At the end of February I really start to look for signs of spring. I am in the middle of planning a family vacation to Disney World and a Family Reunion in Tennessee in June. I blogged the other day about what a great July we are going to have here in Tosa. As I write this I am wearing my Tosa Night Out t-shirt, what a fun night in August that is. So I was heartened when I saw this agenda item coming up for this weeks Common Council meeting;

Conditional Use request in the Parks and Open Space District for a pool, bath house, and concessions at Hoyt Park, 1800 Swan Blvd., Geoff Hurtado, Irgens Development, and Denise Lindberg, Friends of Hoyt Park and Pool, Inc., applicants

Something is happening! It has been a long time since I swam at Hoyt, my children never have but I hold out hope that they someday will. With this on the agenda it looks like after years of dormancy we might get a new pool, sooner rather than later.

As the plan unfolds in committees over the next few weeks I am sure there will be citizens, mostly neighbors of the pool itself who will come forward with concerns. First and foremost security will be an issue, to this point I agree. I don’t care who uses the pool but they need to be respectful of the pool, its users, and its neighbors. I am also concerned that the pool will be overrun by large day care groups. When I go to the pool I am there to watch MY kids, not the ones from a day care that are not being watched. On two different occasions last summer I had to bring some behavior issues of day care kids that were not being properly watched to the attention of their daycare teachers while we were at a park. If we build a pool in Tosa I don’t want Tosans avoiding it, especially for the wrong reasons. Lastly I have heard about some questionable behavior in the Hoyt parking lot. Hopefully with the addition of more activity this will come to an end.

Keep an eye on the Council and Committee agendas for the next few weeks as this finally comes to fruition.

I Had two back to back meetings today. The first was North Avenue Neighborhood Alliance Board of Directors. Many great things are happening. Our North Avenue Plan has moved into the process of finalizing contracts which means that we could have a final plan by this fall. Our block watch kick-off meeting went very well and I reported to the board that it looks like we have someone willing to take the lead. I am meeting with the WPD officers and MPD officers next week to start the process of merging the two business groups into an inter-city business block watch. Our Chili Fest on North Avenue is coming along too. We have a tentative date of July 24th-25th. Our chili pod will be coming from Illinois and we are getting a-oks from everyone in the city and potential sponsors so far. I hope this turns into a very successful annual event…just blocks from my house! Thanks to Meg and Mike for all their hard work on this.

I left the Alliance meeting and headed straight to City Hall for a Civic Celebration Commission meeting. Everything is coming along for this year’s Independence Day Celebration. I am excited because this year it will be on Monday July 5th which means a two day party. We got some cool news; first it looks like Bartolotta Fireworks has come up with a new and innovative launch site for the fireworks along the parkway behind Hart Park. This will solve a lot of the logistics problems we were having with the park land use and will allow us to launch larger shells which will make for a more impressive display. The other big piece of news is that we have secured the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps for the Parade. It will be nice to have a nationally recognized group to add to the mix of the great units we already have.

What a neat time to be a Tosan. I am very excited about this coming summer!!!

  I spent last night at the Community Development Committee meeting in committee room #1 at City Hall. Of the many meetings I have attended at City Hall this was probably one of the longest, and most heated, I have ever witnessed. The hot topic last night was butterflies, specifically Monarch Butterflies.  Wauwatosa it seems is home to a key rest stop for Monarch butterflies during their thousands of miles of migration they repeat every year. Specifically the butterflies like to stop in a patch of undeveloped land smack dab in the middle of the Milwaukee County Grounds. Land which  has been used for various county buildings over time, is currently not used, but is being considered for development by UWM for a state of the art, world class engineering school. I love butterflies, they are like living moving flowers and a reminder of the beauty that nature has to offer. My oldest son has hatched butterflies from cocoons and with our public museum membership our first stop when we visit is always to see how butterflies are doing. I think that it is pretty neat that the butterflies have chosen Wauwatosa to make their annual pit stop.

I am also pro-development. The prestige the UWM is offering us does not come about every day. This is an opportunity that we cannot let pass by but I also recognize that as the care takers of the Earth we have a responsibility to protect the butterflies. Balance and compromise MUST be found.

At the meeting last night there were many members of the public who were passionate about the Monarchs and their habitat. I was proud that so many people are acting as the voice for such tiny creatures that do not have one of their own. Knowing this, and having looked over the plans I am confident that balance and compromise has been achieved and will carry forth as the UWM plan moves forward.

I also came to realize that butterflies might be smarter than humans. I have a hard time finding my car keys yet every year these little guys find their way back to Tosa. I think if we do this right they will continue to visit us and find their way home.

  Wauwatosa Police Department

Chief Barry Weber

February 23, 2010                                                                                   News Release

Contact:  Lt. Dominic Leone

                414-471-8430, ext. 5217

 

Re:       HAZMAT Investigation            report# 10-4121

 

The Wauwatosa Police Department is investigating a HAZMAT situation in the 2300 block of N. 69 St. that occurred at 6:52pm on February 22. A family member called to report some unusual substances around their home. Officers investigated and located several chemicals with a strong toxic odor and immediately called the Wauwatosa Fire Department who responded with their HAZMAT team. We also notified the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation to assist us.

 

The chemicals were removed and samples were preserved to identify the contents. Several of these chemicals are common in manufacturing methamphetamine, however, we have not concluded that this was a meth lab. We will continue to investigate this case to determine if there will be charges against a 48 year old Wauwatosa man, who is in custody.

 

There is no additional information available at this time.

 

 

I woke up to seeing this story on the TV this morning, Not sure what is going on yet;

http://www.wisn.com/news/22641333/detail.html

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/85027392.html