The Public Works Committee of the Milwaukee Common Council met on Thursday, September 10, 2026, from approximately 9:12 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in City Hall Room 301-B, chaired by Ald. Milele A. Coggs. Present were Ald. Coggs, Vice-Chair Ald. Lamont Westmoreland, Ald. Robert J. Bauman (arrived at 9:46 a.m.), Ald. Larresa Taylor, and Ald. Alex Brower. The committee acted on 24 agenda items, including assessable and nonassessable public improvement resolutions, utility notification and permitting ordinances, a concrete panel replacement pilot program, and lead service line replacement reports.
The meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.
Good morning. Public works committee meetings to order. I am Alderwoman Chairwoman uh Mila A. Cox. We um are joined to my left by Alderwoman Larisa Taylor. Uh to her right, we are joined by Alderman Alex Brower. We are joined by staff assistant Carmen Roman. Um to my um we are also joined on the board by Vice Chair Alderman Lamont West Morland. Um we will soon be joined by Alderman uh Bauman. Uh we also are joined by DPW Um infrastructure. Um we have a guest of Audible Man and Van Marie Puss with us here today. Um item number one, file number two resolution relating to approving the levying of assessments and construction of accessible public improvement projects at various locations and appropriating funds for these purposes. Good morning, Holly Rutten back with DPW. I will be advising on the special assessment process and project details. For those projects approved this morning, a bill will be sent to each property owner sometime after completion of the work. Within 45 days upon receipt of the bill, the full amount may be paid without interest. If the bill is not paid within the 45-day grace period, a charge of 8.5% simple interest per year will be added. If the assessment is at least 125 dollars, the assessment can be paid over a period of 10 years on the tax roll at the 8.5% interest. For those projects approved with late billing, a bill will not be sent before January 1st, 2029. As part of this public hearing, an official notice was sent to all impacted property owners, and we will go in the order that is listed on the official notice. Once I have read your project location, you're welcome to come up and provide testimony. Hearing no objections, so order. I shouldn't tell you, but 63. So I've seen a lot of things there, and we hear I'm here in support of uh Johnny and his adventure that we both uh working together on this project and this event. So I'm in here in full support along with Five Points Neighborhood Association. All right. Mr. Cherry, did you want to say a little more before we view some of the videos that you uh have submitted for us? Uh yes, uh what initiated this request was back on May 11th last year in the early mornings of hours of Mother's Day. Uh over 50 cars took over Port Washington Avenue. They entered from the Keith Avenue. Uh north side of the south side of the street, and they raced over 100 miles per hour all the way to Capitol Drive on Port Washington Avenue going north. Uh called 911 three times, talked to the UTCs. Uh not one police officer responded out of three phone calls to 911. So I contacted uh Alterman Cox. She gave me instructions on how to get signatures for the traffic calming. Uh that took place last year, which uh brings us to today. Uh just over the past 30 days. Uh I was able to get video recordings of all of the reckless driving that's taken place on Port Washington Avenue. Some of the cars that you see will be doing over a hundred miles per hour. Uh they're driving in the bicycle lanes. They're passing cars on the right shoulder. Um see, they stay there on Port Washington Avenue for a couple hours, racing north and south from Keith Avenue all the way down to Abert. And they come in pairs, two cars at a time, racing at the same time. Uh some of them come by themselves. Uh some of them they come regularly on different days. Uh so if you're ready to see some of the videos. All right, channel 25. If you could play a few of the videos for us, it's my understanding they're really briefly. That was a guy in a Jeep races Jeep back and forth three times on Port Washington Avenue.