I continue to be open-minded about the Frame Park baseball issue. I'd like to think that there is a way to make it work in harmony with the other park users and the neighborhood but I can't think of one. My biggest objection is about where to park the cars, as it is with many other taxpayers. I've heard that there is plenty of parking within 15 minutes of the park. That's acceptable? "The church is going to rent out parking space." How about church events that coincide with games? Are the church members going to appreciate working around the ballgames?

A very valid concern is that ballgame people will take up parking spaces that park visitors would normally use. This point is voiced by many and needs to be addressed before proceeding with any binding vote.

It seems that no Waukesha resident has driven around State Fair Park during the State Fair. As it has been for as many years as it's been there, the neighborhood residents become entrepreneurs and have junior out by the curb with a flag, waving people to park on any piece of driveway or grass that they can fit a car on. Tolerable, at best, for the week that the Fair is held, but have that done during each of the baseball games and it will turn residential neighborhoods around Frame Park into a circus grounds.

Is it good for downtown? Any increase in business is good for the business, but are people going to leave their cars scattered around Frame Park and walk back and forth to get a snack, push the limits of intoxication, buy a book or critique fine art? Answer that for yourself.

Promises have been made by the promoters that they will be picking things up and so forth. Such promises are frequently broken by less than adequate fulfillment of them.

Already a popular writer within the city has called for people that don't like the soon to happen Harley Davidson party to leave the city for a few days if they don't like it. Is the council going to send a message to residents to give up Frame Park when there is a baseball game?

I applaud the police department for taking steps to keep within their gasoline budget for the year. As much as I hate tax increases, we need to see that our cruisers are on the road, making a presence. I like that we have some four wheel drive squads so some mobility is possible in snow storms. That being said, should we be rethinking what is used for the majority of the squad cars? Ford Crown Victorias are comfy, powerful and have roomy rear seats allowing partitions to quickly place people in the back seat and protect the officer from harm. But are they needed enough to warrant not considering smaller, more economical squads to keep on the road yet stay in budget?

I suspect that the power of a big engine needed for high speed chases and massive cars being able to ram runaways is not needed here. Should people need transport, a single van should be adequate or (snicker) a bus ticket.

It might be visually embarrasing to be in a compact car for a squad and stopping Escalades and Explorers for traffic violations, but if not already studied, it should be to enable keeping a visible presence on the road and going to minor crime scenes. Heck, it'd even make for more manueverablity when the Frame Park area is clogged up with cars parking for the baseball games. If after all of this is considered, it is deemed not safe enough for our patrol people, so be it. Their safety is more important to me than keeping the gasoline budget low.

In the past I've criticized new construction as putting a load on our dwindling water resource. This, even though the business that I'm in is dependent on new construction. Briefly, I don't believe that long time residents of the city or county should be put in the same boat of inconvenience to accommodate development and expansion. Those dwindling the resource should be the ones to carry the load. Water wise, this would be prohibiting watering lawns, gardens and washing cars in new developments except with water gathered from cisterns or other non-aqufier sources. On site water recycling of gray water should be included with conservation efforts.

Preparation for the diminished used of petroleum should be implemented in the the building code too.  Electricity is the energy of the future. We will power anything with a petroleum engine with it and we will heat our homes with it. As an expert in the heating and cooling business, I can see gas furnaces going the way of oil furnaces in the next twenty years. Honda has shown a natural gas powered fuel cell generator to recharge electric cars and provide power for the home's electric furnace and heat pump/air conditioner. For those of you with hot water heat, there have been electric powered boilers so don't feel left out.

GM will be introducing the electric car, the Volt, which will run entirely on electricity, recharge at home if desired, but have gasoline back-up so you don't get stranded. In my needs, the electricity range is adequate for most all of my driving around. So the Volt can replace one of my cars and the other can be the guzzler used to pull the boat and so forth.

The building code should anticipate the plumbing changes and increased electrical service needs of the near future and require that it be install NOW in new construction and remodeling of existing homes and buildings. 

There is no shortage of articles about the flood. I didn't realize just how bad it was until I got out of the neighborhood, even though the intersection of Bel Ayr and Pine Street, just a few houses from me, had water that appeared as deep as four feed deep and many flooded basements in the vicinity. This is not the time to talk about it here. It'd get lost in the flow of things. Later.

Sunday I did decide to visit Mitchell Park and Minooka Park's Dog Parks. Kanook and I went to Mitchell first as I knew it would be flooded and that the flooding would be over the sod which would allow Kanook to splash around and not get muddy. It was more than I expected.

It is not unusual for River Road along side the railroad tracks to flood out just east of Mitchell Park Road. However, it was not only flooded between it and Barker road, Barker Road was also flooded with a good flow of water heading east into the park's marsh. A car could negotiate it so long as it wasn't going fifty miles per hour.

Once in the dog park, there were several dogs splashing and even swimming in the water. Kanook immediately joined them. While watching them splash in and out of the water, I noticed something splashing at various location near the new shore. Closer inspection showed them to be carp. The ones that broke water appeared to be ten to fifteen pounds to this seasoned fisherman. Once the waters recede, these fish will be trapped and die off leaving not only a smelly mess, but for whatever reason, many dogs love to roll in such stinking stuff. This is not the first time fish have wandered into the park.  Last spring someone was complaining about a dead carp near the end of the fence that their dog rolled in. Once again, I'd like to see them put up some snow fencing to block off the area.  Soon it will be a mud hole from the dogs running in and out.

Speaking of mud holes, out next visit was to Minooka. Two months of evaporation and seepage were erased and the "seasonal pond" was restored to near winter melt off conditions. Except there is a rim of mud surrounding it.  Even fewer visitors are seen at the large dog area because of it while the small dog area thrives and continues to have many users.

In closing, I do want to acknowledge the people of the city who suffered flooded basements.  I know what  it is like as I endured several floodings when In Milwaukee near the Lincoln Creek. So much destroyed and so much work to clean up. More about this when we've had time to finish the work, rest and think about what happened.

It's been a year now that I've been transfered from working in Pewaukee to West Allis. I'm in the middle of the action between State Fair Park and Miller Park. Last week it was interesting as I frequently heard the roar of the race cars qualifying for the big race. Not much different than the Harley's roaring up and down in front of my house.

I also suffer the effects of a clogged up freeway when the Brewers have a game where the traffic coincides with the evening rush hour. This is one of the concerns that I have about the proposal for Frame Park. The traffic patterns in the area are not designed well to handle traffic. I suspect that the roads are typical of older cities in that they started out as horse trails and didn't change much when Mr. Ford facilitated us from horse apples to carbon footprinting. 

It seems clear that most people don't think that it would be an attraction to Frame Park. Indeed it could spoil it. I do think that it would be good for the area. I might even consider attending a few games with family. But I don't want to get into a traffic snarl either. Nor do people living or passing through the area.  So it would seem to best be located close to the Hwy 59 bypass. Perhaps the old Nike missle site by 59 and Broadway. It's free from the Federal Government and is just sitting there gathering mulch. I think that there is plenty of room for both the stadium and parking. Has it been checked out and considered?