Oak Creek Gets Active In Autism Awareness

Oak Creek City Hall will light up in blue April 1 in support of an autism awareness campaign, and a group of educators are raising money for an April 6 walk.

Oak Creek groups are lending their support to Autism Awareness Month activities in April. Oak Creek City Hall will be among several buildings in the Milwaukee area lit up in blue on April 1 as part of the Autism Speaks' Light It Up Blue campaign. The event kicks off Autism Awareness Month and celebrates World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. Mayor Steve Scaffidi earlier this month issued a mayoral proclamation on World Autism Awareness Day. In addition to city hall, Miller Park, the Mitchell Park Domes and Cudahy Hall on the Marquette University campus will be among other buildings that will light up in blue Monday night. Oak Creek also has a group participating in the April 6 Walk Now for Autism Speaks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. …

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Early Voters Stream Into City Hall

The city clerk's office expects about 25 percent of registered voters to have cast their ballots before Election Day.

Nearly a quarter of registered voters in Oak Creek may have already cast their ballot by the time polls open Tuesday, Nov. 6. Almost 2,800 voted at Oak Creek City Hall through the end of the day Tuesday, City Clerk Catherine Roeske said. Meanwhile, the city mailed out 1,100 absentee ballots, and about 80 percent of those have been returned. That means more than 20 percent of registered voters had voted as of Tuesday, Roeske said. "I anticipate the last three days added in will push the city to 25%," Roeske said in an e-mail. Early voting continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday at city hall, 8640 S. Howell Ave. See this previous Patch story for more on early voting, and check out Oak Creek Patch's Election Guide for a rundown of…

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Early Voting Off To Steady Start

More than 300 people cast a ballot in Oak Creek on Monday, the first day of early voting in Wisconsin.

Though Election Day is still two weeks away, voting officially got under way Monday in Wisconsin with the start of early voting. In Oak Creek, 315 residents cast a ballot Monday, City Clerk Catherine Roeske said. It wasn't quite as many as anticipated, but turnout was steady throughout the day, she said. Early voting at city hall, 8640 S. Howell Ave., continues through Friday, Nov. 2 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday). An increasing number of people have taken advantage of early voting over the last several elections. Roeske said she expects upwards of 20 percent of Oak Creek registered voters to cast a ballot prior to Nov. 6. For more information on voting in Oak Creek and a rundown of what's on the …

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Council Will Discuss Lease Between City, School District

City would lease the corner of Puetz and Howell, home to three municipal buildings and the community center, from the Oak Creek-Franklin School District.

The Oak Creek Common Council on Monday is scheduled to vote on a proposed lease between the city and school district, a formal step following the much-debated land swaps that were approved in the spring. Under the agreement, the city would lease the property now home to the city hall, library, Fire Station 1 and Oak Creek Community Center for $1 per year. The lease ends 180 days after substantial completion of the new city hall and library at the former Delphi site, or on Dec. 31, 2015. The proposed lease comes three months after the council gave the final sign-off to a series of land swaps involving the school district, city and Wispark, the developer and owner of the Delphi site. In addition to the property and Puetz and Howell, which …

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What's Next For Delphi?

With a few major decisions are out of the way, officials seek to land businesses, grant money and fundraising dollars.

The Oak Creek Common Council made some major decisions regarding the Delphi redevelopment project in the early part of 2012. While that may make the next few weeks and months a little quieter, work to redevelop the vacant 85 acres at the corner of Drexel and Howell will still go on behind the scenes. Mayor-elect Steve Scaffidi said the city has several things it wants to accomplish in the near future, now that the city hall and library location has been decided, the land swap proposal approved and a tax-incremental financing district implemented. Recruiting quality tenants is at the top of the list. Talks have been ongoing throughout the last several months and city officials have said that interest in the site is "significant." More could…

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Dawn

8:58 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012

We've gone to meetings because we've heard through 'world of mouths' what was going to be discussed. It was never put in ANY paper for people to read. We all know people are always trying to slide things through w/out the general public being aware of. jeesh. btw, IF I was retired and not working I would attend ALL meetings.   more ›

Many Public Buildings Closed Easter Weekend

Buildings will reopen Monday.

Most public and school buildings are closed Friday in observance of Good Friday and will reopen after the Easter holiday. The Oak Creek Public Library, City Hall and Oak Creek-Franklin schools are among the facilities closed for Good Friday. It's the first day of spring break for Oak Creek students, who won't be back in school until April 16.

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Patch Is Live From City Hall On Election Night

Updates will be posted throughout the night.

Click over to Oak Creek Patch Tuesday night for the latest updates on the local primary elections. Patch will be live at Oak Creek City Hall posting election results on the homepage and Twitter account after the polls close at 8 p.m. By the end of the night, we'll know which candidates are moving on in the races for mayor, county supervisor, city clerk and 6th District alderman. The top two vote-getters will square off in the April 3 general election. So follow along as the night progresses and get the latest results right here.

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Oak Creek Officials Look Forward On Delphi Redevelopment

Aldermen will try to put last week's divisive vote behind them.

The Feb. 7 vote to move the Oak Creek City Hall and Public Library to the former Delphi site was the culmination of months of public meetings, discussion and conflicting opinions. It ended with a contentious, two-hour debate and a tie vote broken by Mayor Al Foeckler. Now, Oak Creek aldermen and city leaders will try to put that vote behind them and move forward on what's been called one of the top development sites in the Milwaukee area. "I think the job of the council moving forward, and the next mayor and the next council, is to grasp the opportunity and make the most of it," Foeckler said. Foeckler expects it to take two years before one or both civic buildings are constructed on the Delphi site, 7929 S. Howell Ave. They could be built…

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vocal local 1

6:26 pm on Saturday, February 18, 2012

Isn't this a shame? We have residents living in OC without water. Residents who's well's are contamidated presumedly from the coal plant or fly ash storage.We Energies is supplying water to some identified but others not as they earn to much I was told by one resident last summer. This same problem is experienced in other areas of the US adjacent to (clean/safe/necessary/economic) coal generated …   more ›

Editor's Notebook

Library/City Hall Decision: Post-Mortem

Some random thoughts about last night and what it means for the future.

Some stream-of-consciousness thoughts on last night's decision to move the library and city hall to the Delphi site, as I work on four hours sleep and try to get things in order for tonight's mayoral forum... 1. I spoke with Oak Creek-Franklin Superintendent Sara Burmeister today, who responded to some of the criticism that the school district didn't make its position clear to the city. Burmeister said that wasn't the case, that the district let it be known it was open to swapping 50 acres on Oakwood Road for the 12-acre Civic Center site next to Oak Creek High School, but it was waiting to see what the city decided to do with the library and city hall. For example, if the city hall stayed there, the land wouldn't be big enough for a high …

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City Hall/Library Decision Could Come Tonight

Relocating two civic buildings on council agenda.

As expected, adopting a plan for the future location of the Oak Creek city hall and library is on the agenda for Tuesday's Common Council meeting. What will happen is anyone's guess. Oak Creek's top non-elected officials want to move the library and city hall to the former Delphi property, 7929 S. Howell Ave., but reaction from council members has been mixed. Here are the four plans the council will choose from: The land swap component is tricky because the school board still has not officially agreed to it. Board members were mixed during a joint meeting with the council last week. The council could choose to delay a vote if it is still undecided or feels issues still need to be sorted out. Tuesday's meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. at …

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