Both Sides of the Fence
A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and enjoys the company of friends and strangers. Her job takes her around the state, learning about people's health. A Quaker (no, they don't wear blue hats or sell oatmeal or motor oil), she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
A couple days left for your comments on the County Grounds
If you're one of the people with strong opinions about the UWM engineering campus proposal for the County Grounds in Tosa, you still have a little time to comment. The Milwaukee County Development Committee is accepting written statements from the public until Tuesday, April 7, on the purchase proposal for a big chunk of the northeast quadrant by UWM Innovation Park, LLC. Send your thoughts about the proposed Michael J. Cudahy Innovation Park to:
Linda K. Durham, Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, Courthouse, Room 203, 901 North 9th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233. Fax: 414-223-1380: if that's not the exact fax number, it should get your comments to the room next door.
The next chance to be heard may be after the deal is done and the plans come before the city for zoning.
Idgy and I were walking the land again today. A pair of great horned owls have been nesting in the woods east of the power plant, and if you're lucky you can see them and their two fuzzy babies, who look like this:
Mom and dad stand about 18-25 inches. These days, they're lurking around the nest, not in it, most of the time.
The babies are about a month old. By the end of April, they might be venturing out on the branch, getting ready to fly. A photographer some of us call Camoman (he wears camouflage overalls) tells me that great horned owls have been building nests there for at least 30 years. Even though this bit of land is not part of the plans, it's hard to imagine another 30 years of nesting there when the buildings and traffic next door swell.
Personally, I like owls better than a lot of people. I hate the thought of losing their habitat, which is more Idgy's and mine, too, these days, than places of business are. But it's clear that the County wants to sell this land, and that UWM is a better prospective neighbor than most. I'd like to see more inventive use of the space by UWM than plans suggest, and I'm particularly worried about the "partners" buildings and surface parking being proposed for the land east of the Parks building.
And Dan Cody is concerned about the development around the Eschweiler buildings, especially the notion of converting one into some sort of hotel. The largest building doesn't seem big enough to make that an economically feasible proposition. But it would make a great youth hostel for visiting students and others coming for short courses, special programs, and seminars.
The land and the school are both too important not to take time to craft creative win-win solutions. We need to be as wise as owls--and Solomon.
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