Wednesday, July 29, 2009

United Way Offering Assistance to Families

Parenting is not an easy job. Having two kids of my own, I know that in an intimate way. For those who are struggling with parenting, the United Way of North Rock County is here to help. Here’s a few programs available in our area:

  • One of the many programs the United Way offers or teams up with to help families is First Call. This program is a free information and referral service. Go to www.firstcallrock.com and type in “parenting” in the search line. You can also call 752-3100 to get many of your parenting questions answered.
  • Another resource is the Exchange Family Resource Center – Evansville. The program is part of the Children’s Service Society and provides parent education, support, and more. Activities for families include playgroups, developmental screenings, and family events.
  • FACT (Families and Communities Together) is also a program of the Children’s Service Society. This program focuses on improving family cohesion through parent empowerment. They also have a variety of sessions including a family meal, family communication activities, parent support group, and others.
  • Positive Parenting, a program of Lutheran Social Services, delivers four different eight-week classes. These are Positive Parenting, Co-parenting, Parents and Teens Together, and Teen Parenting.
  • Respitality is a program through Family Respite Care and provides people who are caring for someone with a disability 24-48 hours at a local motel to give them a “mini-vacation.” This allows the individual to rejuvenate and continue to build and maintain their family.

If you would like more information about these programs, you can contact Janine Peterson, Vice President at United Way of North Rock County at 608-757-3052 or jpeterson@uwnrc.org. For news and information about the United Way of North Rock County log on to their website at http://www.uwnrc.org/.

Progress Update on Highway 59 Project

Here's information from an e-mail I received today from DOT Project Engineer Tara Weiss regarding the status of the STH 59 relocation project. Also, thanks to Rick Miller from the Milton Courier, I've included a few project photos.

"The STH 59 Relocation Project is progressing as scheduled. The bridges should be completed by Thursday, July 30, 2009. Michels Corp. plans to begin underdrain and base course Thursday as well. In the next couple of weeks, there should be base course from STH 26 to the bridges at the railroad tracks. Michels still plans to begin paving the third or fourth week in August.
Additionally, the median lanes of STH 26 will be closed beginning Monday, August 3 until approximately August 31. These closures are centered at St. Mary's Street and will extend from 1300 feet south of St. Mary's to McEwan. Work will include median turn lanes, inlets, and electrical work for the future signalized intersection." ~ Tara Weiss, DOT Project Engineer (taken from 7/29/09 e-mail)

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Gathering Place July Fundraiser With The Elks Club

The Elks Club in Janesville, WI has agreed to open their doors to non-members on July 31, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and donate $1.00 of each meal sold to The Gathering Place.

There is a featured special every Friday and all meals include a trip to the salad bar. The Elks Club is located at 2100 N. Washington Street (click here for map) and their phone number is 752-2342. Reservations aren't required, but it is recommended so they can plan accordingly.

Typically the club only serves members, but one Friday a month they open their doors to the public and donate a portion of their proceeds to a non-profit.

Remember, stay updated on various community activities by checking out the calendar on the City's website: http://www.ci.milton.wi.us/city-calendar.aspx.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Stormwater Utility Proposal

By now I'm sure many of you have heard about the City's proposal to implement a stormwater utility this fall. In fact, the Council made plans last fall as part of the 2009 budgeting process to form a utility. Since January of this year the City has been working closely with our consulting engineers and a stakeholder group made up of various community members to prepare for implementing the utility this fall.

I would encourage anyone curious about the stormwater utility proposal to visit the City's website where we have posted a lot of information on this topic: www.ci.milton.wi.us/stormwaterutility.aspx. This webpage includes background information, FAQs, and a copy of the draft feasibility study which the Council will use to consider creation of the utility.

Another option to gather information would be to watch the City's cable channel (96 & 985), where I and the City's engineering consultant participate in a Q&A session. Sorry, it's not riveting TV viewing, but it may help answer some questions...

The Common Council will be presented with the draft feasibility study this evening, July 21st, at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers at 430 E. High St. (lower level). The public is welcome to attend and there will be an opportunity for public comment. This meeting will include the first reading of the ordinance to create the utility. I anticipate the second and third readings to occur at Council meetings on August 4th and 18th respectively.

As always, anyone with questions is welcome to contact me directly at 868-6900 (x5) or tschmidt@ci.milton.wi.us.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Superb On-Line Resources Available on Library Website


Finding quality information on the internet is no easy feat. Thanks to BadgerLink, a part of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, patrons of the Milton Public Library have access to 8,140 magazines and professional journals, 1,557 newspapers, and 6,755 books, all full-text and all for free.

Whether you’re looking for quality online health and medical databases, automobile repair manuals, company profiles, primary historical documents, maps, book reviews, and many other full text resources that are not available through regular internet search engines, you’ll find it all on BadgerLink.

BadgerLink also connects users to WISCAT, the online catalog of WI library holdings, and provides a directory of links to library, education, government, and general reference sites. WISCAT alone contains 6,100,000 titles with local holdings for 1,255 libraries of all types throughout the state.

Badgerlink is funded through the Wisconsin Universal Service Fund. Wisconsin residents use this service extensively. It is estimated that BadgerLink users conduct more than 16,000,000 searches annually. BadgerLink resources are available through the library website at http://als.lib.wi.us/MPL/.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

July Departmental Report

The City's July Monthly Departmental Report is now available on-line at: www.ci.milton.wi.us/document_detail.aspx?document_id=2697. Have a great weekend, travel safe, and have a festive 4th of July!

Did you know... The Ice Age Trail Runs Right Through Milton!

Residents looking for walking, hiking, backpacking, or snowshoeing opportunities can participate in these activities on the Ice Age Trail. The Ice Age Trail is a 1000 mile trail running through Wisconsin that showcases different landscapes formed during the Ice Age. A segment of the trail runs through Milton. For more information on the Rock County segment of the Ice Age Trail, click here. Or you can visit http://www.iceagetrail.org/ for information on the entire trail and the organization.

Recently Milton Mayor Tom Chesmore, his wife Jane, and others walked a portion of the trail segment in Milton. Here's a photo, courtesy of Rick Miller from the Milton Courier, from that event.
For more information, check out the following links: