From Sendik's Facebook page (Click here to become a fan..)

Yesterday, the Wisconsin Grocers Association presented Sendik's owners Ted, Nick & Patrick Balistreri & Margaret Harris with the 2009 Grocers of the Year Award.

Congratulations to one of our most important Village businesses!

Here are a few pictures from Sendik's Corporate HQ, right here in Whitefish Bay:
 

 

At Tuesday's Community Development Authority meeting, a vague item was on the agenda:

"Presentation by business potentially interested in 527 E. Silver Spring Dr."

527 E. Silver Spring is the current address of Giraffe, which is next to the very vacant former Mike Crivello's.

It piqued my interest enough to attend the meeting and witness the presentation.

Who was the mystery guest?

Drum roll ...

CITY MARKET.

City Market has three other locations, two in Tosa, and one close by in Shorewood. They serve breads, soups, sandwiches, salads, pastas, mostly in the $5-10 price range.

Admittedly, the deal has a way to go before being done, but it sounded as if the parties were optimistic. Lots more paperwork to do, plus they mentioned a future application for TIF funds.

I think City Market would really change the game down on Silver Spring. High quality food at an affordable price point, plus outdoor seating would garner a healthy volume of shoppers and fuel Silver Spring's renewal.

Click here for City Market's website.

The fate of Giraffe is up in the air, but it was mentioned they were hoping to relocate to another Silver Spring location.

Last night, Berkeley's invited about a dozen villagers into their restaurant to have a "tasting" .. and to solicit ideas on how to remake Berkeley's into a thriving restaurant on Silver Spring.

Suffice it to say, there was no shortage of opinions.   

• The prices are too high.  The prices are just right. 
• The menu is too nice.  The menu is just right.  
• Service has been suspect.  Service is better now.   
• The wine glasses don't have stems.  The stemless wine glasses are awesome.
• The walls are too green.    .. Ok, no one objected to that.
• Et cetera, et cetera.

I suggested a foosball table, but then was voted off the island.

Suffice it to say, Marija and Ryan Whitman, WFB residents both, took all the suggestions seriously.  These guys are trying their best to create a spot for Whitefish Bay to commune and eat.

My guess is that it will become slightly more casual and comfortable, more manly.  The challenge of their freshman year will be behind them, and they'll build on their fan base. 

While no time-table is set for décor changes, look for some immediate adjustments at Berkeley's throughout autumn.  New fall menu items.   A dedication to great service.  Nightly specials.  

Berkeley's 2.0, so to speak.   Make sure you visit again.

The WFB Board of Trustees met Monday night, 9/14/09 .. here's my recap:

• We passed the special assessments for a giant 2010 sewer project.  In the next year, we'll be fixing some 17,000 feet of main line and resident lateral sewers.
  
  For definition sake, here's a glossary:  A main runs down the middle of the street.  The laterals that are being replaced are from the main to your curb.  There is another sewer pipe that goes from your curb to your home, and that is NOT being replaced, as it is homeowner property.
  
  True, the sewer pipe under your yard is probably decades old.   In the past, there may have been a program whereby homeowners could contract with the firm doing the construction to replace both pipes.  Unfortunately, with a project this size, that is not being pursued, as it would severely impact the schedule.

• Tree Inventory - The DPW will be applying for a DNR grant to defray half the cost of a Village-wide tree inventory as a precursor to possibly treating for the Emerald Ash Borer.  The inventory will identify, measure and evaluate each Village tree.

• We discussed the "For-Profit" use of Klode Park by exercise groups.  Neighbors have noticed increased park use.  One could imagine these groups should be under the same guidelines as the various WFB sport teams, who schedule the use of the various parks.  Additionally, the park is often used prior to its 6am opening time, which would indeed be problematic for neighbors.
   
• The Board eventually passed a code change concerning roof-top HVAC equipment:

This code change proposal was provoked by the Village's immediate need to replace a unit above the WFB Police Department, which has been without A/C for 2-3 weeks.

Currently, rooftop units are allowed for all buildings in the business district.  New language is as follows.  (The italicized words are new.)

(D) Installation of an exterior air conditioning system in the business district, where no rear yard is available, may be made above the roof.  Installation of an exterior air conditioning system may be made on the roof of municipal buildings with approval of the Village Board.  Installation of an exterior air conditioning system may be made on the roof of school district buildings with the approval of the School Board.

Trustee Fehring proposed an amendment that would strike the last sentence, granting school district buildings this new ability, since the phrase would only grant the privilege to WFB's schools, leaving Dominican, St. Monica's, Holy Family out.  (Not to mention the various other institutional buildings.)

Furthermore, this would break new ground, allowing the School Board to have jurisdiction over a part of the building code. 

Fehring's amendment failed, 3-3, with Fehring, Trustee Miller, and myself voting to strike the wording.

This provoked conversation that we should allow it on all institutional buildings, except that under Open Meeting law, we could not do so at the meeting without our intent on the meeting agenda.

It was agreed this same issue would be taken up at next week's meeting, to insert language about institutional buildings, or perhaps allow it for all housing stock.  Clearly, the Village has a menagerie of HVAC code rules that continues to trouble its residents, provoking numerous trips to the Board of Appeals. 

The final vote was 5-1, with myself voting against the code change -- my first dissenting vote.

While I certainly want the Police Department to resume working in a climate controlled environment ASAP, I concur with an audience member (initials RS) who suggested that the Village should abide by the same rules everyone else does, namely, if the Village wants to do something that doesn't conform to code, they should go before the Board of Appeals to plead the case, instead of changing the rules of the game for only themselves.

Instead, not only did the vote change the rules in favor of the Village & District Schools alone, it did so while discriminating against private schools, institutional buildings, not to mention homeowners.  I am hopeful this is rectified next week when we take it up again.

In the other Trustees' defense, I assume many of them voted in favor because of the expediency of getting the Police Department A/C back on. -- Meanwhile, even with the new code, the A/C won't be installed until early to mid-October, when the need for cooling is less.

Standard Disclaimer:  The commentary above does not represent the official position(s) of the Board. The above certainly shouldn't be considered official minutes, which will be eventually published.  This blog entry is your peek into one Village Board meeting from my perspective.

The Village of Whitefish Bay Historic Preservation Commission has designed their first walking tour of historic homes in the Bay. From their literature:

Our Village is a community of attractive residential neighborhoods, punctuated with a vibrant district of fine stores, excellent schools and welcoming houses of worship. It is filled with homes and other buildings that are architecturally rich, well-designed and maintained, and diverse in character. Its past residents have contributed much to the cultural, political, economic and social history of the area. And its current residents are interested in maintaining their connection with the community's historic past.

To help maintain these connections, the Whitefish Bay Historic Preservation Commission has been identifying buildings and other sites within the Community that are architecturally significant or historic. A program has been established to install sidewalk medallions in front of these properties, to aid in their recognition.

The initial medallions were installed in 2009 in the Cumberland Forest and Wilshire neighborhoods of the Village. A walking tour has been created to view the homes in these neighborhoods

It is anticipated that additional medallions will be installed over the next few years to recognize all sites on the Village's architecture and history inventory.

Additional information about each of the sites on the Village's architecture and history inventory is available at the Reference Desk of the WFB Library, or on-line.

Make sure you click over to their website where each home has an information page. Here's a link to the brochure: Whitefish Bay Walking Tour

And click here to see the Walking Tour video, created by Village resident Gordy Lang:

There were two major items on the docket for the 9/21 Trustee meeting .. that wrapped up after 11pm after much consideration.

First was the discussion concerning the detachment of the former Mobil gas station on Oakland, which sits on the municipal line between Shorewood and WFB.  WiRED properties had proposed a development of 25 "luxury" apartments and 4 commercial spots.   You can read my original look at the project here. 

The short story is that the development wouldn't go forward without TID financing, which means the project must lie in a single municipality.  Shorewood had offered to compensate Whitefish Bay about $104k to make up for the loss in tax revenue.   As a reminder, the property was a parking lot, generating $2,500 in annual tax revenue for the Village.

Additionally, Shorewood offered a second proposal, in that, instead of receiving $104k, Whitefish Bay would participate in the TID financing at a 30% rate (70% of the development is in Shorewood) and invest ~ $430k, then receive 30% of tax revenues later.   After much discussion, the Trustees decided the original proposal was in our best interest, and passed the "detachment" resolution.

So if the Bay seems a little smaller this morning.. well, you're right.

The other major item on the docket was the a retail "recruitment" program for Silver Spring.   In an effort to bring more business to Silver Spring, the Village and the Business Improvement District is putting their money where their mouth is.

The recruitment program works like this .. The BID taxes its members (Silver Spring businesses) to the tune of $100,000, and the Village matches that total to bring the pot to $200k.

New merchants can then apply for grants up to $50,000.  The applications are reviewed and voted on by the BID and the Village's Community Development Authority. 

So there you go .. in the last 12 months, Whitefish Bay has marked off a number of major accomplishments:

Business Improvement District created - CHECK

Street-scaping completed - CHECK

Two Restaurants opened - CHECK

BID Marketing / Recruiting Director hired - CHECK

Retail Recruitment Program  - CHECK

In the forseeable future, four new businesses should be opening on Silver Spring .. JJ Design, Simon Oliver, Oro di Olivia, and later, City Market.

Oh, and the Business District quietly revealed their new website at http://www.shopwhitefishbay.com.

As I've written over the last month or so, Berkeley's is retooling a bit, with a new menu and new specials.

First, I think the specials do indeed show a new direction .. I think they'll be pretty successful in garnering new patrons.

A few of them caught my attention .. During Sunday & Monday Night Football, Berkeley's will run a $5 all-you-can-eat wings special, with $2 Miller products.    I might need to start watching games there.

Wednesday is half-off all wine by the bottle or glass.   I think that'll have a lot of traction as well. Full special list:

And here's a link to their new menu: Berkeley Dinner Menu 9.18.09