The Daily Reporter articles from November 2008

The Daily Reporter archives from November 2008

Building a bridge to a bridge: La Crosse must spend grant soon or lose it.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A small bridge has caused a big divide among La Crosse officials for the past two years, and the city's planning director says time is running out to close the gap. We only have the (Wisconsin Department of Natural...

Foreclosure hiatus in Milwaukee targets blight.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Homeowners facing foreclosure in Milwaukee sometimes don't get the chance to negotiate with their lenders before cases are closed and homes are for sale. Even the attorneys who are representing the lenders can't get...

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District pays for rejecting flood project bids.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The decision to re-bid a Wauwatosa flood-control project might cost the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District $1.8 million. A district committee last year rejected project bids because they were $14 million higher...

Construction team gives I-94 stream in Wisconsin special treatment.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan An unnamed stream runs through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's reconstruction of an Interstate 94 interchange in Caledonia. As WisDOT considered all options for rebuilding the interchange, the agency...

Milwaukee alderman adds third rail to transit debate.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee-area officials, each with their own public transit ideas, responded with skepticism to Alderman Joe Davis' plan to build a citywide electric rail system. Davis on Friday asked that the city's 2009 budget...

Flood-weary Wisconsin village awaits relocation cash.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder There's no money tucked in an 84-page federal report on Gays Mills, so the flood-weary village has little choice but to plan its relocation while waiting for someone to open his wallet. State and local officials...

Wind farm not welcome in Union, Wisconsin.
November 4, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Filling what it argues is a void in the state's vetting of wind-power projects, the town of Union is marking its turf with a proposed ordinance essentially outlawing such projects. I think the state of Wisconsin has...

Walmart leaves Sun Prairie waiting in line.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Sun Prairie doesn't have a timeline for construction of a new Walmart supercenter, which only adds to the anxiety caused by the company's recent decision to scale back such projects. Right now, we're waiting for...

Madison works on direction for downtown growth: Development plan threatens neighborhoods.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison's Downtown Plan is sparking a debate between those who worry it will lay waste to neighborhoods and others who argue it's time to clean house. There is a fear you're going to lose residents to these tall,...

Business groups in southern Milwaukee battle WisDOT ramp ruling.
November 5, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Business groups in southern Milwaukee say they'll never stop fighting the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to rebuild Interstate 94 with an offramp at South 27th Street. The groups spent the last year bashing...

ADA revisions could alter renovation rules.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan If Mike Pertmer gets $7,000 to spend on accessibility projects while updating West Allis City Hall offices, it won't be the first time he followed federal orders without federal money. The Americans with Disabilities...

Development won't grow on La Crosse's Barron Island.
November 6, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder As long as the city, county and a private developer are splitting ownership of the Park Plaza site on La Crosse's Barron Island, Nicholas Ladopoulos says nothing can be built there. I don't know whether they're...

Town of Onalaska stuck with damaged property.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Onalaska is still stuck with a piece of land it bought for $19,000 this year after the Environmental Protection Agency bungled the placement of monitoring wells on the property, town officials said. And there's a...

Expensive land locks out home builders in Waukesha County.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Home builders want to tap into the new demand for houses priced around $200,000, but high land values and low densities in Waukesha County make it difficult to achieve. The boom of the early 2000s is over, and the...

Portage County searches for solutions to shortage of space at courthouse.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Portage County officials are caught in the midst of an inmate population that's on the rise, a courthouse that's squeezed for space and voters who don't want to pay to solve the problems. We can ship inmates, said...

Wisconsin's ethanol boom burns out: Plant construction hits standstill.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Wisconsin's ethanol insiders say it could be years before the construction of another plant, illustrating a frustrating reality for an industry christened just two years ago as a leader in domestic biofuels production....

USS Freedom readies for Saturday christening in Milwaukee.
November 7, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Unlike many architects who might only have to work around HVAC and water systems, the designers of the USS Freedom figured out a way to place living spaces amid the machinery of war. I've never done houses, said Scott...

WisDOT zeroes in on highway conversion in Dane County.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The Wisconsin Department of Transportation could cut off access to neighborhoods and curb Dane County development when it converts a Madison highway into a freeway. Madison Alderman Brian Solomon argues that might...

Budget money means public market in Madison could make it.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A $60,000 boost in Madison's 2009 capital budget might be just enough to keep the Madison Public Market project alive and attract the critical eye of a Common Council looking to save money. The thought is this is...

Money scarce for Madison's preservation planners.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder It will take more than a series of clashes over the historic relevance of Madison buildings to get the city to expand its preservation staff. At the end of a year in which landmark status came into question for...

Dispute between Madison car dealer and American Honda Motor Co. delays $10M project.
November 11, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A $10 million project hangs in the balance of a turf war between a Madison car dealer and American Honda Motor Co. And as the state prepares to hear the dispute between Zimbrick Inc. and American Honda, Madison...

PSC pulls plug on power plant in Cassville.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder There will be no $1.26 billion expansion of the Nelson Dewey Generating Facility in Cassville. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin's three commissioners unanimously rejected the project Tuesday. It's...

Janesville debates building permit fines.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder If Janesville can't give its building codes teeth, Russ Steeber says there's nothing motivating people to pull permits for residential construction work. I wanted to know what the city's response was for someone who...

Infrastructure jobs in Milwaukee await federal money.
November 12, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee will need federal money if it is to create an ongoing stream of public construction projects to combat unemployment. The amount of spending in city, county and state government services is declining because...

Milwaukee architect dies and leaves lessons for the industry.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Edward Wenzler, president of William Wenzler and Associates-Architects Inc., died Saturday. His son, Christopher Edward Wenzler, will take over as president of the Milwaukee-based firm after working side-by-side with...

Milwaukee seeks solution to sinking City Hall.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The tricky thing about fixing the rotten wood pilings under Milwaukee's City Hall is getting at them. The northeast corner of the building sank about an inch and a half between the mid-1980s and early 2000s as fungus...

Developers skeptical of Madison policies.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison gave developers what they wanted by letting inclusionary zoning die and now it might take something away by making it harder to get tax-incremental finance money. There's a hell of a lot of risk in...

Rail projects traveling through Wisconsin still stuck in the station.
November 13, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The money is almost there for a commuter rail from Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison to Minneapolis, but no one is saying when the project will start, much less reach completion. It's time to redo the transportation...

WisDOT bridge puts premium on precast.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan A new market would open up for manufacturers such as Spancrete Inc. if Wisconsin uses precast to build bridges. But such a gain could be a loss for ready-mix companies. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation...

Estimating errors plague state projects in Wisconsin.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A proposed University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point project needs more money, leaving some lawmakers wondering when the state will figure out how to properly estimate a job. It's unacceptable to have this project come...

Developers skeptical of Madison policies.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison gave developers what they wanted by letting inclusionary zoning die and now it might take something away by making it harder to get tax-incremental finance money. There's a hell of a lot of risk in...

Wisc. contractors waiting to wade into water work: Great Lakes turbines still a distant possibility.
November 14, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Wisconsin could become the go-to place for Great Lakes wind-turbine construction, but the possibility is too remote for contractors to take it seriously. Ted Smith, president of Marine Tech LLC, Duluth, Minn., said he...

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources goes through motions for power plant permit.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold two hearings this week for the Nelson Dewey Generating Facility expansion that was rejected last week. They might be sparsely attended, said Steven Dunn, the...

Government reviews threaten road project schedules in Madison.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison might sacrifice the timing of its road projects so the Common Council can make sure outlying neighborhoods have room for pedestrian and bike traffic. It's micromanagement, said Alderman Paul Skidmore, who...

Milwaukee County weighs cost of cuts to trades staff.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee County officials are wrestling over whether to keep plumbers, electricians and other tradespeople on staff or hire contractors to do the work. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's 2009 budget...

Ill.-based EcoEnergy seeks wind farm deal with Union land owners.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A company that wants to construct a three-turbine, 4.5-megawatt wind farm in Union won't give up even though a town ordinance essentially leaves no room to build. I wouldn't say it's the end yet, said Curt Bjurlin,...

Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce to sue city of Milwaukee over sick leave.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce's directors Monday unanimously chose to sue the city of Milwaukee to stop a sick-leave ordinance from taking effect. The ordinance generated more backlash from...

Dane County road contributions draw criticism.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Municipal leaders want more road construction money than Dane County is willing to give, fueling debate that the county is out of touch with growth and is forcing cities to carry the load. I don't think the county...

$60M water pipeline project in Wisconsin is just what industry needs.
November 18, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Builders starved for work are salivating over a $60 million water pipeline from Waukesha to Lake Michigan, but it will take more than a year before engineering work begins. Waukesha's plan to tap Lake Michigan entails...

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin revives buried power line option.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin could force a utility to bury some of its transmission line even if ratepayers and Madison taxpayers would shoulder the cost. The way rates are structured, people would see...

Builders in Wisconsin urge Alliant to offer more work.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder More than 1,000 construction workers lost their latest, best hope when the state rejected the $1.26 billion Nelson Dewey Generating Facility expansion, and now builders want an alternative. Especially in the times...

Safety sells in sagging commercial market in Wisconsin.
November 19, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Owners of large commercial projects are forcing builders to choose to either enforce safety plans that exceed federal law or bypass the job opportunity. As owners increasingly adopt higher safety standards, general...

Colleagues of McMahon Group's deceased vice president remember his innovations.(Obituary)
November 19, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Thomas Vik, who died Sunday, didn't fear walking the high-wire as an engineer with McMahan Group, and his approach almost always worked, those who knew him said. He wasn't afraid to take a little bit of risk, and he...

Marcus Corp. retools Madison development.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison wants something new in terms of development for the outskirts of the city, and Marcus Corp. maybe among the first affected companies. Marcus is working to revise its plans for a proposed development on...

Madison architects barely balance workload, staff: Market makes it ideal time to hire top talent.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Everything was going great for Kahler Slater Inc. earlier this year. It had a solid backlog of projects and was busy hiring new employees to handle the load. But, like many other firms, that fortune soon reversed. In...

Local laws leave wind farms in Wisconsin out to pasture.
November 20, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan and Paul Snyder Lawmakers will rally again for statewide regulations on wind farm development in the upcoming legislative session, and, if the standards pass, local regulation could be a thing of the past. We will...

Business is slow and tight for demolition contractors in Milwaukee area.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Business is slow and tight for demolition contractors around Milwaukee as the city turns to them less and less to demolish homes. There are fewer city contracts, more bidders and razor-thin bid margins, said Mike...

Wisconsin's construction industry pushes for more state projects now.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder As builders groups argue the industry can't wait much longer for state projects, lawmakers who could eventually free up the money say it's still too soon. We need to do investing now to keep things rolling, said Jim...

Milwaukee land bank draws interest.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan If Milwaukee creates a land bank to buy foreclosed properties for renovation and resale, the city will need to get rid of the houses quickly before they become a liability. A task force assembled by Mayor Tom Barrett...

Juneau tries to lure businesses to industrial park with $1 deal.
November 25, 2008... Byline: Dustin Block For only $1, a company could own a fully improved lot in Juneau's industrial park. Of course, the bargain comes with a catch. The company first must bring at least 25 jobs paying $25,000 a year or more to the city,...

Fitchburg tries to close book on library debate.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Fitchburg residents will be angry if the city builds a new library. And they will be angry if the city does not build a new library. We've been torn apart by a building specifically designed to pull us together,...

Wisconsin Department of Transportation audits target county departments.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Marcus Evans, Eau Claire County highway commissioner, said he got a jolt when he opened a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation notifying him of an impending audit. The state has not randomly audited...

Milwaukee River rules threaten property values.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan A proposal to restrict development on the shores of the Milwaukee River could unfairly devalue two properties on North Avenue, according to an area business group. The river is a protected environmental corridor, but...

Holmen Village bucks development trends.
November 26, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Holmen's president claims his village's resistance to economic woes justifies about $22 million in development investments, while county officials argue that kind of confidence can get expensive. That is how people...

Alderman stakes claim to stimulus cash for Milwaukee.
November 27, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Federal infrastructure cash should go directly to Milwaukee so the city doesn't have to shake a cup at the state for a share of the stimulus, said Alderman Jim Bohl. Milwaukee has $15 million in paving and street...

Sacred Heart feels the pinch of land prices in Milwaukee County.
November 27, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee County paid the Priests of the Sacred Heart $44,698 in 1959 for 12.9 acres and now might sell back 1.3 acres for $150,000. Sacred Heart's attorneys did the math and figured the acreage it is trying to buy...