Cinnamon Village II Neighbors

On Monday, March 24th, 4 representitives from our Neighborhood Association, along with Cty. Supervisor Lynne DeBruin met with Cty. Executive Scott Walker at his office.

At that meeting he was presented with almost 200 letters of support for the County Grounds Detention Basin Flood Control Project from the Valley Park/Piggsville Neighborhood.

Mr. Walker expressed to us that he does concur with the MMSD/SWRPC findings that hundreds of homes and businesses in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa will flood and exsisting Flood Control Projects like ours would be compromised, meaning we would flood again if something is not done.

However, Mr. Walker does not seem convinced yet that the County Grounds Detention Basins are thing to do, in that it was revealed at the meeting that his office is doing real estate property assessments based on fair market value of all properties that would be flooded if the Detention Basins are not built.

More simply he has staff doing a cost benefit comparison-Should the Detention Basin Project be built at the cost of 70 Million dollars, or would it be more ''cost effective'' to do slash and burn buyouts of huge areas of real estate in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa. Keep in mind one of the largest pieces of real estate that would have to be bought out if this was done is the Miller Brewing Company.
We expressed to Mr. Walker all the reasons we feel the Detention Basin Project should be done, and that a ''price tag'' cannot be put on peoples lives. He has promised an answer regarding this matter by the end of the month. He has promised better communication with the Valley Association and residents.

We will keep you posted of further developments.

Thanks again to all who circulated and signed letters and the representitives who attended the meeting.

Lisa Emmons

By VPCA

Slash and burn???

What does that mean, taking the whole Piggsville area and making it into a parking lot??? Could you give a better explaination of what that means exactly??? I'd much rather pay the flood Ins, instead of losing my home down here.

By Mark Z.

Response to MArk Z.

Sorry to use such a kind of crude term, but you are correct in saying we could possibly end up not as a parking lot but more as a nature area. That would apply to all the property SWRPC says will flood if the Detention Basins do not go in if the County Exec. decides it's more ''cost effective'' to remove those properties.
This would also include the entire Wauwatosa Village as well. Don't think there is any reality in this cost benefit anaysis. The cost would probably be hideous and the benefit would certainly not be to the people losing their homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Think of the tax base alone that would be lost!
The only benefit would be to the wacko self proclaimed enviromentalists that think urban areas should be reinvented into Northern Wisconsin. These folks are a minority of a few who should get a clue.

By VPCA

No Real(ity) Support

I work for the City of Milwaukee, and believe me they think Walker is off his rocker if he does not approve the detention basins at the County Grounds.
Think of who would end up paying for the buyouts?
Most likely MMSD, and that folks is OUR tax dollars. I think we have some say on this.
Also, if there were huge buyouts in Milwaukee and Tosa, who in their right mind would stay in those cities and not seek better digs, with lower taxes and better city services.
The bueracracy would be screwing themselves to let something like this go down.


By G I Jane