Milwaukee Alderman Peter Burgelis accused Wauwatosa and West Allis of 'stolen credibility' for naming their merged department Milwaukee Metro Fire Rescue. Tosa Mayor Dennis McBride says it's 'much ado about nothing.'
The unions' statement, issued a day after the two cities voted for a consolidated fire department, refers to the need to negotiate a new labor contract with the new department once it is up and running.
The city incentive for the project on northeast corner of Mayfair Road and Wisconsin Avenue anticipates taxable value of the finished development will exceed $51 million.
The two cities' council votes on Feb. 24 commit both cities to move forward together with a joint department, though work still needs to be done before Metro Milwaukee Fire Rescue takes shape.
The latest project to request city assistance through tax incremental financing is a 204-apartment development that Irgens hopes to build on a vacant 3.7-acre parcel on the northeast corner of Mayfair Road and Wisconsin Avenue.
Under the plan, the city would borrow and spend up to $34.2 million on projects in and near the Research Park, helping to increase the city’s tax base by more than $100 million.
Proponents argued that marketing services, though perhaps not as essential as services like garbage pickup and public safety, are still an integral part of the city's wide array of services and should not be neglected.
The Common Council is scheduled next week to consider and possibly approve spending up to $690,000 on a project to repair the stadium's playing surface, which was destroyed by August flooding.
"We wanted to identify a professional regional name that reflects who we are now and who we will be, moving into the future," Interim Chief Barbara Kadrich said.
