Lots of Moving Pieces
TLDR/ Key Points:
7/25 Public Works committee meeting will include a starting discussion about opportunities to improve bike & pedestrian safety in the village.
8/1 Village Board meeting will be live-streamed and will include discussion/ public hearing regarding Woman’s Club re-zoning as well as a presentation on TIFs to help contextualize the New Land - Fox Bay grant funding request.
8/2 CDA meeting will continue discussions on the New Land - Fox Bay grant funding request
I’ve had great meetings over the past 2 weeks with residents and other stakeholders to help advance issues that you have told me are important to you.
Important village board notes:
Many important pieces to note about the upcoming 8/1 village board meeting
It will be live-streamed!
It will be the public hearing for the re-zoning ordinance of the Woman’s Club property
There will be a presentation on Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) by former village manager Mike Harrigan to help inform the public in the context of the TIF grant request by New Land Enterprises for the Fox Bay building renovations.
The Community Development Authority (CDA) will be meeting again on 8/2 at 6 pm to continue reviewing the grant application from New Land Enterprises
Lots going on that I wanted to capture! I continue to be amazed and full of gratitude for how much WFB residents want to engage and help improve our community, and for how much work my fellow trustees and committee members do, essentially as volunteers!
Things I’ve been working on over the past week with residents and other trustees:
Fox Bay theater discussions. Trustee Raisa Koltun and I met with a senior executive from New Land (the developer that owns the Fox Bay building) this week. I am very re-assured by New Land’s commitment to making sure the theater space re-opens as a theater. Lot of potential here that they are exploring, including space for live events and restaurant space. The thing is, the current space needs to be renovated significantly. And that WILL take some collaboration with our CDA and New Land. It’s my personal opinion that the prior theater space does need significant work and that this is exactly what TID Incentive Grants are for. We are planning to continue meeting to ensure we move toward that vision.
Woman’s Club property development. Trustees Jacob Haller, Raisa Koltun, and I met with ICAP Development, LLC, the contingent buyer of the Woman’s Club property. We pressed for details about the proposed development (still too early to say). I made it clear that many residents would like to see preservation of the old oak trees on that property. For any residential development, we also discussed that it would be ideal to have enough density to meet the housing need we have AND be affordable. My own personal concern is that because this a privately-owned building, we have little leverage at this late stage of the game to influence what goes there. I know I’m not alone among the trustees in thinking that we need to be more proactive in engaging with business owners who are looking to sell, to ensure that future developments fit with our village’s vision.
Improving biking/ pedestrian safety in the village. Student safety (while biking/ walking to and from school) was something I heard a lot about from parents when I campaigned. My family loves to bike and there are a LOT of cyclists in our community. Most of us have either seen or heard of near misses involving cars and cyclists. School board members are very interested in this as well and it’s a great opportunity for inter-governmental cooperation. There are options and opportunities for grant funding to see what we can do…! Two residents emailed the village board asking us to take action on this item and Trustee Tara Serebin, chair of the Public Works committee agreed to add the item to their meeting on 7/25.
Improving hyperlocal reporting and/or news coverage for village happenings. There is SO much going on in the village that I would want to know about as a resident. And right now, the only ways to find out are a bit fragmented. Last week, I was approached by a WFB resident who has a journalism background. He and I sat down to coffee with Trustee Koltun and we brainstormed ways to improve coverage of WFB events. This is a heavier lift than any one person can take on. And it’s a key piece in improving engagement/ transparency with residents.
Facilitating training and education for dementia awareness. 17% of North Shore residents are over the age of 65, making dementia awareness an important initiative for both residents and first responders. Chas Mulcahy, a lifelong WFB resident and community advocate, convened a meeting this past week with me, North Shore Health Department Director Becky Rowland, Azura Memory Care President Jill Kreider, Azura Fox Point Executive Director Ross Segel, and Wisconsin Policy Forum president Rob Henken. The goal will be to see how we can ensure top-notch training for first responders and partner with the North Shore Health department to bring dementia educational resources to WFB residents.
Connecting with WFB Business Improvement District (BID). I had a great meeting with Lexie Deblitz, the new executive director for the WFB BD and I am SO excited by her energy and experience. She’s the perfect person to carry on the work by the former Executive Director Katie Commer.