and almost all the candidates talk about it.
Mandel Group has been floating the idea of more dorms, retail, or hotel space on the river at the Hometown site at North Ave.
The Milwaukee River Work Group (MRWG), is pushing for protections of the river’s banks, bluffs, water quality and viewshed.
If you want a basic overview of the work of the MRWG, check out my response below to the question in the Riverwest Currents on dealing with the Hometown Site owned by Mandel.
Public Trust, Zoning and Development
Cities need development to thrive—not just housing, but economic, organizational, environmental and cultural development in balance. Too much development in one area causes taxes to skyrocket. Too little foreordains blight. Cities and local governments must foster a deeper sense of “public trust” in order to be effective. Zoning, as a public asset, is part of that trust. If we want sustainable development, then we can’t allow ourselves to be held hostage to developers or to equate development merely with fast-buck condo/dorm/hotel building. In this vein, I support development that goes hand in hand with public trust. Continue reading ‘The Milwaukee River and upcoming development (more dorms?)’
17 Feb 2008 | 9:35 am | Water, Development, Environmental Sustainability, 3rd District | Read 1 comment - Add your comments
I spoke to a constituent a couple of days ago about the driveway of a new development in his neighborhood. The effect of that driveway was to make street parking less available (therefore netting no new parkings spaces), and the destruction of a 75 year-old Maple tree.
An irony when we are considering the potential effects of the Emerald Ash Borer on the city’s trees, and the overall need for a greater tree canopy in the city.
We need a stronger city plan to ensure the health of our urban forest, You can get a free tree from Greening Milwaukee
Trees
- Provide shade in the summer
- increase our property values
- Reduce our energy bills
- Help block harmful ultraviolet rays
- Increase our ability to concentrate
- Absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, cleaning the air we breathe
- Reduce our reliance on air conditioners
- Reduce water runoff that lead to sewer overflows (green is always better than concrete or asphalt)
- Provide a home for birds and other wildlife
and make us all happier.
P.S. We need city trees on Holton St.
28 Dec 2007 | 4:14 pm | Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments
I believe we need to get all aspects of our water out of the hands of private, for profit businesses. Other cities have seen water bills double, triple and quadruple after private companies took over managing water resources, treatment and cleanup.
I found this press release at Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers:
Milwaukee, WI – Yesterday, Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, Midwest Environmental Advocates, Sierra Club Great Waters Group, and Alliance for the Great Lakes wrote to the Commissioners of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (“MMSD”) to express their concern over continued privatization of the municipal wastewater treatment system. Currently, wastewater services for the City of Milwaukee are contracted out to United Water. On December 3rd, MMSD will decide whether to turn that contract over to Veolia Water North America or return wastewater treatment responsibilities to the District.
“We support the return of wastewater treatment to the District because contracting out services cannot adequately protect public health and the environment,” said Cheryl Nenn, Riverkeeper for Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers. “Our rivers and Lake Michigan have been subjected to enormous amounts of pollution from sewer overflows, many of them preventable.” Karen Schapiro, of Midwest Environmental Advocates, added, “The current contract in place does not penalize the contractors for this pollution, and fails to provide incentive for proper equipment maintenance and upgrades, which could reduce or prevent these overflows.”
Rosemary Wehnes, of the Sierra Club’s Great Waters Group, emphasized the public access and accountability benefits of returning the wastewater responsibilities to the District. “Contracting out wastewater services provides almost no transparency and weakens public accountability. A private company is not held to the same public accountability as a municipal district such as MMSD.”
The letter asks MMSD Commissioners to consider returning the operation and maintenance to a public system, and also encourages that, should another private contractor be selected, that the contract be revised to eliminate incentives that reward inadequate treatment of sewage and pollution of our waterways, and to provide stronger tools for enforcement and more public accountability.
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FAST FACTS
-The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is a state-chartered government agency that provides wastewater treatment services to 28 municipalities in southeast Wisconsin. For the past 10 years, they have contracted operation and maintenance responsibilities to United Water Services.
- In 1994, the “Deep Tunnel” was brought online to address the problems of sewage overflows in Milwaukee, storing sewage during rainstorms when it was expected that treatment plants would be overwhelmed. The 19-mile long tunnel cost nearly $2 billion dollars, yet overflows still occur.
- Since 1995, over a billion gallons of sanitary sewage has been dumped in Milwaukeearea rivers and Lake Michigan.
- Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers’ (FMR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting water quality and wildlife habitat and advocating for sound land use in the Milwaukee River Basin. FMR is a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international coalition dedicated to protecting and restoring our world’s waterways, and is the licensed Riverkeeper® for Milwaukee.
- Great Waters Group is a Sierra Club member group of the John Muir Chapter that serves club members in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, & Waukesha counties. Sierra Club groups are run by their members who volunteer to promote environmental sustainability by taking action on local issues and educating others to understand the issues and opportunities available to make informed decisions that will better protect our shared environment.
- Midwest Environmental Advocates, Inc. (MEA) is Wisconsin’s only non-profit environmental law center dedicated to environmental justice and the protection of the public’s right to clean air, clean water, clean government, and responsible land use.
- Alliance for the Great Lakes is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and restoring the world’s largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife.
30 Nov 2007 | 2:35 pm | Water, Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments
An article by John Schmid in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on soaring oil prices tells us why we need alternatives
“The U.S., with 5% of the world’s population, burns nearly one-quarter of all the oil - 20.6 million barrels a day in 2006…”
According to the article, traders on the oil markets have reacted to:
- A bombing in a previously peaceful province of Afghanistan, which killed scores of people
- An attack on a Yemeni oil pipeline
- President Musharraf of Pakistan declaring a state of emergency, fraying ties with the U.S.
- Last month’s skirmish over the Turkish border when Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq killed 13 Turkish soldiers
- Iran’s nuclear program prompted the U.S. to step up sanctions against Iran, further unnerving traders
Renewable energy will allow us to be free, politically and economically from the countries who have oil. Maybe it would keep them safer from our reach too.
7 Nov 2007 | 9:52 am | Environmental Sustainability | Read 1 comment - Add your comments
Here’s a win-win creative concept for the environment and cost savings — have the city fund changes through low interest loans that are cheaper to pay back than the energy cost.
Berkeley going solar - city pays up front, recoups over 20 years
Berkeley is set to become the first city in the nation to help thousands of its residents generate solar power without having to put money up front - attempting to surmount one of the biggest hurdles for people who don’t have enough cash to go green.
1 Nov 2007 | 11:30 am | Environmental Sustainability | Read 1 comment - Add your comments
The East Side, Brady Street and Riverwest are now part of the Flexcar service area! Any UWM neighbor is welcome to use the Flex cars located at the UWM campus, Kenilworth or Riverview Dorms.
If you’ve been thinking of giving up your car or a second family car, check them out, because the more people who drive them, the more cars they will bring in for neighborhood use.
If you join Flexcar by November 28, 2007, the first year’s membership fee will be waived (a $35 value).
16 Oct 2007 | 4:37 pm | Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments
Here’s an interesting idea for micro wind generators. I could see these strung between houses and buildings to lessen the amount of fossil fuels that need to be consumed to light and heat our neighborhoods.
15 Oct 2007 | 8:56 am | Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments