Franklin Today

As our senior population continues to grow, are we ready for them?

Last night, United Financial Group came before the Environmental Commission to request a special exception to fill in a small portion of wetland for two proposed apartment complexes for senior citizens. Forest Hill Highlands, as the entire project is called, is expanding in Franklin with these two new structures. There are already four structures that are part of this complex, and there could be almost a half-dozen more once the expansions are complete.

Final decision on "coffee shop" site coming this Tuesday?

In the 16-item Common Council agenda for this Tuesday evening, Item G.16 relates to the future land use for a site that Economic Development Commissioner and community blogger John Michlig had in mind for a co-op "coffee shop" style business. The site, located in-between Fire Station #1 and the Franklin Public Library, formerly had a home on the land prior to the City of Franklin purchasing it and moving it out of the way.

You have a say on the CMP

I figured it would serve you better to post two separate entries on the Comprehensive Master Plan. The first post was regarding what the CMP recommended to the council. This piece is about what YOU, the residents of Franklin, want and what PDI/Graef (the consultants who worked on the CMP) felt about it.

Comprehensive Master Plan approval delayed

Last night, the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) for the City of Franklin was not approved by the Common Council. Instead, thanks to the efforts of several aldermen, the CMP will be furthered reviewed, modified, and then will approved no later than early November.

Mayor's 2010 budget revealed with plenty of cuts to show

Well it has arrived! Mayor Taylor submitted his 2010 budget proposal to the City of Franklin's Finance Committee for review. Let's just say, the cuts that the mayor promised to make certainly are significant. Unfortunately, the mayor contends it needs to be done to keep the tax levy at a reasonable level. Mayor Taylor is still under accordance with his pledge with Franklin blogger Fred Keller, which stated that he would not submit a budget proposal to the Finance Committee with a tax levy increase of more than 3%. The 2010 budget has a 2.9% increase in the levy.

Do Franklin residents need a basketball court?

I'll give this to our new NOW reporter - he sure is prompt with his articles! Only hours after the Common Council met last night, reporter Mark Schaff posted an article on what seemed to be the "hot topic" for that meeting: the city-owned property across from the Franklin Public Library. It has been mentioned several times on Franklin Today, and I'm still supportive of a plan that involves bringing in several entities, including possibly the Franklin Public School District, MATC, and UWM, to run a business of some sort that caters to the residents. This was brought forth by Franklin blogger and Economic Development Commission member John Michlig several months ago and was initially well-received by the Common Council.

Unfortunately, it looks like Michlig might have gone a little too slow in getting things done, for now several other entities with much more political clout, such as the Franklin Fire Department and the Franklin Parks Commission, want to see their plans for the same parcel come to life.

Used Books, CDs, DVDs, and Tapes Needed for Annual Book Sale Fundraiser

With the kids back at school are you looking for a place for all those gently used books CDs, DVDs, Tapes, or Magazines?  Why not donate them to The Friends of the Franklin Public Library Annual Book Sale?

This popular annual event helps the Friends sponsor numerous events at the Library such as the wonderful cooking classes presented by Staci Joers, quilting classes or the successful Divas and Divine Desserts program. In addition to these great community events, the funds raised by the Friends help support programs that the Library budget simply cannot afford. This past year the Friends donated  $14,000 toward computers for the  children’s department,  $8,000 toward updated books about foreign countries and the 50 states and $4,500 toward the children’s, young adult and adult summer reading program.

Help the Friends continue supporting the Franklin Public Library and to continue to offer these community programs by donating your books and other material to the Library for their sale. Drop off your used books at the Franklin Public Library between the hours of 10 and 8:30 Monday through Thursday and 10 to 5pm on Friday.

The book sale will be held on Friday, September 11th  10am - 5pm, Saturday, September 12th  10am - 5pm, and Sunday, September 13^th 1pm - 4pm

A special Friends only presale will be held on Thursday September 10^th from 6pm to 8:30.  Not currently a Friend of the Franklin Library?  Pick up a Friends’ membership form at the Library  or e-mail the Friends of the Franklin Public Library at FranklinFriends@mcfls.org  The Franklin Public Library is located at:  9151 West Loomis Road, Franklin, WI 53132  Phone (414) 425-8214.

An update on the Franklin Public Library's $30,000 approved request

Upon reading up on Fred Keller's posting yesterday about the $30,000 approved by the Common Council for the Franklin Public Library to purchase new computers, I shot off an e-mail to Library Director Barbara Roark to see why the $30,000 was needed, and if it needed to be used on the computers only. Here is the response from Ms. Roark to me, of whom I'd like to thank for being prompt in response time:

Budget cuts hit home - Franklin Public Library closes weekends in August

We have heard the concerns for the past several weeks out of City Hall in terms of a massive budget deficit, which now was hitting the tune of $2.1 million for the current year. In light of this, Mayor Taylor has ordered cuts of 4% across the board, which includes the Franklin Public Library. For its part, the Library Board has decided to close down for the entire weekend, every weekend for the month of August.

In the meantime, it was just three weeks ago when the Franklin Public Library received approval to spend up to $30,000 on new computers for the Children's section of the library. Personally, I would have gone with the suggestion at the time that Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm proposed as a compromise to perhaps obtain a vote from Alderman Steve Olson (who ultimately voted no): Don't give the library the full $30,000, but instead settle on a smaller amount, like $20,000.

I just am curious as to how much a 4% cut at the FPL really amounts to. I guess it's not $30,000!

Neighboring suburbs take leadership on entrepreneurship incubator plans

Several months ago, Franklin blogger and member of our Economic Development Commission, John Michlig, brought forth a refreshing concept to our city leaders. It related to the city, possibly working in tandem with universities, the school district, and/or businesses to create an incubator of sorts for those looking to start-up and operate a business. Michlig's concept had an example of a possible coffee shop on a now-vacant parcel of land across the street from the Franklin Public Library along Drexel Avenue. The EDC and subsequently the Common Council both agreed to allow Michlig to explore the concept and then to come back for an update in the near future with his findings.

I have been supportive and will continue to be regarding this proposal by Mr. Michlig, and it looks like some of our fellow suburbs in the southern metropolitan area are taking up more than just words. They're actually crafting out plans similar (if not precisely) to what Michlig proposed for his "coffee shop" parcel, and are teaming up with the UWM School of Continuing Education and the UWM Small Business Development Center to get it accomplished. This will be happening in the suburbs of Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and St. Francis.