The Plan Commission of the Whitefish Bay Village Board heard a pre-petition request from the Milwaukee Jewish Federation at a regularly scheduled meeting held Tuesday evening, Feb. 19, at the Village Hall.
The federation is asking for a change in its agreement with the village to have a full-time on-site security guard. Instead, the federation would like to employ an off-site security monitoring system.
A security guard will continue to be posted during school hours at the campus’ north building, which houses The Academy (Hillel), Jewish Beginnings Lubavitch Preschool and Milwaukee Jewish Day School.
Chris Jaekels, the Whitefish Bay Village attorney, explained that the business of the evening was not to discuss the merits of the federation’s petition but rather to allow the federation to present its proposal so that the committee can analyze it and explore alternatives.
The committee would then decide whether to forward the proposal along with alternatives to the full village board.
Jaekels then reported that Whitefish Bay Police Chief Robert Jacobs had reviewed the federation’s request and offered an alternative approach.
Jacobs suggested that the agreement between the village and the federation remain in place for a period of time, possibly one year, during which time it would be allowed to try out off-site security monitoring.
For that period, the village would agree not to enforce the 24-hour on-site security guard requirement. Afterward, the parties would evaluate and reconsider the change.
After some discussion of the need to notify the public of when and how it would be allowed to comment on the issue, the meeting was opened for public comment.
Three people spoke, including Village Trustee Rita Cheng, a member of the audience, who objected to the suggestion not to enforce the agreement saying that that was almost the same as deciding to change the zoning.
Trustee Kenneth Berg moved and Plan Commission member Jay Miller seconded a motion to preliminarily approve the federation’s petition and the police chief’s suggestion for consideration by the village board.
The committee approved the motion 6-0 with one abstention (for a potential conflict of interest) by Plan Commission member Mark Huber.
“The significance of the Plan Commission’s action is that it moves the process forward,” said Betty Lieberman, director of capital building projects for the federation. The March 3 Village Board meeting will give the community an opportunity to comment on the issue, she said.
Although the meeting agenda initially included a second federation request, the federation postponed that issue to a later date. That request was for an extension of the Saturday hours of operation of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center’s fitness center, including the pool and spa, from 8 a.m.-noon. It currently opens at noon.
Bruce T. Block, the federation’s attorney, said the desire to open earlier on Saturday is to accommodate non-Jewish members to make up for being closed on Jewish holidays. The standards of JCCs around the country are changing, he said.
In answer to a question from Village President Kathleen Pritchard, Block affirmed that the federation will come back with this request in the future.
Loading ...