Message from the Mayor:
This week I attended the June meeting of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council, or ICC, a committee of the Mayors and Village Presidents of the 19 municipalities of Milwaukee County. I was selected as Vice Chairman, joining Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor, who serves as Chairman of the ICC, giving Oak Creek and Franklin significant representation at the leadership level of this important committee.
The old bridge spanning I-94 on Drexel Avenue came down this past weekend, readying the site for a new overpass which will eventually be the roadway for the new Drexel Avenue interchange, the first new interchange in the Milwaukee County freeway system in decades. This has the potential to transform our city, providing easy access to the Drexel Town Square development at Drexel and Howell, and the area west of the freeway along 27th Street. Construction will continue all summer with a scheduled opening in November 2012. Crews are also getting ready to begin the roadway expansion project on Pennsylvania Avenue from College to Rawson Avenues.
On Father’s Day weekend I played in the Oak Creek Alumni Golf Club Golf Outing at South Hills Country Club. Over 100 golfers participated in this fundraising event which provides scholarships for Oak Creek High School seniors. Alumni from OCHS graduating classes going back to the 1960’s enjoyed the terrific golfing weather to raise money for a great cause.
Nominations continue to come in for the 2012 Mayor’s Landscaping Awards, which will be selected in mid-July. If you see a residence or a local business that you feel has improved the city through tree and flower plantings, and creative landscaping, nominate them by June 30th. Forms are available on our City website main page.
I’ll be doing my second “Meet the Mayor” at the Oak Creek Public Library on Saturday, June 30th. Please join Library Director Jill Lininger and me as we tour the Oak Creek Library.
On July 4th, the City of Oak Creek will host its annual parade and fireworks celebration. The parade route will begin at Edgewood School, moving down Groveland, Knights Place, Mayhew, Centennial, and Shepard Avenue, before eventually winding up at the Oelschlaeger Dallmann Legion Post. After the parade, elected officials will hand out ice cream, and the Legion Post will host kid’s games and live music. This year’s parade honors veterans who served in World War II. I am honored to be riding in the parade with Robert “Bob” Johnson, an Oak Creek resident who served in the US Navy during World War II aboard a troop transport, the USS Crescent City. He was in Pearl Harbor shortly after the Japanese attack in 1941, and also served at Guadalcanal. Bob retired from the US Navy in 1959, after 22 years of service to our country.
Get out and enjoy the great weather…summer is finally here!
Steve