Allen’s Agitation
Whitewater Spectrum Equipment
During a recent Whitewater Common Council meeting, there were many key issues that were discussed. One of those issues was the Spectrum the direction of Spectrum equipment used to broadcast council meetings to the public.
Councilmen James Allen requested this issue to be put on the agenda and was a bit “agitated” as well.
“So, Council found out several weeks after our equipment, which is dated mid 90s, completely broke down, and we were no longer broadcasting council meeting live.”
He goes on to say that the city needed to do some upgrades, which they did by buying new equipment, but he says now they need an additional part.
“What’s needed now is a piece of equipment that allows that signal to go through fiber optic cable to Janesville where they can rebroadcast [the meeting] so our customers can see it.”
He says it has taken almost six months to get that part and that it is kind of ridiculous. In addition, he blames Charter Spectrum for the delay.
Fellow council member Lynn Binnie urged Councilmen Allen to keep his comments short and to stay on topic.
“Excuse me Mr. Allen, but I think we need to keep the comments short and directed as to why this is urgent.”
Councilmen Allen then proposed to the board that they come up with a formal letter that they could send to state representatives and state senators to pressure Spectrum into acting. The council voted unanimously to approve a motion.
Another item on the agenda that Councilmen Allen was “agitated” about was the Youth Build Program.
The Youth Build Program is a non-profit organization that provides education, skills training and leadership. There are over 275 YouthBuild programs in the United States and around the world and has impacted over 180,000 youth.
Councilmen Allen is concerned that, by participating is program, without secured land for housing, they run the risk of losing students to another school district, which creates revenue for the city.
“I think we are all in agreement that this is a great, great program, we just want to wait for our high school to get up to gear for it to apply here in Whitewater.”
Larry Kachel gave his thoughts on the matter
“Our district met with one of the founding members of the YouthBuild Program in Elkhorn this week, and moving forward with the program, not saying it is going to be up and running in September, as you all know, government is very slow.”
Andre Svec, who is running for Whitewater School board, also gave her thoughts on the matter.
“I think that we have an obligation to our students to find a way to keep this YouthBuild here in our own city. We have a lot of kids that need paths to go on.”
In other action
- The council voted to discuss the situation related to LSP or LS Power plant in Whitewater. The city entered into a development with the plant where every five years, the plant has to give Whitewater an approximate appraisal fee for decommission or tearing it down and redevelopment. The plant used to provide steam to the University and its facilities but has since taken the smokestack down from its power plant located behind Esker Hall. Councilmen Allen wanted it remove from the agenda because he had some questions on it from the public
- For item C1 on the agenda, public works director Brad Markhort began to discuss the matter, but about halfway through, one of the council members cut him off and requested that there should be public bidding.
Councilmen Allen was agitated about many items and hopefully the items that were discussed in this story are resolved.