By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
lynnbinnie@yahoo.com

The recent tension between the Whitewater Unified School District [WUSD] and the City of Whitewater seemed to have the potential to move to an even higher level as the May 20 Common Council meeting opened. The first item of business was to consider waiving the 72-hour public notice requirement of the Transparency Ordinance in order to add to the agenda a closed session “to confer with legal counsel…related to potential violations of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and Wisconsin Public Records Law involving the School District’s handling of the School Resource Officer (SRO) contract process.” Councilmember Neil Hicks referenced the strained relationship between the two entities, and his desire to take steps to move forward in a positive manner as he made a motion to delete the subject from the agenda. His motion carried unanimously. Though ultimately the council declined to respond to the district’s Request for Proposals [RFP] for the SRO program, that decision also was framed in a desire to have constructive dialogue with school officials.

As was previously indicated on The Whitewater Banner, WUSD issued an RFP for its SRO program on May 19, with a deadline for response of May 30. City Manager John Weidl suggested that the council not submit a proposal, citing among other things the unusually short timeline and the irregular nature of the RFP. Council President Patrick Singer indicated that he believes that both the council/police department and school board do wish to continue their long-standing relationship with the SRO program. He moved that the city decline to submit a response to the RFP, reaffirm its April 15 offer of a 120-day extension to the current contract, resubmit the proposed revised agreement for consideration, and request to establish a working group of city and district representatives together with legal counsel of both entities and possibly also the District Attorney. The group would be charged with seeking mutually acceptable resolutions to the areas of concern with the program that the district has identified. The motion passed unanimously.

In other business:

• A motion to adopt the first reading of an ordinance adding stop signs on Walworth Avenue at Prince Street failed for lack of a second. Public Works Director Brad Marquardt had indicated that the intersection does not meet the criteria for a four-way stop in the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
• The first reading of an ordinance to change the start time of Common Council meetings from 6:30 to 6:00 p.m. passed.
• Renewal of the mobile home park license for Twin Oaks was approved. The city planner indicated that there has been marked improvement in the response to the correction of code violations.
• The council voted to consider an ordinance to add stop signs on Peck Street at the Whiton Street intersection.
• Several recommendations from the Landmarks Commission regarding the future of the Starin Park Water Tower were approved. The Whitewater Banner will provide details in a future article.