October Monthly Report Available

The City's Monthly Departmental Report for October is now up on the City Website. Check it out by following this link: http://www.ci.milton.wi.us/document_detail.aspx?document_id=2871.

Reminder - Mayor Chesmore Listening Session this Thursday

Mayor Chesmore is hosting a listening session at The Gathering Place (715 Campus St.) from 5 - 7 PM this Thursday, October 1st. Any citizens with questions, concerns or compliments about City operations, or anyone who is just curious about what's happening in Milton, is welcome to attend. Those who cannot attend but would like to touch base with Mayor Chesmore may contact him at 868-3361 or by e-mail at tom_chesmore@yahoo.com.

The Gathering Place Gains Accreditation

Staff at The Gathering Place (Milton's Senior Center) deserve a big pat on the back and a "way to go!". Today they were awarded with accreditation, which is a major accomplishment for any senior center. According to the Wisconsin Association of Senior Centers website, there are only 19 senior centers it the whole state that are accredited. The Gathering Place was originally accredited back in 1998 and again in 2004, and has done everything required to regain this noteworthy status this year.

Pictured above is Jill Kranz (far right), Director of the Middleton Sr. Center, presenting a plaque to Paula Schutt, Director of The Gathering Place. Paula is joined by committee members Sue Larson (far left) and Carolyn Brown who worked very hard on the accreditation application for The Gathering Place.

So, to Paula, the Committee, the Board of Directors and all of the great staff a The Gathering Place, congratulations and job well done. You guys deserve it! Thanks for everything all of you do for Milton's seniors and the entire community.

You MUST read this article...

Gazette Report Stacy Vogel recently wrote a story about Janette Haney. Janette, out of the goodness of her heart, sweeps trash and debris from the sidewalks and curbs on the east side of the City. I am so encouraged by this story, and owe a debt of gratitude to Janette for doing what she does. This is a simple example of what makes a community special. Thanks, Janette, for doing your part.

To read the article, visit this link to the Janesville Gazette website: http://gazettextra.com/news/2009/sep/28/milton-street-sweeper-spreads-cleanliness-and-joy/. The website also includes a nice video about this story.

Highway 59 Project

I'm hearing lots of inquiries lately from citizens about the State's Highway 59 realignment project and planned Highway 26 bypass. In this case, pictures are worth thousands of words... Here's a link to maps on the City website regarding these projects: http://www.ci.milton.wi.us/document_display.aspx?cat_id=254&cat_type=. Also, here's a link to the State's webpage regarding the STH 59 project: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/wis26corridor/exp-segment2.htm. This link is for info about the Milton - Fort Atkinson portion of the project: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/wis26corridor/exp-segment3.htm. And, finally, this link is for information about the Milton - Janesville portion of the project: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/wis26corridor/exp-segment1.htm.

Walked in HER Shoes

Statistics show that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Every year, 1.3 MILLION are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner. The dollar impact of domestic violence exceeds $5.8 BILLION (with a "B") every year! No doubt, domestic violence in our society is a big issue.

I congratulate the YWCA of Rock County for coordinating their annual "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event this past Friday. It was my pleasure to participate in the event, and I thank my wife Tonya, Milton Police Chief Jerry Schuetz, and the ladies up at City Hall for encouraging me. I teamed up with Chief Schuetz and Milton's Finance Manager Dan Nelson for the one-mile trek, which I must admit was not pleasant in my heels (thanks Carrie for the "loaners"). For more details on the event, check out this article from the Janesville Gazette: http://gazettextra.com/news/2009/sep/26/men-march-help-bring-end-domestic-violence/.

I hope you enjoy the photos. You might notice that Dan was wearing tennis shoes... In his defense, Dan's got some crazy big feet. So finding some suitable women's heels for Dan was tough. However he did have his shoes decorated with puffy paint, glitter and other fancy stuff (thanks again Carrie). Also, I couldn't resist including the photo of my son Sawyer with the Chief's daughter Maddy who had fun at the event as well.

Overall Merchant Row Plans

...this post relates to the earlier post about the Merchant Row project that is underway currently.

For those who may be interested in the City's long term "vision" for redevelopment of this downtown area, click on the above map to view the redevelopment plans. Again, keep in mind that this is a LONG TERM vision. The current project simply involves removing the Squeeze Inn to accommodate some additional parking in the northern part of this downtown district, which is a small step in achieving the results desired in the larger plan.