The Daily Reporter articles from September 2008

The Daily Reporter archives from September 2008

Transit plan for Milwaukee and Waukesha counties needs border pass.
September 1, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan A Milwaukee group seeking a public transit plan to get city residents to a shopping center in Oconomowoc recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation. But it might all come down to Milwaukee and...

New Berlin's deal to buy Lake Michigan water likely to run through.
September 1, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Unless something unexpected crops up, New Berlin's application to buy Lake Michigan water should gain state approval. I'm certainly not aware of any new problematic issues, said Todd Ambs, Wisconsin Department of...

History had to wait for Kenosha museum's Civil War exhibit.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The main exhibit of the civil war museum in Kenosha took longer than anticipated to open, but that's mostly because the exhibit is more complicated than the average construction project. Consider one segment of the...

Evansville residents likely to determine fate of Lake Leota.
September 2, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Although its November referendum will be nonbinding, the president of the Evansville Common Council said he's inclined to abide by residents' votes when it comes to dredging Lake Leota. I'm 100 percent committed to...

Monastery in Wakesha could re-bid project.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Rev. Gregory Fruehirth said he hopes Julian House monastery can get a contractor hired in time to button up a building addition before winter winds begin to blow. The Order of Julian of Norwich, named after the...

City of Monona preps for Main Street facelift.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Monona Mayor Robb Kahl doesn't like what drivers see when they drive through the city on Monona Drive. It's a thoroughfare, he said. And we're not giving a good impression of our city right now. George...

Racine nonprofits, municipality vie for grant.
September 3, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Yolanda Santos Adams asked city of Racine officials not to use Community Development Block Grant money for street-construction projects. Adams, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha...

La Crosse pump house seeks quick cover.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Roof repairs for the Pump House Regional Arts Center in La Crosse slated for the city's 2009 capital improvements budget could be fast tracked for completion this year. It would likely thwart what could otherwise become...

UW-La Crosse sees if close is close enough.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will soon see whether $2.3 million comes close enough to $3 million in the eyes of city bankers. And that will tell them if they made the right call to simultaneously run two...

Menomonee Falls-based RR builder steams ahead.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan It's time for a challenge -- and it's the biggest one Volkmann Railroad Builders has ever accepted. The Menomonee Falls builder will lay 35 miles of track across Montana's plains and Bull Mountains by August. ...

Madison homeless could find new east-side abode.
September 4, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Madison officials like the idea of moving temporary and long-term housing options for the homeless to the city's east side, but it remains to be seen what the U.S. Department of Defense has to say about the idea. ...

Local 8 keeps tabs on wages in Milwaukee.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan All eyes are on specialty pay after some workers were underpaid on a Milwaukee project last spring. What's more: A watchdog has his sights set on debarring a Milwaukee contractor over the issue. On behalf of the city,...

Project re-bid puts Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to test.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District now must wait to see if it cut costs enough from its massive flood-control project in Wauwatosa. The MMSD, working with a consultant team, spent the last year retooling...

Beloit's Mill Street slated for spruce-up.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Beloit's beaten and battered Mill Street is in line for resurfacing and rerouting, but improvements could hinge on what kind of bids the city receives. The City Council this week approved 7-0 a redevelopment plan...

Economy slows progress on Madison's Hilldale Mall.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Development near Madison's Hilldale Mall is on hold again. Despite widespread talk in July that Chicago-based Joseph Freed & Associates LLC would let construction move forward by September, the developer Wednesday...

Bandage vs. brand new: Waukesha County to decide whether to build new courthouse.
September 5, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Waukesha County must defer any serious building-system improvements to its courthouse until it figures out if it's cheaper to build a new courthouse instead. Even if a study slated for 2012 determines the most...

Madison waffles on selling park land to builder.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder For several years, Madison officials debated the merits of selling a piece of land that's inaccessible and virtually invisible. A recommendation could soon be made on the city-owned land that rests under the...

Training dollars not always a perfect fit for Racine.
September 8, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Opportunities Industrialization Center of Racine County wants the city and private donors, not the federal government, to pay for its construction training program. The organization cancelled the program two years...

Fitchburg Alderman Jay Allen questions need for city's first library.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A $1 million donation isn't enough to convince Fitchburg Alderman Jay Allen that the city needs to build a $14 million library. I think at some point (a library) would be a good thing for this city, he said. I just...

OSHA's reach falls short of nonprofits.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Mel Hechel fell through a hole in an under-construction building Sept. 2. He died two days later at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah. The hole at the Seymour construction site did not comply with Occupational...

Sussex targets Waukesha-based Bielinski's rock-pile runoff.
September 9, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Sussex drew up tickets Monday to fine Bielinski Homes for not removing a 20-foot-tall pile of granite on the company's Main Street property. The land is one of two large sites the village is targeting (PDF) as it...

LEED liars need not apply.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder If you say your building is green enough, the U.S. Green Building Council will take your money and your word. The council argues it has little choice because, on any given day, it is shepherding about 12,000...

Flood repairs strain budgets in Wisconsin.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Fort Atkinson will shoulder about $65,000 to replant washed-out lawns because the work doesn't qualify for federal flood-relief grants. The city owns about 16.5 acres, mostly around the Rock River, where flooding...

Historic fix proves pricey for Wisconsin's municipalities.
September 10, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Under the crush of rising construction costs and tight budgets, local governments are struggling to finance historic restoration and preservation projects. If it were up to me, I'd just as soon put a steel roof on...

Prevailing wage ruling threatens Burlington project.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Sheet Metal Workers Local 18's demand for prevailing wages on a Burlington veterans hall could delay or kill the project, said Mayor Bob Miller. Local 18 petitioned (PDF) the Wisconsin Department of Workforce...

Village of Cassville carries torch for power plant.
September 11, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder It will kill Cassville if the state doesn't approve an expansion of the Nelson Dewey Generating Facility, according to the village's president. If this project doesn't happen, said Louis Okey, it's the start of a...

South Milwaukee loses battle over historic building.
September 12, 2008... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff Report The South Milwaukee Historical Society's attempt to save the historic Lawson Continental building for a new museum has failed. On Monday, the city's Community Development Authority agreed with the...

Fulton officials fight to cure road fatigue.
September 12, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Fulton residents shot down a tax increase to repair their town roads, leaving Town Chairman Evan Sayre expecting a bumpy ride in coming years. They're not going to fall apart tomorrow, he said. But one day, you're...

Library in Madison to lose a room of its own.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Tight budgets and limited options might force Madison's central library to share space with offices and retail in a new building even though some city officials cringe at the thought. You have to examine the...

First Choice wins I-94 bid in Wisconsin.
September 15, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Kenosha County Job Center lost its bid to train workers for the Interstate 94 reconstruction to a group with which it was collaborating. The center signed on with a network of social service groups as a part of...

The foreclosure question: To tear down or to repair in Milwaukee?
September 15, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The city of Milwaukee shoulders fewer administrative tasks when it demolishes foreclosed houses than when it repairs them. But Alderman Robert Bauman said he doesn't want that to push the city toward spending federal...

University of Wisconsin art project colors budget red.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The state won't pay for a $15.6 million budget increase for the Chazen Museum of Art expansion, but the request is still earning bad reviews. It's frustrating to have to go back to donors and ask for more, said...

Developer cornered by city, neighbor concerns in Madison.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Alex Weis is struggling to please everyone who has a stake in his planned 11-building development at the corner of McKee Road and Maple Grove Drive in Madison. This is the single most challenging project we've done,...

Milwaukee-area OSHA fines Dorner for April blast.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Two houses and a church blew up in Oconomowoc after an unmarked, underground, natural-gas line ruptured when Dorner, Luxemburg, was performing excavation for the reconstruction of Wisconsin Avenue. The Milwaukee-area...

Waukesha-based Total Team Construction LLC: Few tap FEMA for extra flood help.
September 16, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Bill Fuchs didn't get the response -- or business -- he wanted from his offer to help people apply for money to repair flood damage. As of Monday morning, Fuchs, president of Waukesha-based Total Team Construction...

Gil Czaplewski, leader in Wisconsin construction safety, dies at 83.(Obituary)
September 17, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Wisconsin builders remember Gil Czaplewski as the man who made safety a priority for contractors. Czaplewski died Friday at age 83. Gil would go ahead and put it in a way that we one-up (the Occupational Safety and...

Wisconsin-based Dorner Inc. says it will fight two OSHA citations.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Dorner Inc. will contest the two citations it received from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week. Dorner Attorney Jodi Arndt said the contractor scheduled a meeting with OSHA agents to discuss...

Madison architect slams renovation plans for US Bank building.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder At least one Madison architect will cringe as Urban Land Interests seeks energy efficiency by renovating one of downtown Madison's most prominent buildings. Kenton Peters, who owns Kenton Peters & Associates, said...

Madison residents unhappy with choice of anchor tenant in new development.
September 17, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Much to the chagrin of neighborhood residents, McGrath & Associates wants to anoint CVS Pharmacy as the long sought-after savior of the Union Corners development in Madison. I have not received one positive e-mail...

County breaks Janesville jail expansion job into phases.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Rock County officials are gambling that phased construction of the jail expansion in Janesville will delay the project long enough to give the economy time to rebound. But County Board Chairman J. Russell Podzilni...

Milwaukee sues to recoup Park East cash.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Milwaukee paid $210,000 to repair damage caused by a mound of Park East freeway rubble James Cape & Sons Co. created in 2002, and the city wants its money back. James Cape & Sons, formerly of Racine, closed its doors...

Inflation puts Milwaukee road project in park.
September 18, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan A ballooning construction budget stalled the reconstruction of Harbor Drive past Discovery World and Summerfest in Milwaukee. Initial estimates set the project cost between $750,000 and $1 million. Now the project is...

La Crosse tries $18.5 million referendum a second time.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder An $18.5 million referendum will go before La Crosse voters in November without the full support of the board that approved the proposal. The La Crosse School Board this week agreed to ask voters to put money...

Milwaukee branch of NAACP puts Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Plan Commission on notice.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Milwaukee branch of the NAACP asked the federal government to cut off the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Plan Commission if it doesn't commit to racial diversity. As the National Association for the Advancement...

Wisconsin counties find that some federal flood grants are drying up.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Jefferson County can't afford the $1.7 million it will cost to buy 77 floodplain properties in order to remove the buildings. The county was to split the land purchase with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and...

Wis.'s newly formed Coalition Organized for Responsible Energy focuses on need in power line debate.
September 19, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The newly formed Coalition Organized for Responsible Energy boasts almost 50 businesses and organizations that support a power line from Rockdale to West Middleton, but the group adds little to the project's central...

Cassville claims certain death if Alliant leaves.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Alliant Energy should abandon the Nelson Dewey Generating Facility expansion in Cassville for a natural gas plant more than 200 miles away, environmental groups say. Clean Wisconsin Inc. and the Citizens Utility...

Nonprofit finds freedom in a parking lot in Milwaukee.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan If Sally Peltz gets her way, the parking structure her company builds by the Pabst Brewery will free her nonprofits from relying on grants. Peltz, president of Legacy Midwest Renewal Corp., uses money from...

Wisconsin Department of Transportation tests mandatory safety plans.
September 22, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Project-specific safety plans might be the standard next year for contractors bidding on state road jobs. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is studying the safety plan (PDF) Dorner Inc. followed after an...

Wisconsin officials might risk cash for estimates.
September 23, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder State officials might have to gamble money from Wisconsin's Building Trust Fund if they want better construction cost estimates. But if you spend that money and the project then isn't approved, you start burning...

Janesville searches for sweeter development deals.
September 23, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Janesville might capitalize on a new state law that lets it expand tax-incremental finance districts, but city officials say it won't lead to abuse or forever-expanding developments. Theoretically, it could happen,...

People lining up to save Hoan Bridge in Wisconsin from demolition.
September 24, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan People are lining up to save the Hoan Bridge from demolition even though the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has not considered tearing it down. WisDOT acknowledges the roadway surface on the bridge deck and...

Ethanol plant planners leave city of Prairie du Chien out of process.
September 24, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder As United Cooperative targets Prairie du Chien for a new ethanol plant and Wisconsin puts money behind the project, the city is left wondering when it will be invited to the planning table. We haven't seen any...

Oconomowoc to require safety checks.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Oconomowoc is forging ahead with plans to disqualify bidders who have bad safety records, but there's no clear answer on whether competitive-bidding laws will allow it. The city is still deciding what safety...

Mazomanie struggles to grow within confines.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Mazomanie's village president says his town is paying the price of rabid growth in Madison and its surrounding areas in recent years. We missed the Dane County housing boom because we were just far enough out, said...

No money for market puts project on hold in Madison.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder The Madison Public Market is nearly dead as the city builds its budget without money for the project. It definitely affects our momentum, said Jim Bower, executive director of Madison-based Blue Planet Partners LLC,...

Milwaukee airport stretches its runways.
September 25, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan Federal rules are forcing General Mitchell International Airport to extend its runways the equivalent of two football fields, but the airport doesn't have enough space. The airport must extend the runways by 2015 to...

Villager Mall redevelopment in Madison races to survive economic storm.
September 26, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder As a national economic crisis darkens Madison's horizon, city officials are growing impatient to start work on the Villager Mall redevelopment on the city's south side. Of course I'm nervous, said Stuart Levitan,...

Town of Union might approve construction of wind tower despite moratorium.
September 26, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Despite local opposition and a moratorium on wind farm development, the town of Union might approve construction of a wind-measurement tower. It doesn't make any sense to me, said Lynda Barry-Kawula, who lives near...

Kinnickinnic River job saves the forest and the streams.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan The Kinnickinnic River is too shallow for barges, so contractors stabilizing the stream bank must tiptoe around trees when carving paths to access the work sites. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District mapped...

Overpass in Neenah yields a sinking feeling.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Neenah residents shouldn't be the only people paying for repairs to an overpass finished less than a year ago, according to a state lawmaker. Why are local municipalities on the hook for maintenance and repair on a...

State of Wisconsin cracks down on prevailing wages.
September 29, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder A Madison business watchdog group is challenging municipalities to follow state prevailing-wage laws on projects that include elements eventually falling under municipal control. It extended that challenge to the...

State money splits airport advocates in La Crosse.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder La Crosse Municipal Airport officials don't have an expansion plan in mind, but they'll take $379,000 in state and federal money to consider a project anyway. I don't think there will be anything too soon, said...

Hiring rule in Milwaukee sheds city preference.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Sean Ryan A Milwaukee alderman still wants developers using city money to help solve unemployment problems, but legal concerns are forcing him to broaden the pool of potential workers. Ashanti Hamilton pushed back the original...

Broken-down dam in Rock Falls trickles toward lonely death.
September 30, 2008... Byline: Paul Snyder Nobody wants to claim ownership of a 144-year-old leaky dam in Rock Falls because no one wants to pay to fix it. The state doesn't have preliminary estimates for repair costs, and neither the town of Rock Falls nor...