Citizens, Alderman Offer Some Solutions in District 3 Meeting

The fourth in a series of aldermanic district meetings being held through June was the most sparsely attended so far but may have been the most productive in ideas13 .

Mayor Kathy Ehley and aldermen of the 3rd District hosted a Town Hall gathering Wednesday night at Underwood Elementary School that drew only 13 residents, but a couple of suggestions came out of it to improve conditions there and to save some money across town.

With costs on the rise, residents are looking for places to save some of their tax dollars, and garbage collection was suggested as a place were money might be saved. One citizen felt people’s willingness to recycle should provoke a re-evaluation of the city’s garbage collection services.

Chris Weber, a landscaper by trade and resident of Wauwatosa, suggested that because more people than ever are recycling, there is less trash, and therefore less need for collection services.

He proposed the city cut down the number of garbage collections from four times a month to three times a month to conserve resources.

“I put my can out yesterday for garbage collection for the first time in three weeks, and I have four people in my family,” he said.

Detour traffic irks area residents

City staff brought up the close-to-home topic of the Zoo Interchange Project, with $1.7 billion budgeted for construction through 2018 and much of it in the 3rd District. Ever-present construction through the warmer months redirects cars to alternative routes often through quiet neighborhoods.

Michele Hughes, PTA president at Underwood Elementary, said her quiet street has been transformed into a speedway at certain times of the day because of construction on Highway 100.

“We have no sidewalks on our road,” said Hughes. “I have two kids and a dog, and our neighbors have kids too. It is just worrisome.”

Third District Ald. Greg Walz-Chojnacki said the addition of speed humps was a workable solution that could slow traffic and make neighborhoods suffering from redirected construction traffic safer.

The city is currently conducting a study on 104th Street between Blue Mound Road and Highway 100, he said. The aim of the research is to access the practicality of using speed humps to slow down traffic on 103, 104 and 106 streets.

“I think it’s just a great solution," Walz-Chojnacki said, "because it empowers neighborhoods by letting them do something about the increased traffic.” 

Also on the agenda... revaluations, utility rates

Among the subjects brought on the agenda for the evening, as with all district meetings, was property revaluation, which is going to take place this year.

City Assessor Steve Miner told 3rd District residents they needn't assume their assessments would go either up or down, or their taxes, for that matter.

Different parts of Wauwatosa were affected differently during the recession that began in 2008, and as we emerge from that, each neighborhood's assessments will be based on recent market sales.  

The last home revaluation done by the city was in 2006 and before that in 2002.

Miner told citizens that if they had questions they should call the Assessor’s Office and ask to be put in contact with their neighborhood's assessor. He urged citizens not to call elected officials with questions involving home values.

City officials also reminded citizens that a sewer and water utility rate change is scheduled that will increase residents' quarterly utility bills. Bills will rise steadily over the next four years at a rate of about 10 percent per year.

The change is projected to increase the average utility bill for a house worth $240,000 from $77 to $145 per month by the end of 2017.