Franklin Today

On this 4th of July Weekend...

Many will be out and about at area festivals. I know that most likely all of you will be at Franklin Fest at least one of the three days its running (today-Saturday), and will be enjoying a wonderful fireworks display on the 4th. It's these days during the summertime that perhaps we should take a larger look at our community's assets, and what brings people together. While Lions Legend Park isn't a part of the Milwaukee County Parks system, Franklin has several county parks within its borders: Froemming, Oakwood (with golf course), and parts of Whitnall (with golf course and the Wehr Nature Center).

Thanks to the blog Cognitive Dissidence, I came across this video made by Dan Cody, who is currently the President of The Park People. The Park People are dedicated to the continued preservation of the Milwaukee County Parks, and help the parks out in several ways. I encourage all of you to check out this video, and then to have a fantastic 4th of July!

Franklin resident makes a case against our state senator's aide

Two things of note for this particular entry, of which the second is the real meat of the matter.

John Michlig wrote a follow-up to all the press coverage on Sendik's Fine Foods closing their doors. He pointed out (and is 100% correct in saying so) that NO media (except BizTimes Milwaukee) made any remarks on Sendik's being located next to a Target store. Furthermore, NO media (this time including BizTimes Milwaukee) made any note in saying that the neighboring Target store sold grocery items...even going to the lengths of selling items like beer and wine, which produce big revenue for grocers on the bottom line. This is very significant, since it doesn't provide readers with much assistance in trying to figure just why the store closed. If we all depended on just the Journal Sentinel, Business Journal, or other media at this time for coverage on this closure, we'd all just simply think, "Yeah, it's that darn economy!" and moved on with our lives. As much as that's the easy way out, there certainly was a lot more reasons than just, in my opinion, the simple cop-out explanation for every retailer shutting their doors at this time.

On FranklinNOW.com, they have the Journal Sentinel write-up by Tom Daykin for their coverage (Sendik's "succumbs to the economy"). Since Janet Evans has changed her blog to only cover School Board-related issues, the only blogger left on that site to cover anything Franklin is none other than our state senator's aide, Kevin Fischer. Fischer penned a piece and basically left his arms up in the air. He hemmed and hawed over it, and from what I read the only thing I could pick up on was something along the lines of, "Maybe the economy did it...but maybe not...what we do know is "the market decided". "The market decided"? There are so many different factors to insert into what "the market" decides it isn't even funny. However since Fischer, in my opinion, simply despises people like me or fellow resident John Michlig, he won't dare come close to actually saying that perhaps some of the reasons Michlig and I have pointed out for years are actually coming to fruition. Instead, he mocks us and the people who agreed with us, saying, "It had nothing to do with the cuts of beef, pedestrian access (Gimme a break), ripples in the parking lot, or number of bike paths."

Fortunately, a Franklin resident by the name of J. Strupp took the risk and stepped up to the plate and called Fischer out on that logic. In some comments posted below Fischer's blog, Strupp points out that if the broad-based "market" decided Sendik's closure, then obviously all the factors, including the pedestrian access, a parking lot that apparently has a growing fan base in believing it's getting pretty cruddy pretty fast, and more are reasons no matter how trivial they could be. The fact of the matter is, if hometown developer Mark Carstensen, who developed the Wyndham Village site, would have truly made the center part of what Franklin wanted in a civic center district, Sendik's might still be around today. Cities nationwide have inserted much energy, pride, and at times even hard-earned dollars into districts to create or revitalize commercial districts to make them destinations for people to go to and enjoy themselves. If I'm not mistaken, Franklin and Oak Creek are attempting to do just that for the 27th Street Corridor, TIFing massive amounts of land and trying to create a unique business and residential corridor that could very well become a hub of activity for the southern metro area.

The lack of destination is what killed the Sendik's, which was present from the get-go as Mark Carstensen went around touting Wyndham Village as something similar to Greenway Station or the Brookfield Towne Center, both of which are destinations in their respective communities (Middleton and Brookfield). As I noted publicly way in the beginning of the process at Plan Commission meetings, inserting a Target as the primary anchor was doing absolutely nothing in terms of making Wyndham Village anything spectacular for people miles away to come to Franklin to shop at.

Unfortunately, Fischer seems to be too proud of his boss's campaign contributor to dare question anything about it, much less perhaps say, "Hey - maybe Kowalski and Michlig were right about some things...". "The market" could have been there, but the council at that time (2007) was too quick in giving off approvals and too much in love with their own campaign contributions from Mr. Carstensen to even bat an eye at the situation in general. If the council would have done its homework, much like I did back in January (which ended up in several posts), they would have seen something could have been wrong with the data given. They would have seen that things might not have all been 100% there, and thus could have shaken some confidence in general. Last but not least, they should have made the very simple observation that, hey, why on earth are we putting in a big box discount retailer in what the city wanted to be its future civic center district.

All of that and so much more can explain a lot of what we're seeing today. Will you ever see this kind-of coverage out there from the main media outlets? In my opinion, probably not.

Strong words from one analyst regarding Sendik's/Pick n Save

On Metro Milwaukee Today, the post discussing Sendik's Fine Foods being replaced with a Pick n Save has received some criticism from a well-known area consultant in that industry. David Livingston, who is interviewed for reactions on the future of grocers by newspapers such as the Journal Sentinel and even the Wall Street Journal, posted the following comment on MMT:

The only reason I see for Roundys taking this location is if they got a free rent deal from the landlord.  Otherwise, they will suffer from the same location problems Sendik's did.  I think Roundys can do about 15% more than Sendiks but that is still terrible.  Overall, a small increase in traffic will still make this a dead shopping center in a poor location.

Ouch if you're Roundy's or developer Mark Carstensen. With Pick n Save opening up in the Sendik's space in November, I guess we'll end up see firsthand just how things end up developing over at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village.

Common Council President looks to you for thoughts and opinions

Before I begin the guest blog posting, I just wanted to say that this is directly from CCP Taylor. As always, it is not edited or filtered out. Just like with other bloggers in Franklin, if any elected official (Common Council or School Board) would like to have their own "5 minutes" of sorts, feel free to send me an e-mail @ franklinblog@gmail.com.

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I know there is a blogger who blows awful lot of hot air really wants me to write about the full-time Mayor issue but he isn’t going to get his wish. When the issue is brought back to the Common Council all of his questions and many more that he hasn’t thought of will be answered. I could care less what he thinks he knows but he sure does like to write about me every chance he gets. I guess I better start looking behind my back while I am out walking. Don’t worry Franklin residents you will get your opportunity to cast a vote to let us know whether or not you want your Mayor to be full time.

Now that I have given the “press secretary” more to rant about I would like to ask for your help. You may have noticed that this unnamed blogger likes to point out that I lived in La Crosse. This is one of the few things written that has been true. I did live in La Crosse for eight years. I went to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where I majored in political science and public administration. I also served on the Common Council for four years.

Recently La Crosse was named one of the “Ten Places to Live in 2009” by US News and World Report. This is nothing to be ashamed about considering how honored Franklin was to be named in the upper 90’s of the top 100 a few years ago.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/real-estate/2009/06/08/best-places-to-live-2009

I have never once stated that I want Franklin to be more like La Crosse. This is just another example of the “press secretary” getting off message. A large percentage of Franklin’s population has lived in another city for some part of their lives. Maybe they moved to another part of the country for college or their company relocated to the Milwaukee area and they bought a home here. Just think about all of the growth that has occurred in the last ten years. Where do you think they all came from?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking the best ideas from other parts of this state and the country and look to see if those ideas could work here. Alderman Olson has said on the record that the best ideas have come from our residents and not our elected officials. Listening to Franklin’s citizens is what I have done since I was elected a year ago April. The dog leash ordinance was the recommendation of one of my constituents and after spending months talking to others the issue was brought to the Common Council and passed unanimously. I haven’t heard of any problems with the ordinance so far.

My intention of this blog is to ask others to come forward with their recommendations and ideas. I know that many have lived somewhere else that they really liked and wished they could duplicate a certain aspect of that city. Not every idea will be right for Franklin but I won’t call your idea “Foolish”. I also will keep what you tell me confidential because in Franklin anything different is considered a bad idea by a few closed minded individuals.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you.

Steve F. Taylor

Related coverage on Sendik's closure

Back in January, Metro Milwaukee Today did a series covering Sendik's Fine Foods and its status at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village. Feel free to check back on these posts:

A struggling Sendik's in Franklin?

City of Franklin & Sendik's Fine Foods duped?

A successful Sendik's Food Market in Franklin!

When the dreams of Middleton go astray

It's "official" - Daykin reports on Sendik's closure

Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Daykin confirmed what people have been hearing yesterday. Sendik's Fine Foods at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village will CLOSE by the end of the month. Roundy's has acquired the store and will turn it into a Pick n Save, and will reopen as such in November.

What's concerning me is how Roundy's expects to have three Pick n Save locations all so close to each other. The stores I'm talking about are the ones at 76th & Rawson, Hwy 100 & Janesville, and now this new one on Hwy 100 & Drexel. I just haven't seen the massive growth in demographics that would tell me that a Pick n Save on Hwy 100 & Drexel would work out, given the fact that all those in the demographic area already go to the other two that are currently open.

Does this mean Roundy's will close one of their other 2 locations in the immediate area? I don't think so. The one on Rawson just got an facelift of sorts, and is on one of Franklin's busiest intersections. The one in Hales Corners (Hwy 100 & Janesville) was recently built as a larger store from the original one at the Garden Plaza strip mall, which they shut down once the new store was completed and is still vacant to this day.

So what does this tell us? Fortunately, we won't have an empty box for too long after Sendik's Fine Foods departs the city. It'll be Pick n Save before the Christmas shopping season. I suppose another plus is the fact that residents in the neighboring high-end subdivisions won't have to be worried about the first SuperTarget in the metropolitan area being across from their homes. If anything, what we're seeing here is Roundy's getting somewhat defensive of their home turf by preventing a SuperTarget or a Greatland Target (which also sells a lot of groceries) from getting a foothold near two of their more popular food stores (Rawson and Hales Corners).

On the other side of things, the dreams of Greenway Station are now long gone. However, a Pick n Save and a Target could generate extra traffic and thus make the center more appealing for, say, a Panera Bread or salon & spa to locate in one of the outlot buildings. It all comes down to what the potential tenants want, and from what we're seeing with the closure of Sendik's tells us that they weren't generating enough traffic to even keep themselves afloat. Maybe Pick n Save will...

Yes, the word about Sendik's got to me, too...

If you guys haven't checked out John Michlig's Sprawled Out blog yet, yesterday he had an entry with "BREAKING NEWS" proportions. I believe he's pretty accurate to a certain degree, it's breaking news that it happened but as my blog pointed out several months ago, the writing was clearly on the wall. All that was left was for the deed to be done. Well, yesterday, it was done, and from what my sources told me, what John Michlig wrote, and what Sendik's Food Market's IT Director wrote on his Twitter -  Franklin will be losing one of our Sendik's food stores. Sendik's Fine Foods, in the Shoppes at Wyndham Village, will be shutting down...less than a year after it opened to much fanfare.

Since it's early in the morning, I don't want to make too many remarks on it now, since I do have a lot to say. I'm also waiting to see if the mainstream media outlets, like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Tom Daykin, pick up on the story to prove (or disprove) it. Being as involved as I was with regards to that project as a whole, the possible closure of Sendik's Fine Foods is a big letdown. Let's just put it this way, Franklin: We were initially promised something similar to a Greenway Station when this project kicked off on Halloween night, 2006. Tom Balistreri, the owner of Sendik's Fine Foods, and hometown developer Mark Carstensen certainly made their impressions with the public that this shopping center was going to be top notch and, in my opinion, certainly upscale. We ended up getting a Target, and now the gem of the center (in my opinion), Sendik's, will be shutting its doors.

Like I said, keep in touch with this site as the day (and week) goes on. Hopefully some clearer answers will emerge, and quite possibly some more open-ended questions and observations.

Criticisms that went too far?

Over the past day or so, our State Senator's aide (and Franklin resident), Kevin Fischer, hasn't seemed to be on the good side of many people. Out of nowhere, he wrote a piece about what I believed to be (after reading the entry) apparent nepotism within the Franklin Little League, of which the former Little League President, Dave Bartels, came out in force to denounce. Then he took aim, as per usual during budget time, at the Franklin Public School Board for apparently not being too forthcoming on the future budget.

I guess when one reads the post about the Little League "scandal", if you may, it really made me wonder just how all of this came to be; how and/or why would this particular matter be of such top priority for our aide? Sure, I'm willing to go on the record in saying he has every right to write about whatever he wants, whenever he wants...but the passion over a Little League that he even admits to never attending any games is, well, interesting to say the least. Kudos to Mr. Bartels for standing up for the Little League and the children who play in it. It's unfortunate, however, that Bartels fell into the trap Fischer set-up for him and the other families who have children in the Franklin Little League. You see, the response by those families and Bartels was, in my opinion, the goal Fischer wanted to achieve. The response on his blog continued the controversy.

Then we move onward to the Franklin Public School Board, where the lack of apparent public discussion by Board Members prior to an October budget vote is a huge sin. It seems that since the NOW didn't do an article in Franklin, the School Board is giving the public the silent treatment.

I didn't like that entry for a variety of reasons - the primary one being the unnecessary attacks on Board Members, especially newly elected member Janet Evans. It's been claimed that the members of the Board don't talk about issues. Well, then I suppose either I'm really special or those claims are flat out nonsense. Whenever I have a question and direct it at board members, I do get responses back. Heck, there are even times where I could get a phone call to discuss my concerns. I know of several residents who have contacted members of the School Board directly and received responses in a proper timeframe. It seems to me that all Fischer wants is what he wrote in the last sentence (emphasis mine):

If I'm so wrong (and so terrible) prove me wrong and e-mail me something, anything. Don't do it for me. Do it for the taxpayers.

Yes, have the School Board members e-mail Fischer so he can obtain more attention by the Franklin public so he can then bash them over more nonsense? If anything, those School Board members (especially Ms. Evans) should send their remarks to other Franklin bloggers (Ms. Evans can simply write her piece on her own blog). I don't see why any of them would need to do Fischer a service, to be quite honest.

Hampton Inn plans continue to be alive

Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin reported last Friday that the Hampton Inn & Suites slated for construction within the Loomis/Rawson/76th triangle is still planned to be built and opened up for business within the next year. Daykin quoted developer and business owner Ed Eldridge in his report, who noted that he'd like construction to begin in Fall and opening in 2010.

Eldridge also has the parcel of land currently housing the 2-story People's Choice Car Wash, which would be next to the hotel. It will be interesting how that parcel turns out once the hotel opens up for business. Given the unique high ground to a major Wisconsin highway (Loomis Rd/Hwy 36) and a 101-room hotel opened up next door, it wouldn't be too "out there" to see the car wash perhaps torn down for other amenities such as a restraurant. As it has been noted here many times, the Loomis/Rawson/76th business area has a severe lacking of restaurants, but has several fast food choices. I just don't know if we want to tout to the people staying at the hotel how lovely our McDonald's is to eat in...

Roundabouts supported for 27th Street Corridor

While many in Franklin might be in opposition to roundabouts throughout the city, the 27th Street Steering Committee has supported the concept of roundabouts along the 27th Street corridor from College to County Line Road. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has pushed for the roundabout concept for the past several years, and many suburbanites experience roundabouts when they're near the I-43/Moorland Road interchange in New Berlin.

Franklin was given a bad first impression of a roundabout when the Shoppes at Wyndham Village was constructed in 2008, where a very tiny roundabout welcomes residents to the shoppes into Sendik's off of Drexel. Since that roundabout opened for traffic, many residents have complained and the roundabout itself has been battered in some degree. I recall over winter when several comments came in about someone (or a plow, even) driving right through the roundabout and leaving its mark right through the middle.

The only member from Franklin on the Joint South 27th Street Steering Committee, Alderman Steve Olson, was quoted by the Franklin NOW as saying the distaste of roundabouts in our community died down since the Drexel disaster roundabout was built. However, if comments and remarks on the Franklin blogosphere and Twitter accounts made any difference, I'd have to say that the Drexel roundabout caused more frustration among residents, not less.

Ultimately, it is my opinion that roundabouts are a great component in any city or community. However, they need to be properly built and placed in the right spots. Since WISDOT has shown us in the past with the Moorland roundabouts that they can be built to carry traffic with relative ease, I believe the roundabouts on 27th Street will be not only great for smoother travel along the Franklin/Oak Creek border, but also will add on to the overall landscaping and asthetics that residents have asked city leaders to push for the business corridor.

You can see the report that HNTB, who is contracted by both cities as a consultant for the 27th Street corridor, wrote-up regarding roundabouts along 27th Street:

Download HNTB Roundabout Report 27th street2