Fifth District Concerns
Issues I'm looking into for our district

Noisy Streets

New Engine Braking Ordinance -- Thanks to resident Theresa French, we will soon have an ordinance prohibiting compression braking (also known as "Jake braking") in the City.  This has been a nuisance for a long time; the Council had the first reading of the ordinance on August 20, and should pass the ordinance on September 3.  Theresa wrote City Administrator Mark Grams, who got the ball rolling to get the ordinance written.

If you see something in the City that bothers you, don't hesitate to contact me or one of our City staff.

Park Comfort

Park Bench in Hill School Park -- A resident recently asked me if we could install a bench in Hill School Park for people to watch their children/grandchildren play on the play structure that was installed last fall.  I am in the process of trying to round up a bench that can be installed there; the Park & Rec department is looking into this.  My goal is to have one there by mid-September.

UPDATE 2/10/03 -- Several benches are now installed around the play structure (they were actually installed in late Summer, when the Park & Rec workers were able to schedule the work).

Street Safety

Stop Signs on South High and Garfield Streets -- At present, northbound traffic on South Garfield and South High streets at Lincoln only have "yield" signs and don't have to stop.  This encourages them to move at a rapid rate through the block between Lincoln and Grand, causing a safety concern among residents.  The intersection of Eva and Lincoln has stop signs both ways on Eva; I feel that the same should be true of Garfield and High.  I spoke to the Traffic Safety Committee about this and they agreed to change the yield signs to stop signs.  The only concern here is that the slight uphill grade at these locations may cause problems in winter, but the grades on High and Garfield are no worse than that of Eva Street, and the Chief of Police knew of no problems there.  This issue will be up for final consideration before the Council on July 3.

UPDATE 9/18/01 -- The new stop signs have been installed at Garfield and High at Lincoln.  Residents tell me this has started to make a difference, which is great to hear.

Park Renovations

Background:  The Park & Rec department has budgeted around $45,000 to be used to improve several parks around the city.  Two of these parks, Schanen Acres Park and Hill School Park, are in our district.  I attended the meeting where Park & Rec personnel worked with citizens to plan the upgrades of play equipment.

Item 1: Schanen Acres Problem -- There has been a problem in Schanen Acres park for some time now, where some play equipment was removed and a large, muddy hole was left.  Residents are concerned about this, and want to know when it will be fixed.

UPDATE 5/1/01 -- Park & Rec workers have begun the work on the low-lying area of the park, and have dumped a large load of soil in preparation for the work.  I stopped by the park today to see how work was progressing and noted that the ground in the low-lying area is extremely wet and mushy.  I asked City Engineer Tony Depies about this; he mentioned that there may be a spring under the park  and that efforts have been made in the past to drain the water.  I will pursue this matter and see if we can improve the situation.

Item 2: Timetable for new equipment -- Residents are wondering when the new equipment will be installed.

UPDATE 5/1/01 -- The Park & Rec board will consider the purchase of the new equipment at their next meeting (May 10).  Once approved, the equipment will be ordered.  I'll have more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE 9/18/01 -- The Schanen Acres play equipment installation is underway.  The heavy work of installing the spiral slide is waiting for a city crew and lifting equipment, but most of the rest of the structure is complete.  Residents who would like to help with the final installation of this equipment should contact me at 284-1948.  We'll also be organizing the installation of the new play structure at Hill School Park.

Unsightly Signs & Other Objects

Item 1: Sale signs in parkways -- I've received some complaints about "For Sale" signs appearing in front of peoples' houses, in the grass parkway between the sidewalk and street.  These are not allowed.  If you find one of these has appeared in front of your home, either call the city (the building inspector, Dennis Wiese, is responsible for dealing with these ordinance violations) or call me and we'll make sure the signs are removed.

Item 2: Apartment roof banners -- I was asked if the large banners on the rooftops of the apartments southeast of the intersection of Grand and County Hwy LL are legal.  I asked the Tony Depies about this, he says they are not allowed and the property owner will be told to remove them.  As of April 25, the signs are still there.  I'll be following up to make sure they're removed.

UPDATE 9/18/01 -- These signs are now gone.

Item 3: Trailers in Spinnaker West -- I received a call complaining about the presence of trailers in the Spinnaker West subdivision.  Apparently, parking these in driveways is a violation of the subdivision covenants, and I was asked to see about notifying the violators about the problem.  I checked with the city, and there are no city ordinances involved with this issue -- it's up to the people of the subdivision to deal with the violators.  Normally, there is a neighborhood association that will deal with enforcement of these covenants -- Unfortunately, the caller did not leave a name or number and I have not been able to return their call to inform them of this.

Stormwater Runoff

Background:  On Wednesday, April 11, a storm dropped 1.18 inches of rain on Port Washington (measured by my weather station).  I received several calls reporting stormwater runoff problems, and drove around the district to see how bad the problem was..

Item 1: Bley Park playground -- Just south of the Bley Park playground is an area that was designed as a stormwater retention area.  This area is supposed to catch stormwater running off the Bley Park subdivision and prevent flooding problems elsewhere in the city.  The problem appears to be that the playground's southeast corner is actually LOWER than the retention area, causing the playground to be flooded while the retention area stays largely dry.  I'm looking into the problem and possible solutions.

UPDATE 4/26/01 -- City Engineer Tony Depies indicated that there are runoff problems on the east end of Bley Park; he is going to take a look at the corner of the park to see why water is pooling there.  More to come as I get the information.

Item 2: Bley Court runoff -- Homes on Bley Ct. have a problem with stormwater runoff, which comes from other areas and flows around them.  I'm checking into possible solutions.

UPDATE 4/26/01 -- As long as this runoff is being directed away from homes by the grading of the ground, it's considered acceptable.  If it starts becoming a problem for homes, we'll need to take action.

Item 3: Brian Ct. -- Homes at the top of Brian Ct. are receiving a large amount of muddy runoff from the fields of the former Schanen Farm.  In places, this is cutting ravines through backyards.  I'm going to find out ways of dealing with the problem.

UPDATE 5/31/01 -- The city engineer took a look at the site recently and indicated that he couldn't find any areas where erosion was occurring.  I also went out and looked at the edge of the field, and didn't see anything obvious where soil was washing out. Our take on this is that the heavy rain on April 11 occurred before the field vegetation had grown to the point where it could absorb the water, and it simply ran off into the adjacent yards.  This property will be graded soon as part of the youth sports complex project, and we can address the runoff issue thoroughly then.

Item 4: West Larabee Street -- West Larabee Street was flooded from where it dead-ends on the west to Crocker Street.  Apparently, a grate on the west side where water enters the underground system was clogged with debris, forcing the water to run up and over the street.  We need to either come up with a better grate or have better maintenance to keep the grate clear of debris.  I'll be talking to the city engineer about this problem.

Item 5: West Larabee at Crocker -- A home at the corner of Larabee and Crocker had water running into the back yard from the street (see item 4), where it entered a storm sewer grate.  Water rose to a level where it almost entered the basement of the home.  The Port Washington Fire Department came and placed sandbags to protect the home from flooding; fortunately the water receded before doing damage to the home, but it washed soil from garden beds at the home and left the back yard strewn with debris.  I'm checking to see why the water did not flow down the drain properly, and what can be done to prevent this in the future.

Item 6: North Garfield between Larabee and Melin -- Water from the above-ground flow (see item 4) continued to flow in the low-lying area here and down a driveway on the east side of Garfield.  In the 1996 flood, this same flow destroyed the driveway of this home.  I'm looking into the cause of this problem.

UPDATE 4/26/01:  I spoke to City Engineer Tony Depies about these issues:

• Larabee, Crocker and Garfield flooding -- This was caused by a clogged grate at the pipe at the west end of Larabee Street.  Normally, city crews check grates for debris before predicted storms, but apparently debris was washed into the grate from upstream.  I suggested that the grate be changed from vertical bars to horizontal bars to avoid plugging by small debris, grass, etc. and Tony agreed with this.  He also said he wants to build a trash catch grate upstream from the pipe to catch the kind of debris that caused this problem.

• Larabee/Crocker/Garfield system capacity -- I asked if the flooding was due to insufficient capacity, Tony said not in this case.  However, the pipe only has capacity to handle a two-year flood event (a rainfall heavy enough to only occur every two years, statistically).  That means we can expect flooding due to heavy rains on average every two years.  I feel this is not acceptable.  I asked about solutions, such as a water detention area upstream.  Tony said this would essentially be a dam, and the city would have to buy all property in the area downstream that would be affected should the dam fail.  Obviously, this is not a viable option.  The only real option is to upgrade the underground storm sewer system for this area, which will be very expensive.  I would like to get some estimates for the cost of this work -- And look at ways to obtain funding.

Summary:  There are a number of problems with stormwater runoff in our district.  We saw serious problems with this in 1996, when the city received a massive amount of rainfall over several days, but these incidents were caused after just an inch of rain.  We should be able to deal with this amount of rainfall without flooding.  I intend to find out what caused the problem (clogged grates?  insufficient system capacity?) and work to prevent future problems.  Part of the solution is to plan new developments carefully so that water retention areas work as designed to limit stormwater runoff (something we'll need to to in the V.K. Homes development).

UPDATE 8/21/02: Our new City Engineer, Rob Vanden Noven, and his staff have constructed a new storm drain grate for the Larabee Street pipe.  This new design allows debris to be trapped, while also allowing water to run over the top into the pipe, should this grate become clogged.  This was installed a few months ago, and so far the area hasn't had any flooding problems.  Our city staff will continue to work to keep these drains clear prior to storms, but if you see a lot of debris on these grates, let the street department know -- Call 284-4011.

UPDATE 2/10/03 -- I have asked city staff members to start working on a stormwater runoff ordinance.  This will be an important tool to help some of my constituents, who have been having trouble with stormwater that comes from neighbors' yards.  Concentrating rainwater with downspouts or other mechanisms can cause it to flow onto neighboring properties, causing damage.  This ordinance will require a property owner to correct such problems.  The goal is to have this ordinance come before the Board of Public Works by March, and be approved by the Common Council shortly thereafter.

UPDATE 6/10/03 -- It turns out that we already have language in place in the city code that addresses the issue of damage to a property from another property's improperly handled runoff.  People having problems with damage from concentrated runoff from neighboring properties should contact me or the city engineer, Rob Vanden Noven.

Youth Sports Complex

Background: The city has purchased part of the former Schanen farm (south of Hwy 33) for use as a sports complex, with a number of soccer fields.  This complex is in the early planning stages, and the city has contracted with the Rettler Corporation of Stevens Point to plan the complex.

Issues: I've asked the Park & Rec Department to keep me in the loop on the project, which may have some serious impacts on the neighboring Bley Park subdivision.  These impacts include traffic and stormwater runoff issues.

I have expressed my concern to the city over traffic issues for the park, which could use the currently dead-end Laura Lane as an entrance.  This would be a mistake, funneling hundreds of soccer players off of Hwy 33, which is designed to carry large amounts of traffic, onto Martin Drive and Laura Lane, which are not.  With the second entrance to Bley Park not slated until 2006 or 2007, routing that volume of traffic through the subdivision would pose a serious problem.

There is a possibility that Laura Lane would be connected to Second Avenue, an option which I do not favor for two reasons:

1. Building another street on the park land would take up valuable real estate that could be used for recreational purposes.  There are only around 45 acres on the parcel, and building a street would take up several.

2. Building a street poses additional stormwater runoff problems, for a subdivision that already has serious stormwater handling issues.  It will be better to have green space in the area than a street.

I ask all residents of Bley Park to get involved with this project and stay informed -- I'll be posting information on this page as the project moves forward.  Please me if you have any questions or additional concerns.

UPDATE 4/26/01 -- I met with Park & Rec director Jay Jansen to discuss the project.  He wants to maximize the recreational space for the park, and would rather not see it taken up by new streets.  The rough conceptual plan I looked at had access to centrally-located parking lots via a driveway from Grand Ave (Hwy 33).  Soccer fields took up the western two-thirds of the parcel, with generic play fields on the east end.  A couple of basketball courts were located on the eastern end.

I felt the plan looked pretty good; the one major suggestion I had was to relocate the basketball courts more toward the center of the park so that noise from late-night players would not disturb homes on the west end of Bley Park.  In a meeting on May 29, I was told that since lighting is not planned for the basketball courts and the park will be closed and gated at night, this will not be a factor.

The conceptual plan included a penciled-in cul-de-sac at the end of Laura Lane in case it was required by the Public Works Committee for safety reasons.  In the plan presented on May 29, Laura Lane was shown in its current dead-end configuration.

Update 6/27/01 -- The plan for the park was presented to the Plan Commission on June 21 and I mentioned the concerns of citizens who had contacted me.  First was that the sledding hill had been removed from the project.  I feel that the City needs a safe place for kids to sled and suggested moving the hill to the west end of the property so that runoff, snow drifting and appearance concerns wouldn't be an issue. The Commission members agreed and asked Park & Rec to see if the hill could be re-added.  Second was a concern by the residents at the end of Laura Lane about the dead-end street.  Snow plowed to the end of the street causes problems for them and they have people constantly turning around in their driveways.  I mentioned the possibility of a minimal "hammerhead" rework of the end of the street and City Planning Director Randy Tetzlaff agreed with this.  Residents are concerned about park traffic causing problems on Laura Lane; we can easily set up the street with NO PARKING restrictions and work around other problems.  The hammerhead will also allow garbage trucks to safely turn around; they currently have to back up the entire length of Laura Lane, which is a terrible safety hazard.

UPDATE 9/18/01 -- The revised plan, with sledding hill, was approved by the Council in August.  Still up in the air is how we'll fund this huge facility...

UPDATE 2/10/03 -- This project is even more up in the air now that the local soccer club has notified the City that they're not interested in participating in the development of the park.  There has been talk about what to do with the property, including possibly selling part or all of it for development.  My thinking is that we don't need to rush into selling it because it isn't really costing us anything (other than debt service that would be there anyway if it were a park), and it's actually generating a bit of income by renting the field to a local farmer.  The longer we hold onto it, the more it will be worth.  If we could find a developer who would develop the land as residential property with a good plan and develop half of it as a large park, I might be inclined to go with that, but for the time being I think we should sit on it and wait.  I'd like to hear your input on this!

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This page updated Wednesday, December 02, 2009