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PUBLIC FIRE PROTECTION CHARGE |
by Connie Wilson, Utility Manager Wastewater
Treatment Plant
If the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW)
approves the City of Burlington's rate increase
application, there will be a shift in how funds are
collected for Public Fire Protection.
The public fire protection charge includes the cost
to the Utility to maintain hydrants, transmission
and distribution of mains, storage facilities,
portions of wells, pumps, and booster stations, and
estimated quantity of water used. The purpose of
this charge is to identify the cost of having
hydrants and the associated water support system
available in the event of fire.
Currently, the water utility collects for the Public
Fire Protection charge by billing the City of
Burlington, who in turn then collects it from City
residents through property taxes. Part of the
request before the PSCW is to charge water customers
directly on their water bills for Public Fire
Protection instead of billing the City. This will
free approximately $387,000 from the general fund
budget and make it available to pay for needed
capital improvements throughout the City. The shift
from property taxes to a water user fee is necessary
to fill the gap created by the reduction of state
shared revenue and the tax levy restrictions imposed
by Governor Doyle. Under this plan, the utility
would reduce the charge to the City for Public Fire
Protection by 1/3 in each of the calendar years
2007, 2008, and 2009. The charge for the typical
size residential water meter for Public Fire
Protection is estimated to be $6.60 per quarter in
2007; $13.50 per quarter in 2008; and $20.10 per
quarter in 2009.
This user fee is simply a means of finding extra
revenue in a challenging economy. Currently
approximately 152 Wisconsin communities direct
charge their customers for Public Fire Protection.
by Larry Gobel,
Department of Public Works Supervisor - Streets and
Parks
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In February, the
Burlington Department of Public Works,
opened bids from local landscaping
companies, for mowing and maintenance of
the City's parks and green spaces. Bids
were received for six regions ranging
from 3.6 acres to over 50 acres. |
These bids
were then compared to the City's Department of
Public Works costs to maintain the same areas. With
the exception of the airport mowing, the City Crews
will do all mowing for the first time in six years.
The City DPW, through improved efficiencies,
averaged 19% lower costs than those bid by the
private sector. These efficiency improvements have
come by ways of upgraded equipment, streamlined
operations, and the spirit of teamwork the
competition has fostered. Public Works crews strive
to deliver services in an efficient, effective and
economic manner.
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APRIL IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MONTH |
by Lieutenant Scot Eisenhauer, Police Department
The month of April is Domestic Violence awareness
month. Domestic violence creates a conspiracy of
silence. Battered women and their abusers are likely
to minimize or deny the violence.
The battered person is usually too ashamed or
frightened to tell anyone about the violence and too
financially or emotionally dependent to leave.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE escalates - growing more severe
each time.
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The Women's Resource
Center has a 24-hour crisis line to
help. Call (262) 763-8600 or 763-2933.
There is a support
group that meets on Thursdays at 6:30
p.m. and events scheduled for the month
of April. There will be a candle light
vigil held on April 27, 2006 at 7:00
p.m. in Wehmhoff Square. Please call the
crisis line for information or
Lieutenant Scot Eisenhauer at the
Burlington Police Department (262)
342-1103. |
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GARBAGE PICKUP - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION |
"Why does the same truck pick-up my garbage and my
recycling?"
Onyx Services response:
From time to time we find it necessary to use a rear
load truck for pick up of recyclables. For an
example, when a recycling collection truck breaks
down as was the case recently in the City of
Burlington.
At the end of the route that truck is brought
directly back to our Muskego yard where the mixed
recyclables (paper and commingle) are dumped onto
our concrete tipping floor. This mixed load of
recyclables is then loaded into a transfer trailer
and taken by Resource Management to their sorting
facility in West Chicago. The paper and commingled
recyclables are separated through their sorting
system and processed for marketing. This collection
system - called "one sort" is the norm in the
Chicago area.
by Gayle Falk, Library
Director
TRACES' BUS-eum 2 –
Scheduled to be here April 4
Traveling Exhibit Tells Unknown Story of
German-American Civilian Internment in the United
States during World War II. Did you know that during
WWII the U.S. Government interned 15,000
German-American civilians? Using ten narrative
panels, an NBC "Dateline" documentary and a 1945
U.S. Government color film about this unknown
history, TRACES' BUS-eum 2 will tour Wisconsin from
mid- March to May 2006, with showings of this
innovative exhibit in 55-75 communities. Barring
unforeseen difficulties, the BUS-eum 2 will be in
Burlington, Wisconsin from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Tuesday, April 4, 2006; it will be parked at
Burlington Public Library, 166 E. Jefferson. The
local contact person is Judy Rockwell at
262-763-7623 or
jrockwel@burlington.lib.wi.us. This project's
main goals include presenting an unknown history to
a wide audience, stimulating penetrating questions
on the part of visitors to the exhibit then. It
explores a virtually unknown yet significant
historical event-possibly one of the U.S.'s
least-known WWII sub-chapters. Especially relevant
as Wisconsin had a disproportionate number of
German-American civilian residents interned,
communities across the state will have an
opportunity – in most cases for the first time – to
discuss the legacy as well as implications of the
U.S. Government's WWIl "enemy alien" internment
program. To confirm the BUS-eum 2's itinerary or to
learn more this exhibit, see
www.TRACES.org.
The exhibit's texts and photos of the exhibit can be
previewed at that web site; reading the narrative in
advance will facilitate easier and speedier visitor
flow in the BUS.
Adult Book Discussion Group
Join the Burlington Public Library Adult Discussion
Group on April 24 at 7:00 p.m. as we discuss THE
KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini. This stunning debut
novel follows a young man throughout his life
growing up in the 1960s in Afghanistan. This novel
explains the country and history in an easily read
manner more than any we have read and discussed
about the Middle East. This probably is one of the
most discussed book club books in recent history.
Copies are available at the library. No registration
is necessary.
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PARK RESERVATIONS FOR 2006 |
Park Reservations can now be made
for May 1 – October 1, 2006. Costs are
$35.00/Residents and $75.00/Non-Residents. A $100.00
security deposit is required by all. Additional
information regarding park reservations can be made
by calling the Department of Public Works at
763-2060.
