Lynn Binnie

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

Plans are proceeding expeditiously towards the construction of a Starbucks on the current site of the Whitewater Quick Lube at 1280 W. Main Street. As was previously announced on the Banner, Starbucks had submitted plans to the city for a coffee shop with drive-thru on the property. The existing building would be demolished. Assuming that the Plan & Architectural Review Commission (PARC) favorably reviewed the site plan and voted to issue a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that is required for the drive-thru, the city would be in a position to accept an application for a building permit.

In advance of the PARC meeting of May 8, members were provided a report from the city’s engineering consultants, Strand Associates, regarding anticipated traffic impacts of Starbucks. It was their view that the proposed Starbucks would be compatible with the rest of the property “as the busy hours for Starbucks are typically different from Walmart. Starbucks is busiest during the AM peak hours when Walmart use and traffic will be at its lowest. Also, during the PM peak hour when Walmart is experiencing heavier traffic, Starbucks is experiencing lower traffic volumes. Saturdays is when the site will likely be busiest as both land uses will likely see increased traffic volume during the late morning hours. It is on a Saturday when it is most likely that some of the Walmart traffic will shift to the western driveway. ” The consultants did not feel that the addition of a traffic light would be warranted.

In spite of the assurances in the Strand Report, discussion at the PARC meeting revolved almost exclusively around potential traffic concerns, among them being the possibility of slowdowns in the westbound right lane on Main Street if traffic backs up in the east driveway. Also mentioned was concern about likely conflicts between vehicles exiting the Starbucks drive-thru versus the incoming and outgoing Walmart traffic. Ultimately the CUP and site plan were both approved on 6-1 votes with Andrew Crone, who contended that a change in the orientation of the building would be beneficial, casting the negative vote. The approved motion called for suggesting to the developer that there be a “right turn only” sign installed at the exit from the drive-thru.

Although it had been anticipated that ALDI’s plans might also be reviewed at the meeting, that developer indicated that they needed more time and expect to submit their application in time for the June meeting. City Manager John Weidl stated at the Greater Whitewater Committee meeting on May 11 that city staff has been in communication with the owner of the Whitewater Quick Lube to offer assistance in finding a suitable alternate location for their business. Weidl expressed optimism that their business will be retained in the city.

If PARC approves the site plan, accepts the design, and approves the Conditional Use Permit, the owner of the land and his representatives can apply for building permits. The internal review by city staff will continue throughout the building process, with engineers and public works personnel ensuring the building and site are constructed in compliance with the city code. The Starbucks plans are available for review on the second floor of the municipal building at the Public Works/Neighborhood Services counter.

Chris Bennett, Neighborhood Services Director, shares, “One more place to grab a good cup of coffee is always good for any city. In a larger sense, what this new Starbucks represents is an individual and company willing to invest in Whitewater. Couple this with the new ALDI that is coming soon, and the redeveloped ACE Hardware, and that end of West Main Street is positioned for a bright future.”

The following Whitewater residents have been honored by Southern New Hampshire University’s for their achievements in the winter term, which runs from January to May.

Joslynn Collick was named to the President’s List.
Holly Schwaller was named to the Dean’s List.

Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above for the reporting term are named to the President’s List. Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean’s List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private, nonprofit institution with a 90-year history of educating traditional-aged students and working adults. Now serving more than 170,000 learners worldwide, SNHU offers approximately 200 accredited undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs, available online and on its 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH. Recognized as one of the “Most Innovative” regional universities by U.S. News & World Report and one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, SNHU is committed to expanding access to high quality, affordable pathways that meet the needs of each learner. Learn more at www.snhu.edu.

“Whitewater Unified School District Issues Statement on Community Pool Agreement”

The Whitewater Unified School District has released the following statement on May 12 regarding the Aquatic Center Meeting Committee held Thursday, May 11, 2023:

Last evening, the Whitewater Aquatic & Fitness Center Negotiations of The Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD) met with the City of Whitewater Committee to continue negotiating the joint agreement that operates the Aquatic Center Facility. The WUSD Committee communicated that they value and support the community pool and facility and are committed to coming to an agreement. However, the School Board aims to find a solution that focuses on the facility maintenance and capital planning rather than the operation of an Aquatic Facility and Fitness Center business. 

WUSD committed to paying half, $220,000, of the previously accumulated operational deficit from the Aquatic Center in order to clear the financial path of negotiations. However, that commitment came with the caveat that the District does not want to continue to be responsible for the operations or future accumulation of debt based on the operation of the business inside of the facility moving forward. “The education of our students must be the top priority when making financial decisions moving forward. We are not in the business of running a recreational pool and fitness center,” stated the committee chair for WUSD, Board Member Jennifer Kienbaum. Historically, WUSD utilizes the lap pool for swim team and swim lessons, not the recreational pool or the fitness center. 

The City of Whitewater’s full contract budget request from WUSD of $4.3 million over a 15 year contract is the equivalent of 4.5 full-time teacher salaries and benefits over a 15 year period. The WUSD committee stated that it would not commit to a time period that extensive until the City is able to demonstrate a successful business plan inside the facility that does not depend on the WUSD contribution to simply run their business. 

Finally, WUSD made its intentions clear that WUSD was proposing, due to our size, staffing and the building’s connection to our facilities, to take over the maintenance of the Aquatic Center Facility moving forward. This is a substantial commitment, however, it is critical that our facilities are well cared for. This would make for a more traditional lessor/lessee agreement and clarify the City/School District partnership. WUSD owns and maintains the building and would like our staff who are familiar with it, to do the upkeep and maintenance. This will require continued discussion on rental costs to utilize the pool. Negotiations are planned to resume on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. 

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Editor’s note: The Banner reached out to City Manager John Weidl to offer an opportunity to comment, and he provided the following statement on May 15.

Paying for obligations under a previously signed and agreed upon contract was a good first step for WUSD to demonstrate commitment to doing the things it says it will do. Second and third on that list comes paying their fair share of the usage demand, which totals almost $70,000 a year and taking on the maintenance and chemical costs associated with the pools too, if WUSD intends to take care of all the facilities and maintenance as they proposed. Otherwise, this proposal aligns with previous WUSD proposals in that it is neither equitable nor accounts for WUSD’s demand on the facilities – creating a funding shortfall.

In short, WUSD is still proposing to use only use debt financing to sidestep the operational costs of their usage and the current proposal threatens the operational integrity of the entire facility for the community and surrounding area. As I said before, following through on prior obligations was a nice, and very basic, first step among many more needed for the school district to provide the transparency, honesty, and commitment to partnership that is required to successfully run the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center. 

On Tuesday, the staff and elected officials will have to take a hard look at the future of the facility’s current hours and daily operations in light of the shortfall in funding offered by WUSD at this time. How WUSD can try and spin fulfilling basic contractual obligations into some sort of positive step while they have turned the faucet off on any operational funding for their usage is beyond me.

John S. Weidl

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Editor’s note: The proposals that were discussed at the May 11 meeting may be viewed in the agenda found at this link.

The Save the Pool Committee is holding their next meeting on Wednesday, May 17th at 6 p.m. at the Cravath Lakefront Community Center. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss issues raised from the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center (WAFC) Subcommittee.

The WAFC Subcommittee held their meeting on May 11 at Whitewater City Hall. “Having sat through the WAFC Subcommittee meeting last night, the city and school district are farther apart than ever; it is urgent for people to come to our meeting to hear the issues that were raised and to advocate for an adequate solution,” said member of the coordinating committee, Jeff Knight. 

The next Save the Pool meeting will address the issues raised at the WAFC Subcommittee’s meeting and plans for their next steps to push toward a new operating  agreement between the city and school district. 

For more information regarding the Save the Pool Committee meeting, visit:  https://www.facebook.com/SavethePoolCommitteeWW/. If you wish to support this cause, the group encourages you to follow and share the facebook page for updates and further information on this issue.

If you would like to learn more on how you can join the Save the Pool Committee, please contact Cheri Zimdars: zimdars@hotmail.com/(608) 449-5150, Guy Ledwell: ledwellguy@gmail.com/(262) 649-7040, Jeff Knight: jpk@knightpublicaffairs.com/(920) 728-0662, or Geoff Hale: ghale@hometops.com/(920) 723-2387.  

Jeanine Fassl writes, “14 Cast, Crew and Friends of the Fireside’s “Grumpy Old Men, the Musical” production took to the Bark River in seven canoes to enjoy a wonderful 6.5-mile, paddle/float from Burnt Village to the Municipal boat ramp in downtown Fort Atkinson on Tuesday, May 9th.  The float was blessed with lots of wildlife not often seen by these actors.  It included sandhill cranes, turtles, ducks, geese, birds of all kinds and even a pair of bald eagles as well as a large juvenile eagle.  A special addition to the flotilla was a beautiful new canoe actually made in Wabasha, MN.  If you don’t understand that reference, you need to see the production of “Grumpy Old Men, the Musical.”  Although it’s selling out fast, some tickets are still available through May 28th.

Our thanks to Jeanine Fassl for sharing this interesting story and photo.

— Our Readers Share: We hope that you might have something that you’d be willing to share.  Anything that’s been created by someone else should, of course, be credited, and you should ask their permission if you’re able. We cannot post copyrighted material without permission. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have space for all submissions, and contributions will be subject to editorial board approval. The one definite exclusion is anything politically oriented. We will assume that you’re willing for us to include your name as the submitter unless you indicate that you prefer to remain anonymous. Send to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com or click on “submit a story” near the top right of our homepage.  Thanks for thinking about this!

By Marjorie Stoneman
Photos courtesy of Zachary Popke

The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library kicked off an extraordinary fundraising campaign on Saturday, May 6 with a luncheon celebrating the library’s “100 Extraordinary Women” effort to raise funds for library renovations.

More than 80 women were in attendance to celebrate a hugely successful campaign that grew to 129 extraordinary women, surpassing the goal of $100,000 by $50,000. Each of the 129 Extraordinary Women gave at least $1,000, which could be pledged over five years. The funds used from that portion of the fundraising campaign will be used to create a beautiful outdoor space with seating areas, WIFI, solar lights and other amenities.

Mary Mawhinney, of Milton, was one of the extraordinary women who knows how important libraries are in the lives of children and adults. Her daughter-in-law Kat Mawhinney agreed, “The library is the hub of the community.”

Kelly Davis, Co-Chair of the Whitewater Library’s 100 Extraordinary Women Effort, said, “I am thrilled at the support our community has for our library. With these renovations, even more people of all ages and backgrounds will enjoy reading and learning in a beautiful setting.”

The campaign is one part of the overall campaign to raise $2,250,000, which has already reached $1,800,000 with $450,000 still needed.

Stacey Lunsford, director of the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, has been with the library for 21 years, and is thrilled to be able to focus on the top three areas that community members said were needed in library renovations.

First, the library will be expanding early learning areas, including play centers and places for children to gather. Second, survey results show that people want space to be together and learn from each other, whether it be book groups, study groups, etc. Library planners have listened and will be providing larger meeting rooms with collapsible walls. Third, the community has asked for a larger Makerspace area, which will accommodate a 3-D printer, a sewing machine, a laser dye cut machine, and more. In addition, the youth area will be expanded to give youth more study space. There will be additional accessibility to materials and the opportunity for community residents to learn the latest technology, among other valuable skills.

Lunsford said, “We are thrilled to report that our donations are at $1.8 million for the renovations. We still need to raise $450,000, and we are optimistic that our community will attain this goal.”

Donations can be made to the Whitewater Community Foundation, Attn: Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, P.O. Box 428, Whitewater WI 53190

Stacey Lunsford welcomes questions and can be reached at: 262-473-0530.

She adds, “We also welcome other extraordinary women to join us by contributing to the 100 Extraordinary Women Campaign.”

Library supporters thanked First Citizens State Bank for sponsoring the luncheon to celebrate the successful campaign of “100 Extraordinary Women.”

The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, 431 West Center Street, is free and open to the community Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.; Friday: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; and Saturday: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. (closed Sunday.)

The mission of the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library is: We will have the space and the stuff to do the things that you want. Library values include: safe and welcoming; trust; diversity; fun; lifelong learning and creativity; making connections; and service excellence.

City of Whitewater Alcohol Licensing Committee – Monday @ 6:00 p.m.
In person meeting, Common Council Chambers – Whitewater Municipal Building, 312 W. Whitewater St.
Agenda includes CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST TO THE CITY OF WHITEWATER ALCOHOL LICENSING REVIEW COMMITTEE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO DENY THE
APPLICATION FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE “CLASS B” LICENSE FILED BY HAWK BOWLING LANES AND TO CANCEL THE LICENSE, and the same request regarding the “Split Decision” license.

Irvin L. Young Memorial Library Board of Trustees – Monday @ 6:30 p.m.
Agenda includes update on capital campaign
Community Room
431 W. Center Street
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88461519227?pwd=M0RORXRaZ2srb2Y5bDZ5NG1WMU5OUT09
Meeting ID: 884 6151 9227
Passcode: pUG0RzRK
Or dial
1 312 626 6799 US
Meeting ID: 884 6151 9227
Passcode: 47488496

City of Whitewater Common Council – Tuesday @ 6:30 p.m.
Agenda includes Class “A” alcohol license for “The Station,” approval of a junk dealers license for Kienbaum Iron & Metal, approval of Fire Chief employment agreement, and closed session Consideration of agreement between the City of Whitewater and Mad Boar Pub LLC, Nicolas Marietta, concerning penalties to be imposed for alcohol
license violations 2) Negotiation of Aquatic and Fitness Center Agreement with School District. Both closed session items may be considered afterwards in open session.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81197094421?pwd=RGZ1T0FqYVZnVDdNclQweXgyZEU1QT09
Passcode: 965531
Or Telephone:
1 305 224 1968 US
Webinar ID: 811 9709 4421
Passcode: 965531

City of Whitewater Parks & Recreation Board – Wednesday @ 5:30 p.m.
Agenda includes WAFC marketing plan.
In-person or Virtual
City of Whitewater Municipal Building
Cravath Lakefront Room- 2nd Floor
312 W. Whitewater St.
Whitewater, WI 53190
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87410382631?pwd=RHE0eElBZVVHNWJwSzc4bHJFL3ZLdz09
Meeting ID: 874 1038 2631
Passcode: 700966
Or dial
1 312 626 6799
Meeting ID: 874 1038 2631
Passcode: 700966

City of Whitewater Community Development Authority Board of Directors – Thursday @ 5:30 p.m.
AGENDA includes closed session regarding Negotiating acquisition of property located at 136 North Jefferson
Street. Discussion of this item may occur afterwards in open session.
Location: Municipal Building – Community Room 1st Floor
312 W. Whitewater St., Whitewater, WI 53190
This will be an IN‐PERSON and VIRTUAL MEETING
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89336934457?pwd=Wmc1aFlrU2trU1hwMFo4UkNIcmxZQT09
Passcode: 903463
Or join by phone: 1‐312‐626‐6799
Passcode: 903463