The Whitewater\nCommon Council met on Tuesday, March 3 at the Whitewater Municipal building\nbefore a moderately-sized crowd. Although the meeting was rather brief and the\nagenda short, the council took time to honor retired Whitewater Parks and\nStreets Superintendent and City Forester, Chuck Nass. Jeff Roe, the urban\nforestry team leader for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources\npresented the award to Nass during the meeting Tuesday. A member of the Urban\nForestry Council, Dwayne Sperber was present and praised Nass for his work,\n\u201cChuck Nass has demonstrated true leadership. It was a very easy nomination to\nmake. He\u2019s leaving quite a legacy,\u201d said Sperber. The council took a short\nrecess while Nass\u2019 family, friends and other meeting attendees enjoyed\nrefreshments in his honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the\ncouncil reconvened, Irvin L. Young Memorial Library Director Stacey Lunsford\nprovided insight on the library\u2019s current trends. According to the report,\n7,894 electronic books were checked out by the 66,771 library users in 2019. Lunsford\nsays users seem to prefer having both digital and hard copies available, \u201cThere\nare still a lot of people who like print books, a lot of people who read\nmagazines. We are seeing a trend of people going more to digital, but they\u2019re\nusing it in addition to print. They just like to have all those options.\u201d Lunsford\nalso remarked that Whitewater\u2019s library is a hub for inter-library loans and is\ncurrently loaning more books than they are receiving. Lunsford says this speaks\nto the quality of the Whitewater library\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parks and\nRecreation Director Eric Boettcher gave the council an update on the Cravath\nLakefront Amphitheater project, which began on Monday, February 24. Boettcher\nsaid the project is two to three weeks ahead of schedule due to the warmer\nweather. The project is set to be completed by June 13 of this year. During his\npresentation, Boettcher also announced that the Frawley family of Whitewater\ndonated $50,000 to the amphitheater project. The Rotary Club of Whitewater will\nalso be contributing to the project as pillar sponsors. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of fitting\nthat the Frawley family is tied very closely with the Rotary family, so it\u2019s\nkind of a really neat facility,\u201d said Boettcher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Department of\nPublic Works Director Brad Marquardt brought forward a proposal to purchase a\nnew valve turner machine for the Whitewater Water Department. Three bids were presented,\nand the purchase of a $63,000 valve turner machine was unanimously approved by\nthe council. According to Marquardt, the new valve turner would clear out the\ndebris from the valve stems and would automatically turn the valve to prevent\ninjury to employees and damage to existing valves. Marquardt also noted that an\nemployee had been injured using the current valve turner and noted that a new\nturner would help prevent any further injuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final item\nof note was a request by the Whitewater Police Department to apply for the COPS\nHiring Program Federal Grant. Police Chief Aaron Rapp and Deputy Chief Dan\nMeyer shared the department\u2019s need for an additional School Resource Officer\n(SRO) to serve Whitewater\u2019s public schools. The funding from the grant would go\ntowards the hiring of an additional SRO to provide more support to the\nWhitewater Police Department. The memo provided to the council noted that\nWhitewater\u2019s current SRO is responsible for nearly 2,000 students at five\nschools within the district. The council unanimously approved the proposal to\napply for the grant citing the necessity of teaching students how to react in a\nshelter in place scenario.
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The Whitewater\nCommon Council meeting adjourned and moved to closed session to discuss the\npossible purchase of vacant land to the southeast of Whitewater and the\nevaluation of City Manager Cameron Clapper.
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The Whitewater Common Council met on Tuesday, March 3 at the Whitewater Municipal building before a moderately-sized crowd. Although the meeting was rather brief and the agenda short, the council took time to honor retired Whitewater Parks and Streets Superintendent and City Forester, Chuck Nass. Jeff Roe, the urban forestry team leader for the Wisconsin … Continue reading Whitewater common council meeting Tuesday, march 3<\/span>