PET PLAYGROUND!

By: Megan Johnson, Administrative Assistant

The city dog park is now open! A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on December 9, 2006 to release the hounds to their new pet paradise, located off of Maryland Avenue, near the city compost site. The area is fenced off and the dogs are allowed to run "leash-free". Please keep in mind that it is the owner's responsibility to supervise and clean up after their pets. There is a bag dispenser and garbage barrel on site for convenience of patrons in clean up. Aggressive dogs are not allowed in the park due to the safety of other visitors. Pets must wear collars and tags, be fully vaccinated and licensed with the city. No more than two dogs per person are allowed. As of now, there are no set hours posted for the park. Please remember that the use of this park is at your own risk. So give your dogs what they've been begging for, a place to run, play and visit with friends. We look forward to seeing you there and making this a successful endeavor.

CHRISTMAS TREE DISPOSAL

By: Debra Rintamaki, Administrative Assistant, DPW

 

PARK RESERVATIONS

By Debra Rintamaki, Administrative Assistant, DPW

Reservations are made on a first come first serve basis. Reservation fees are non-refundable. Security Deposits will be returned after the event is over if the area is left in a clean and orderly condition.

The Burlington Park Board reserves the right to limit the size and type of event to be held in any of the Parks, and may require your group if they deem necessary, due to stress on any of the Parks.

Questions should be directed to the Department of Public Works at 763-2060.

2006 PROPERTY TAX BILLS

By: Bridget Lois, Budget Officer

Some of you may have found a misunderstanding on the 2006 tax bill. If you look closely on your bill you will see a small box with the Official Payments logo and the various accepted credit card logos. A portion of this box reads "To pay property taxes by charge card or check we now use Official Payments. The charges have gone from 3% and $3.00 to 2.75% for charge cards and $2.75 per check." This is causing a lot of confusion seeing that this only pertains to paying by check and credit card ONLINE. There is no fee to mail in a check nor to come to City Hall and hand us a check. The wording on the bills is set by the County Treasurer; I already have a request in to change it for next year to say "online check payment" or something of that nature. I hope this answers any questions that may have arose. We apologize for any confusion.

 

LIBRARY NEWS

By: Carole Rybarczyk, Circulation Supervisor
and Ruhama Kordatzky Bahr, Youth Services Librarian

Adult Library News

January sees the start of a new list of exciting books for the Burlington Public Library Adult Book Discussion Group. We meet the 4th Monday of each month at 7:00pm. A bookmark list of the entire year's selections is available at the library. Jan. 22 we will be discussing THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak. A young foster girl, Liesel, lives outside Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist—books. This is an unforgettable novel about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Children Library News

Family Evening Storytime

Come join us on January 11 at 6:30 p.m. for a Max & Ruby storytime! We'll read some stories, do a craft and learn all about the brother and sister team. All ages are welcome and registration is not required.

Tax Forms

To make paying your income tax somewhat less painful, Burlington Public Library provides many of the Wisconsin and Federal tax forms and instruction booklets. Federal forms are also available online at www.irs.gov and Wisconsin forms are online at www.dor.state.wi.us. We will be happy to help find the forms you need, but we cannot give tax advice.

 

INTERSECTION SAFETY

By David Walsh, Chief of Police

We've all felt the frustration, just when you think you have the chance to get through an intersection, a driver on the cross street pulls in front of you. The traffic in front of that driver stops and the intersection—your chance at freedom—is blocked. You have to sit and wait for the intersection to be clear. Well, stopping like that is not just inconsiderate, it's also illegal.

As we continue our series on basic traffic rules, this is an important topic, especially in a city that averages almost twenty trains a day. When drivers are discourteous and don't follow the law, traffic can be gridlocked quickly. Not just traffic trying to cross town, but also traffic trying to get around to other places.

State statute 346.52 prohibits stopping a vehicle in the middle of an intersection. It also prohibits stopping a vehicle in the middle of a crosswalk. If you know that you don't have room to clear both the intersection and the crosswalks, then you must wait—stopping before you enter the intersection and waiting until it is clear to cross. This allows drivers traveling in the other direction to flow freely until your route is clear.

This section applies to all intersections, regardless of the signalization. That means even if the road you are traveling on does not have a stop sign and the cross traffic does. For instance: if you are traveling north on Milwaukee Avenue at Chestnut Street and the traffic at North Pine Street is stopped and backed up to Chestnut, you must wait until traffic clears before entering the intersection of Milwaukee and Chestnut, even though there is no stop sign.

The Mayor and members of the Common Council have directed the Police Department to closely enforce this statute. Please make a special effort to be courteous by not blocking intersections. We'll all get around much easier if you do.