There was a Planning Commission meeting last night, and the principal topic was a proposal to extend a zoning overlay on North Fremont from the existing overlay in the Starin Park neighborhood (those few streets to the west of Fremont, and between Main and Starin). The zoning overlay would prohibit more than two unrelated persons…
Development
City, Development, Economy, Government Spending
Council and the East Gateway Project
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier this week, among other topics, Common Council considered additional spending, amounting to hundreds of thousands, for burial of lines underground as part of the two-million-dollar East Gateway project. City Manager Clapper presented his summary of the benefits of the underground installation, of the alternatives, and his recommendation to spend additionally for the installation. There’s…
Business, Development, Press Release
Small-Town Downtown Forum, Thursday, September 5th in Darien, WI
by JOHN ADAMS •
Please see a press release for a Thursday, September 5th development conference: On September 5th, UW-Extension and the Village of Darien are hosting the first of three state-wide Small Town Downtown Forums that focus on the unique community and economic development issues and needs in small, often rural communities. The program will be held at…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Development, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, New Whitewater, Planning
Tidying the Town
by JOHN ADAMS •
A new school year begins, and thousands of students on whom the economy of this city depends are returning to Whitewater. Volunteers, as they’ve done previously, will help tidy up the town. These volunteers have, I think, held similar clean-up efforts in June and July. It’s a fine idea. (I’ve not been part of those…
Business, CDA, City, CRT, Development, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning
Yet Another Exercise in Standards Beneath Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
It should be a universal truth that Whitewater and Wisconsin deserve a far higher standard of diligence and review than whatever our CDA chairman believes his “gut” tells him would be good for our city and nearby area. In fact, that kind of intestinally-based level of judgment has failed this city time and again, and…
City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government, New Whitewater, Planning, Politics, Taxes/Taxation
A Review of Whitewater’s Economy is Like Peeling an Artichoke
by JOHN ADAMS •
Artichokes, of course, symbolize the idea of multi-layered things, of peeling back an exterior to discover an interior truth. Whitewater’s economy is like that – one needs to peel away layer upon layer of happy-talk headlines to address the truth of our present condition. (In a way, the only indubitable success those headlines assure is…
Business, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Local Government, Planning
Bad Policy Cannot Hold the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, New Whitewater
Which Homeowners for Whitewater?
by JOHN ADAMS •
The preceding post, Who Should Live in Whitewater?, was about immigration. Here’s a second question, a bit more specific: which homeowners for Whitewater? One hears repeatedly that out city could use more families with children. I don’t disagree: it would help our public schools to have a stable, or growing, school-age population. Here’s where I…
Business, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Planning
Whitewater’s Common Council Session of 11.20.12: 25 Questions about the Generac Bus
by JOHN ADAMS •
Most of Tuesday’s 11.20.12 Common Council session concerned the 2013 municipal budget, and of that, a half hour’s discussion addressed whether to give Generac Power Systems, a thriving corporation, ten-thousand dollars to bus its workers to and from other cities. That’s not all, of course: one heard the company-specific program touted as the hope for…
Business, City, Development
The City of Whitewater’s 2013 Budget: Downtown Whitewater, Inc.
by JOHN ADAMS •
The last portion of the 11.13.12 council session on the budget concerned funding for Downtown Whitewater, Inc. That organization sought $30,000, and received $20,000, in municipal funding. I wrote recently about Downtown Whitewater, in support of 2013 funding. See, The City of Whitewater’s 2013 Draft Budget: Downtown Whitewater. In that post, I emphasized the importance…
CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings
A Waste Digester Proposal Summary, June to August
by JOHN ADAMS •
As with so many other recent proposals, the proposal for a large waste digester in Whitewater was announced quickly, without public input, and trumpeted unthinkingly. In this way, the scheme was the quintessential proposal of the outgoing Brunner administration. There’s much more ahead about all this, but before that, a summary of where we are.…
City, Development, Green Energy Holdings, Local Government, Open Government
An Open Letter to the Interim City Manager on a Proposal between Whitewater and Green Energy Holdings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good afternoon. Here’s a post to follow previous ones on this website, and a story today in the Janesville Gazette, about a proposal between the City of Whitewater and Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. The project has been touted as a large one, but large claims for municipal projects require substantial justification. In…
City, Development, Government Spending, Green Energy Holdings, Local Government, Open Government, Press
Questions for the Press about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings
by JOHN ADAMS •
This week, I’ve posted a series of general questions about a proposed deal with Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. See, Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings and Questions for the CDA about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings. (For a comprehensive list of all posts about this proposal,…
CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings, Law, Local Government
Questions for the CDA about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted a series of general questions about a proposed deal with Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. See, Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings. (For all posts about this deal, I’ve a designated category.) Today, here are questions specific to the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s role in…