Thursday, December 4, 2025
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Racine residents express frustration to alders about snow removal efforts
Holly Gilvary
RACINE — Following nearly a foot snowfall last weekend in Racine, some residents say they feel the city did not act fast enough to plow residential roads.
Alice Erven, who lives on Chatham Street, said at Tuesday's Common Council meeting that snow removal occurred after the wet snow "had frozen into ice boulders at the apron of everyone's driveways and (was) turning streets to ice."
"While I appreciate the hard-working snowplow drivers for their tireless work during a holiday weekend, I have no patience for the departmental leadership's handling of what did and did not count as a priority," Erven said.
Karen Briwicic said she and her neighbors were left "stranded" on their street from the snowfall and that she called her alder, Grace Allen, for assistance.
"I literally never have, in all my years, had to call my alderman, and thankfully, Grace came through and actually assisted us," Briwicic said. "I want you all to think of the citizens. We don't all live on main streets; the majority of residents of this city live on a side street. So how are we all going to come together and make sure that we can have these streets plowed in a proper manner?"
Alder Henry Perez said he received several calls and texts from constituents about snow removal and the issue "created some difficult situations for our constituents," but "as a member of the Public Works Committee for the last 10 years, I assure you that this comes up almost every year."
"We reexamine the plan, we look at it again, we have advice. We changed and tweaked some things — but it's really difficult to handle a one-foot snowfall," he said. "Were there shortcomings? Absolutely … some people were hurt, but overall, people were thankful. The calls I got were all thanking me for having Public Works do such a good job as they did."
Perez added that Racine Public Works employees covered more than 300 miles in plowing within 48 hours.
Alder Nathan Pabon concurred that while Public Works employees' work "wasn't perfect … they were out there doing their job, working hard."
"When the time does come to reevaluate and discuss this, I hope that constituents and alders alike will show up to those meetings and express their concerns and work really collaboratively to put a better plan in place for that," he said.
Amended 2026 meeting dates
Also on Tuesday, the Common Council voted to approve its 2026 meeting dates, along with an amendment from Pabon to add Jan. 6 and July 7 to the schedule to make up for reduced meetings during election months.
"This proposed calendar takes into account that this coming year is a very heavy election year, and I understand the lighter schedule in those months, but I think because we are having a lighter schedule in February, April, August and November, that it is incumbent upon us to make sure that we are going through our legislative duty as thoroughly as possible," Pabon said.
With Pabon's amendments, the council will meet on the following dates: Jan. 6, Jan. 20, Feb. 3, March 3, March 17, April 20, April 21, May 5, May 19, June 6, June 20, July 7, July 21, Aug. 5, Sept. 8, Sept. 22, Oct. 6, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Dec. 1 and Dec. 15.
The council also approved requests that the Public Works and Services Committee, Finance and Personnel Committee, and Public Safety and Licensing Committee maintain their current meeting dates and times for 2026.
Public Works and Services meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays the week prior to the scheduled Common Council meeting; Finance and Personnel meets at 5:30 p.m. Mondays the week prior to the scheduled Common Council meeting; and Public Safety and Licensing meets at 5 p.m. Wednesdays the week prior to the scheduled Common Council meeting.
In other business, the council:
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Mount Pleasant Police Department for the Racine Police Department's use of MPPD's shooting range at a cost of $12,000 annually from the RPD budget.
• Authorized a contract with Wil-Surge Electric and Code Red Security for a one-year contract, each with four additional one-year extensions, for surveillance camera and access point contracting services, with the 2025 cost of $50,000 and the 2026 cost of $380,000.
• Disallowed a claim for an unspecified amount from Jerry Price and Danielle Thomas for damages to their property on Fairview Terrace allegedly arising from a tree falling on their property in July. The tree did not belong to the city, nor was it the city's responsibility to maintain the tree.
• Approved the 2026-27 election officials.
• Granted permission to the city to award two contracts for ash tree removal, with one to Acer Tree Service and Landscape for $91,961 and one to Stefka Tree & Landscape for $22,115. The awards will be funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Inflation Reduction Act Urban Forestry grant.
• Authorized the public health department to continue the agreement with the Wisconsin Humane Society for stray and impound animal shelter services for $216,039.
• Authorized the public health department to enter into an agreement and accept funding of $198,314 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for the Disease Intervention Specialist Supplemental Agreement to be used to support syphilis case management within Racine County. This will increase one current, part-time position to a full-time position.
• Authorized the public health department to enter into a new agreement and accept recurring funding of $51,317 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for the Women's Health Block Grant-General and to establish and hire a part-time nurse practitioner position, partially funded through this grant.
• Authorized the public health department to enter into a new agreement and accept recurring funding of $64,753 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for the Women's Health Block Grant — City-Based Clinics and to partially fund the part-time nurse practitioner position that correlates with the above agenda item.
• Authorized the public health department to enter into a new agreement and accept recurring funding of $7,888 from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for the Women's Health Block Grant — chlamydia outreach.
• Approved the 2026 storm emergency sewer repairs fixed prices.
• Approved the 2026 sanitary emergency sewer repairs fixed prices.
• Approved a change order to a contract for concrete reconstruction with LaLonde Contractors, reducing the contract amount by $4,242 for a total contract amount of $1,252,341.
• Authorized final payment for concrete reconstruction by LaLonde Contractors for $1,252,341.
• Authorized the city engineer to sign the renewal with Precise Underground Marketing Corporation to provide underground facility locating services for the city-owned fiber optics and electrical systems from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2026. The estimated annual cost for these services is $100,000.
• Approved an easement request from WE Energies for Racine City Hall, 730 Washington Ave.
• Approved an amendment to city parking regulations to add the following: No Parking Any Time: Glen Street, east end cul-de-sac from curb return to curb return.
• Approved a change order to a contract for City Hall elevator upgrades with Express Elevator, increasing the contract amount by $46,742 for a total contract amount of $361,742.
• Authorized final payment for City Hall elevator upgrades to Express Elevator of $361,742.
Racine hosting inaugural MARK Rail Commission meeting Friday
Holly Gilvary
RACINE — The Milwaukee-Area-Racine-Kenosha Passenger Rail Commission will hold its inaugural meeting in Racine on Friday.
The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at Racine City Hall, 730 Washington Ave., in Room 207.
The Passenger Rail Commission was created through an Intergovernmental Agreement under Wisconsin statutes approved by the cities of Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee.
The agreement authorizes the cities to work collaboratively on preliminary planning, public engagement and eligibility for federal rail-planning programs.
The Racine Common Council unanimously approved the formation of the commission in September.
Friday's meeting will focus on establishing the commission's organizational structure and beginning early coordination to explore the feasibility of future passenger rail service in Southeast Wisconsin, according to a news release from the City of Racine.
The commission's formation does not commit the cities to building rail infrastructure, launching service or making financial expenditures; rather, it provides a formal structure to support long-range evaluation, coordination and planning, the release said. Participation in the commission's early activities carries no local funding obligation.
The release said any future decisions involving investment, construction or service implementation would require additional technical analysis, public input and subsequent commission action.
Friday's meeting agenda includes a presentation of the commission's vision, mission and strategic goals for early-stage coordination; adoption of bylaws to establish the commission's internal governance framework; election of officers, including chair, vice-chair and secretary; review and approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with Metra, Chicago's metropolitan commuter rail service which currently services Kenosha, to support future planning discussions; and authorization to prepare an application to the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program, which provides federal planning support with no required local match.
For more information about MARK Rail, visit www.markrail.org.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Monday, December 1, 2025
Petition to pause Wis. data centers tops 1,000 signatures, protests set
Environmental group Clean Wisconsin launched a petition to pause approval of new data center projects until stronger energy and water use guidelines are established.
More than 1,000 Wisconsin residents have signed a petition to pause approval of data center projects until state leaders place more guidelines on their energy and water use.
The petition, created by environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin, called for policymakers to stop approving data centers powering artificial intelligence until the state creates "a comprehensive plan" for regulating the projects. The petition has collected more than 1,200 signatures as of Nov. 26, the organization says.
The petition pointed to the projects' demand for large amounts of energy and water, which it said could negatively impact the environment. Clean Wisconsin says two approved data center projects are expected to use more electricity than all Wisconsin homes combined.
It's the latest sign that Wisconsinites remain concerned about the growth of data centers.
Protests against data centers set for Dec. 1 and Dec. 2
Statewide actions and protests against proposed or planned data centers are set for Dec. 1 and 2 at government meetings or local landmarks in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Beaver Dam, Menomonie, Janesville, Madison and Port Washington.
A Marquette University Law School poll recently found Wisconsin voters across political parties view data centers as having more costs than benefits to the local communities where they are built.
"These enormous projects are using resources we all share. We must ensure that when an AI data center comes to Wisconsin, it will benefit — not harm — our communities," Mark Redsten, Clean Wisconsin president and CEO, said in a statement Nov. 25.
"That means real transparency, it means allowing time for community members to be fully informed, and it means comprehensive planning at a statewide level," he added.
The petition follows Microsoft canceling its plans for a data center in Caledonia in response to local residents and officials. The company said it still may look to build a data center at a different site in the area.
Companies are still moving forward with large data center campuses in southeast Wisconsin, including Microsoft's $7.3 billion investment in two Mount Pleasant data centers and a $15 billion Port Washington campus powering tech giants OpenAI and Oracle.
Clean Wisconsin said without more extensive oversight and transparency about data center energy and water usage, "the harm to Wisconsin communities and its environment could be irrevocable."
Earlier this month, state lawmakers introduced a bill to establish stronger transparency surrounding data center projects' water and electricity consumption.
These projects' high demand for power has led We Energies to propose $5.5 billion in new energy projects, including seven solar fields and two natural gas plants.
Under the proposal, data center companies would pay 75% of the cost to build and maintain the two natural gas plants.
The utility also proposed a separate rate for data center companies to ensure that "costs will not be shifted from data centers to other customers," spokesperson Brendan Conway previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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