- Melody Beattie
For information on upcoming Board, Committee and Commission meetings as well as other government-related meetings and events, please follow the link above to the Village Government Calendar.

March 21 Village Board Agenda

The Village Board will meet on Monday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall Court Room. These are the agenda items that the Board will discuss or take action on during the meeting:
  1. Consider Presentation of Accounts March 21, 2016
  2. Consider Special Privilege Application for Fence Installation within the Public Way at Residential Property 4324 N. Maryland Ave.
  3. Consider Special Privilege Application for Placement of Bicycle Racks in the Street in Front of 4417 N. Oakland Ave., Business Draft & Vessel
  4. Proclamation for Autism Awareness Month and World Autism Awareness Day
  5. Proclamation for Assistant Library Director Emily Passey
  6. Presentation of the Library Annual Report
  7. Presentation of Customer Service / Clerk-Treasurer Annual Report
  8. Discuss and Public Comment on Possible Relocation of Police Department
  9. Consider Agreement for Phase I Environmental Study for A B Data Building
  10. Consider North Shore Environmental Health Consortium Fee Modification
  11. Discuss and Possible Consideration of a Water Service Replacement Program
  12. Report from Consultants on Southeast Combined Area Environmental Impact Study
  13. Consider Economic Development Grant for Reserve Liquor License for Metro Market Located at 4075 N. Oakland Ave., Owner Mega Marts LLC
  14. Consider Ordinance to Amend Section 6 of Chapter 409 of the General Ordinances of the Village of Shorewood Related to Restricting Residency of Sex Offenders in the Village of Shorewood

Public Art Shorewood Committee Plans Innovative Ghost Train Installation

Shorewood's Public Art Committee is proposing a new installation called 'The Ghost Train', an artistic sensory experience which will enable visitors to travel back in history, imagining the round-trip journey of the 'Twin Cities 400' which was operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway from 1935-1963 and crossed Capitol Drive at the Oak Leaf Trail Bridge. 
           
The Ghost Train designer is Marty Peck, principal of Creative Lighting Design & Engineering, a Germantown-based firm specializing in the expressive use of light in architecture. Through innovative lighting and sound technology, Peck will create the allusion of a Ghost Train crossing the bridge twice each evening to recall the schedule, speed and drama of the passing of this historic 400 train.  At other times the bridge will have a subtler artistic illumination. A comprehensive traffic study for this project will be conducted prior to the installation to ensure that any potential traffic safety issues are addressed.
           
The Ghost Train Committee is currently in the process of fundraising for the project and securing Village Board approval before the project design phase begins. A community meeting to introduce The Ghost Train to Shorewood is planned for Thursday, March 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Village Center. If the proposal is accepted by the Village Board, the tentative Ghost Train launch time frame is October 2016, providing an exciting lead into Shorewood's 100th anniversary celebration in 2017.
 
"This will be a first-of-its-kind experience that blends art, history and technology and we believe it will draw interest not only in Shorewood but throughout Wisconsin and beyond," said Guy Johnson, Village President.

The Ghost Train is the next phase of an exciting long-term public art vision for Shorewood, according to Pat Algiers, The Ghost Train Committee Chair and a member of Shorewood's Public Art Committee.      
        
"We envision The Ghost Train as a creative artistic experience that will both entertain and educate viewers of all ages and provide a memorable way to celebrate Shorewood's railroad history," Algiers said.
          
Touted as the fastest passenger train in the world, the Chicago and North Western Railway's '400' routinely covered the 400 miles between Chicago and St. Paul, MN in just 400 minutes - including its travel over Shorewood's Oak Leaf Trail.

Upcoming Public Meetings on the Relocation of the Police Department Building

This past Monday, Police Chief Peter Nimmer gave a presentation to the Village Board about the current challenges of the Police Building and the potential of relocating the Police Headquarters to the AB Data Building on Wilson Drive.  To view the presentation Chief Nimmer presented, feel free to click here.  

Upcoming sessions and public meetings will provide the public more information and initiate more discussion.  These sessions include:
  • Monday, March 21 - 7:30 p.m. - Village Board Meeting, Discussion with updates on community input to date, further community input will be taken. 
  • Monday, April 4 - 7:30 p.m. - Village Board Meeting, Discussion with updates on community input to date, further community input will be taken.
  • Monday, April 18 - 7:30 p.m. - Village Board Meeting, Discussion and possible consideration of option to purchase AB Data building.
The Shorewood Police Department is currently housed in a joint use facility with North Shore Fire Department. The police department staff of 33 employees occupies 5,000 sq. feet of the lower level while the fire station occupies the upper level of the building. Constructed in 1927, the building no longer adequately serves the needs of a modern law enforcement agency. 

A facility feasibility study conducted in 2007 by the Zimmerman Design Group, a leader in police architecture, led to the exploration of possible remodeling or a rebuild of the current facility as well as a move to one of several possible locations. After a thorough vetting process, Village and Police officials believe that the A B Data building at 4057 N. Wilson Drive meets all the needs of a modern police department today and for the foreseeable future.

The Village Board has built this project into its long-term financial plan and final consideration for approval for the purchase is anticipated at the April 18 meeting. The goal is for the new facility to be in place by summer 2017.

In the meantime, the Village, Police Department and Public Safety Committee encourage residents to attend the informational sessions and provide feedback or questions to Chief Nimmer at 414.847.2616 or Chris Swartz at 414.847.2701.  If you'd like to read the White Paper for the Police Department Facility, feel free to click here.
Upcoming April 5 Spring Election Information
The Spring Election will be held on April 5, 2016.  The ballot will contain the Presidential Preference, Justice of the Supreme Court, a number of Circuit Court Judges, County Executive, County Comptroller, County Supervisor, Village Trustee, Municipal Judge, and School Board Members.  Sample ballots are available on the Village's website.
 
The polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. of Election Day.  The Village has three polling locations: Village Center, 3920 N Murray Ave., Shorewood High School, 1701 E Capitol Drive, and Lake Bluff School, 1600 E Lake Bluff Blvd.  To find your polling place, please visit My Vote Wisconsin.
 
Photo ID
Photo ID will be now required at the polling place for all Elections.  For more information, please visit Bring it to the Ballot.
 
Absentee Voting
In-person absentee voting at Village Hall will be held Monday, March 21 through Friday, April 1 during normal office hours, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Please note that Village Hall will be closed on Friday, March 25 and no absentee voting will be conducted that day.  
 
Absentee ballots are now available for mailing.  If you would like a ballot mailed to you, please submit a completed Application for Absentee Ballot to the Village of Shorewood, Attn: Village Clerk-Treasurer, 3930 N Murray Ave, Shorewood WI 53211.  A copy of your Photo ID must accompany your application.
 
New Voting Equipment
The Village has obtained new voting equipment and voters will now fill in ovals with black ball point pens, instead of connecting arrows with special pens as was done previously.  For more information, view the video prepared by the Milwaukee County Election Commission.
Online Parking Permission Module Now Active
Citizens are now able to conveniently request overnight parking by visiting the Village website or by going directly to the online form. Night parking permissions must be requested before 1 a.m. the morning of the requested 3 - 5 a.m. period. Each vehicle has up to 20 free nightly permissions per calendar year. If on-street parking is needed beyond this, please contact the Customer Service Department at Village Hall or by calling 414.847.2700. 
 
Police Department Office Hours
Effective back on March 12, the Shorewood Police Department front desk hours changed to Monday-Thursday 7 a.m. - 11 p.m., Friday 7 a.m. - 3 p.m., Saturday Closed, and Sunday 3 p.m. - 11 p.m. 
 
Announcing 2016 Shorewood Neighborhood-of-the-Year
Congratulations to the 4000-4100 block of North Larkin Street on being named the 2016 Shorewood Neighborhood-of-the-Year!  
This block has a long-standing tradition (dating back to 1977) of building neighborhood connections through a number of fun activities held year round, including weekly Friday Family Nights held through the summer.  
 
Organizers are attuned to including all generations in block events, communicating via a neighborhood website as well as through flyers and letters.  
 
They help each other out by loaning tools, watching houses while neighbors are out-of-town, sharing extra event tickets and shoveling snow. A few years ago, their popular neighborhood pot lucks resulted in the creation of a cookbook with a compilation of resident recipes.  
 
Thanks to this block and all who applied for the work you do to make Shorewood a great community.

Solar Shorewood Group Buys Set to Kick Off
First Information Session on April 24

Solar Shorewood is a grassroots residential and commercial group purchasing program for solar. Offered through a partnership between the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) and the Village of Shorewood, home and business owners throughout Shorewood may participate in this program to help pool their buying power to secure significant discounts that make installing solar more affordable than ever. The program will launch in April and will feature free information sessions through July. The first free information session (called a Solar Power Hour) will be April 24 at 6 p.m. at Three Lions Pub at 4515 N Oakland Ave.  If you have initial questions, please feel free to email Peter Murphy, who works for MREA, at peterm@midwestrenew.org.
Share Shorewood:  Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Week Approaching on May 1-7
The Village of Shorewood's Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee is celebrating "Share Shorewood:  Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Week" from May 1-7.  Several bicycle and pedestrian friendly activities and educational events will take place throughout the week for the community to participate in.
 
The week will end with a Bike Rodeo coordinated by the Recreation and Community Services Department, North Shore Fire Rescue, Shorewood Police Department, North Shore Health Department, and Rainbow Jersey Bicycles. The Bike Rodeo will take place on Saturday, May 7 and has two check in times: 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at Atwater Elementary School. This is a great event for children and families to get our their bikes, learn a few helpful safety tips, interact with Shorewood's Police Department, and maybe even receive a few giveaways. Please register in advance through the Shorewood Recreation Department. 
 
If you'd like to receive updates or learn more about the events that will be planned, feel free to like the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee's Facebook Page.  Stay tuned for more updates in the near future!

Volunteers Needed to Help Create Residential Design Guidelines

In 2006, Shorewood adopted comprehensive design guidelines used by landowners, businesses, developers, planners, architects and more, as a design palette or "guiding" principles for developments proposed in Shorewood's Central Business Districts along Capitol Drive and Oakland Avenue. The guidelines are based on the Central District Master Plan and are intended to assist the Village in maintaining and enhancing its physical character by encouraging development proposals that strive for high-quality design. They provide design direction that respects the Village's history and retains its eclectic architectural character while ensuring that new development "fits" the character of Shorewood.
 
Shorewood's Design Review Board has nine members that review residential and commercial projects that include changes to building façades, building additions, and new buildings. The board  is required to have a minimum of two architects and two additional architects or other design professionals who ensure exterior building improvements fit with the character of the Village. Design criteria used by the Design Review Board is described in Village Code Section 225-12E, limited to broad statements on scale, quality of materials, compatibility and consistency. Most of Shorewood homes were built in the late teens and early '20s by prominent architects of the day and are rich in architectural diversity. Creating residential design guidelines will help ensure that maintenance of Shorewood homes is consistent to original architectural style and that the overall historic character of Shorewood's neighborhoods are retained.
 
The Village hopes the committee will begin by the end of March and complete by June.  If you're interested and have experience in design or construction, contact Shorewood Planning Director Ericka Lang at elang@villageofshorewood.org or at 414.847.2647.

Celebrate Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and we're celebrating with a discussion of one of feminism's first proponents: Mary Wollstonecraft. 
 
This Women's History Month discussion with Dr. Gregory Sadler will focus on several of Wollstonecraft's key themes including her vision for full civilization, her critique of gender inequalities in education, culture, and personal life, and her conception of virtue and rationality as essential to all genders. 
 
Join us Tuesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Village Center Meeting Room. 
 
More information can be found on the Shorewood Public Library website.

Register for Story Time at the Library

Registration for lapsit and toddler story times begins on Monday, March 21. Ms. Heide has redesigned the Monday story time sequence to better-fit your schedule. 
 
If morning is best for you, there's an AM lapsit (6-23 month-olds) and an AM toddler session (2- to 3-year-olds). 
 
If you prefer evening activities, there's an age-inclusive story time for 6-month-olds through 3-year-olds, with early literacy activities suited to the development of young minds. 
 
Register online, in person or over the phone beginning Monday, March 21. Registration is open until sessions are full. Learn more about story time offerings on our website.

Dickey Chapelle's Story Part of Women's History Programming

In 1965, Shorewood grad Georgette "Dickey" Chapelle (SHS class of 1935) became the first female American war correspondent to be killed in action. For years, she fought to be taken seriously as a war correspondent, breaking down gender barriers for future generations of female journalists; embedding herself with military units on front lines around the globe and sometimes risking her life to tell the story.
 
"Behind the Pearl Earrings," a documentary produced by Milwaukee Public Television to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Chapelle's death in Vietnam, debuted in November 2015. It will be re-broadcast  Monday, March 21 at 9 p.m. on MPTV 10 and Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m. on MPTV 36 as part of MPTV's Women's History Month programming.  It will also be broadcasted statewide on Wisconsin Public Television on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m.
 
DVD copies of "Behind the Pearl Earrings" are available from the Shorewood Historical Society for $15. To obtain a copy, call 414.847.2726 or email shorewoodhistory@yahoo.com.
 

Sustainable Shorewood Tip of the Week        

Repair Bowed Sides to Raised Beds; Fix Trellises and Fencing
Soggy winter soil puts a strain on raised beds; sometimes a stake will rot and give way. Any bowed or leaning sides should be fixed now. Dig back the soil behind the bowed side and drive in new stakes on the inside of the sideboards with a slight inward lean. Push sideboards up to stakes and fasten well with screws or nails. If you are interested in purchasing a raised bed, we have a comprehensive selection of Raised Garden Beds available in our online store.

Trellises and fencing are also easiest to repair in early spring, with less growth to work around and fewer roots to disturb. Setting new fenceposts, however, is best done after the spring rains have had a chance to drain through the ground. If the water table is too high, post holes will fill with water as you try to dig.
 

Health Department Highlights        

Did You Know?
The North Shore Health Department (NSHD) maintains an immunization program to prevent and control vaccine-preventable diseases. Under this program, the NSHD provides immunizations to children without medical insurance and to private payers. The NSHD offers five immunization clinics each month for residents. Additionally, the NSHD works with families, schools, and day care providers to ensure enrolled children are up-to-date on their immunizations and compliant with the Wisconsin Immunization Law. We are currently working with the school districts in the North Shore to help their students connect with area healthcare providers or with our public health nurses to be fully immunized. 
 
Parents and guardians are encouraged to review their child's immunization record at the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). WIR is a secure, Internet-based data system that records and tracks the immunization records of Wisconsin children and adults. Parents can access their child's immunization records as long as the child's social security number or Medicaid ID is entered into WIR.
 
STEPS:
  1. Go to WIR
  2. Once you are in WIR, look for the title Public Immunization Record Access. click on it
  3. Once the page loads, look for registry and click on it
  4. You should see Hot Topics and Public Immunization Record.  Inside Public Immunization Record, click on Public Immunization Record.
  5. The next screen should allow you to type in the first and last name and birth date of your child
  6. Next you will have the option to use either your child's social security number or a Medicaid ID. (Your child's SS# will be blocked from anyone else trying to access WIR.)
  7. Once you are done entering your child's information, press Enter;  You should be able to view the immunization record
If you have any difficulties or questions accessing WIR, please feel free to contact us or contact WIR directly at 608.266.1865.
 
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Upcoming Immunization Clinics (appointment required) - Please call the North Shore Health Department for an appointment at 414.371.2980.
  • No upcoming immunization clinics.
  • Note - We will not be holding an immunization clinic at the North Shore Library on March 29. The next immunization clinic at the North Shore Library will be April 26.
Upcoming Adult Health Clinics (appointment required) - Please call the North Shore Health Department for an appointment at 414.371.2980.
  • Tuesday, March 22 from 8 - 10 a.m. - Shorewood Health Department (Village Center)
Upcoming Blood Pressure Screenings (walk-ins welcome - no appointment necessary)
  • Wednesday, March 23 from 3:30 - 5 p.m. - Shorewood Health Department (Village Center)
  • Note - We will not be holding a blood pressure screening at the North Shore Library on March 29. The next blood pressure screening at the North Shore Library will be April 26. 
Upcoming Community Events

Shorewood Marketing Neighbors Group Forum (must register to attend)
Monday, March 21, 2016 from 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Location TBD once you register and are selected
 
Broadcasting of Dickey Chapelle Documentary "Behind the Pearl Earrings"
Monday, March 21, 2016 at 9 p.m. (airing on MPTV 10)
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 7 p.m. (airing statewide on Wisconsin Public Television)
Friday, March 25, 2016 at 8 p.m. (airing on MPTV 36)
 
Shorewood Library Celebration of Women's History Month:  Mary Wollstonecraft
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.
Shorewood Public Library

Public Meeting on the Ghost Train
Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 5:30 p.m.
Village Center Lower Level Meeting Room

Spring Election
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Polling locations include Village Center, Shorewood High School, and Lake Bluff Elementary School

Solar Shorewood Group Buy Information Session
Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 6 p.m.
Three Lions Pub

Share Shorewood:  Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Week
Sunday, May 1 through Saturday, May 7, 2016
Village of Shorewood
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