Shorewood shall never call any individual to account for our present sewer situation, nor should we, as no individual is responsible primarily because of the cultural attitudes that all of us have been injecting into our political system.

Some still think that we can run a community of high quality services without increasing our property taxes. Our efforts at “improving the tax base by intensification of land use” stems from our tight-fisted approach to governance when it comes to tax rates.   "Let's try to develop a better spread." 

Years ago many of us were aware of our sewer situation, myself among those, as I've been calling attention to our aged infrastructure for some time. But we've been living in a fairy land believing that nothing, too much of a serious nature, could happen during our time.  Well it has.

One of the secondary questions now is, how does new residential development effect our sewers because it adds to the burden of capacity?

Some citizens might wonder as to whether sewer capacity was ever a consideration of new development or whether our planners ever took “insufficient sewer capacity” into consideration when making our planning decisions.  We seem to have engaged in policies of intentional ignorance.  And some still do.  Thus the fact-finding survey--as it seems that we really are ignorant of the facts.  Plus, we can still stay in fairy land a little bit longer.    

Did any member of the Planning Commission raise that question?  Did any member of Community Development Authority or the members of the Village Board raise the question of insufficient capacity?  I'm not aware that anyone did.

So now we're here.  It's going to cost millions. It obvious to all that we do not have enough sewer capacity.  What to do now?  Increase the capacity.  How?

I have a suggestion. Place 8-foot diameter pipes under our “walkable” sidewalks along their full length all over the village to provide for temporary retention and serve as vessels for distributing storm water to the lake.  Based on my concept of the solution, I ask our consultant engineer whether or not this will give us sufficient capacity.

If it does, we must design this system and start installing it right away.  By the way, what will it cost?  We inherited our old system, now we need to provide for ourselves and coming generations.  Whatever the cost, we must pay for it this time. 

I”m sorry I didn't make this suggestion before.  Perhaps, I didn't have the idea until now.   And now I throw it into the pot.   Does anyone else have a better idea to put into the pot?   Will the fact-finding study on its own produce a better solution.  How will it do that?   If we can't find a better idea, I stongly suggest that we go with mine.   How about some comments? 

-  Some outstanding writers agree that simplicity is the other side of complexity.

-  Sanity is more readily recognized when compared to madness.

-  Basic human nature is not found in man's slim tendencies toward generosity.

In order to keep a focus on our drainage and sanitary system and the condition and upgrading of these liquid flows in our community, I would recommend that the Village President establish a community Advisory Drainage Commission that would keep up with drainage conditions in Shorewood and study and make regular recommendations to the Village Board as to required improvements as well as report the progress of day-to-day overall improvements..

This advisory commission would not only have a practical operational function as assigned it by the Board but its establishment and function would upgrade the reputation of this community as one that faces its serious problems directly and works toward appropriate solutions. The value of our homes are involved here, as well.

The Advisory Commission should operate independently and make its recommendation to the Village Board.

Five members would be appointed by the president for a five year period with the seat of each member expiring each of the first five years to begin with and the members electing its chairperson each year.

If this were done soon it would serve both as a practical action to assure the citizens that things are happening on a daily basis and not merely at Board meetings but it would also serve as a good public relations move.

However, I don't expect that this idea would receive the slightest consideration by the Board, even if it came from someone else. But I make this suggestion so that readers can regard the various ways some of these problems could receive continuous attention.

Some of us may be wondering if anyone is doing anything this very day about improving our sewer situation. How would we know?

Is anyone reporting back to us on a short term and regular basis? Even a weekly newsletter? Is anyone working on this problem today? Are Board members having some innovative thoughts about this after the special meeting? Probably not.

Can we get in on any staff meetings that may be going on? Let's get an Advisory Drainage Commission that would do that and would focus on this problem everyday.

I know this is not going to happen. We can only expect the same type of progress experienced over the past 20 years. But I'm hoping for a surprise or I wouldn't be writing.  

Mr Johnson, president of Shorewood's Village Board, can we get a surprise, a response from you?

Last night at a special board meeting, the Village officials of Shorewood indicated that we must keep the present combined sewer system that will send back excrement into the basements of citizens' homes, as one person reported happened to her during two rains within the past fifteen days.

The Village president indicated that sewer separation will not assure against seepage of sanitary waste.

This may be true or may not be true, but relying on the present system where storm water pressure is more likely to cause problems doesn't seem the best way to go. 

Now we've decided to go on a fact hunting exercise by use of a magic “scientific” fact finding survey.

We seem to be ignoring the FACT that sewer back-ups do not happen in dry weather but when it rains.

Conclusion: rain water run-off sends water into our combined sewer system, the sewers that do not have the capacity to handle it, so the mixture backs up into the lowest sources of the houses, the basements.

It is the rain water that is taxing the capacity, so if we separate the rain water from the sanitary flow, we will not get back up of excrement in our basements. The storm water sewers will have no connection with our basements. 

The Shorewood Village Board is strongly inclined toward keeping the combined system and this is the real problem.  Members were irritated at suggestions that tinkering with the existing system might be a waste of time and money. The Board did not want to deal with the question of “how do we develop a separate system as efficiently as possible?”  I think this is a mistake.

It doesn't make any difference who the Board members are presently or over a 20-year period, as it can be seen at Board meetings that they depend on their professionals and that they engage in a cultural process of discussion which more often than not ends up in passing the proposals presented.

Last night the proposal was to work within the context of a combined system and that became the charge to sewer engineering consultant.  Together, professionals and Board members seem to have information that does not make sewer separation a logical approach to them. Is there some science to this?

Why doesn't sewer separation make sense?  I don't want to see the Village make this mistake but it seems that they are headed in that direction. 

(Where do I stand? Please read previous posting).

Citizens of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay know that untreated sewage flows through what serves as our sanitary sewers and that these pipes also serve to drain our rain water, what is referred to as a combined sewer system.

The flow within this combined system often exceeds its capacity during periods of heavy rain, discharging unhealthy flows, specifically, a public mix of excrement, discharging it into our basements, streets and other surface areas.

It has therefore been finally concluded, but not officially, that we have insufficient capacity.  We shall always be conscious of potential back-up that may be caused by inadequate sewer capacity.  We must, therefore, face up to the fact that back-ups are a threat to the health of the people of this community.

If we are going to continue to have back-ups, THEN WE MUST ESTABLISH A MEHTOD OF ORGANIZED VISUAL INSPECTION to assure each resident who experiences back-ups and to make sure that no health risk remains.

The major part of the cost of the inadequate system, the back-up restoration cost should be the responsibility of the Village and not that of the individual homeowner. After all we are paying for taking it away and not for backing it up into our basements.

The logical conclusion seems to be that:

1. WE NEED TO DEVELOP WEATHER STORAGE FACILITIES (RETENTION BASINS) FOR OUR RAIN WATER, as soon as possible and

2. BUILD A NEW SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR CARRYING AWAY STORM WATER THAT IS SEPARATE FROM THE SANITATION FLOW at the same time.

We need to recognize that this is what we must do. The cost is another thing, but it can't prevent us from acting now. Let's let our financial consultants and managers figure out how we are going to finance it.  But these are immediate requirements.

So let's immediately begin designing the WATER STORAGE FACILITIES and the SEPARATE STORM WATER SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITY. Otherwise, we shall be paying the price in many other ways.

The Village must also commit as soon as possible as to the clean-up and restoration costs.

These are the the most urgent requirements that citizens can expect of our local government.   If those serving us here in Shorewood, volunteers and professionals alike cannot provide us these health and community services, then what is Shorewood government all about?  Are they up to the job?

Years ago, those decision-makers in Shorewood's local government decided to combine two sewer functions, that system that would carry away our rare sewage with the need to dispose of storm water indirectly into the Lake.

This seemed a sensible decision at the time.  We have inherited what today has turned out to be a mistake. The system cannot handle this combined function and treat the sewage that's to be passed on to the Lake in a fairly cleared form.  We must all agree on that.  Let's not carry on this mistake.

Our storm water must be handled by a separate system so that the high volumes of storm water that we have been experiencing must be moved more rapidly and separately from our sanitary flow. This is the problem as we must define it today.

The solution is simply to provide a separate storm water system. It's that simple.

We cannot find any real solution within our present system.

The real problem behind this solution is over government's inability to make this decision.  We've been avoiding this decision for decades. And that's another mistake.

Now. Here and now, this decision is being made for you by the citizens of Shorewood.  Recognize it as the solution. And develop plans and a design for this new system as quickly as possible so that it can be installed without delay.

We have gone with a period of indecision for far too long.  More delay cannot be tolerated.

We must start out with the decision that we need a separate and sufficiently large storm water system with more than the capacity to carry away our storm water.

Without making this decision, the citizens of Shorewood must consider that all other efforts are attempts at avoidance, of not facing up to the problem or the larger one, the inability of our local government to make the decision.  This decision is more important than Capitol Drive and new condominiums and apartments.

If evidence of the necessary actions to be taken are not definitely indicated in the matter of days, then the citizens must act.

Thus, they may ask the trustees to resign and declare a special election or the citizens must call for a recall election.  What else can they do in the face of indecision and when presented with the most serious problem that Shorewood faces today.

The best and most effective answer to our problem would be for the Village Board to decide to design the new system as indicated here.  For it seems that we had a lot of rain last night and that we will have more today.  And what about the rest of the week and for years to come?

We inherited a system that no longer works nor meets the requirements for today and needs to be traded in for a new one. Am I that far wrong?

Education, in the “true sense,” I believe, is the aid given in helping each individual to develop his or her own mentality.

There are certain basics that have gone before that seem necessary, the language itself and mathematics, although each person may do better with one over the other.

We seem to have developed fixed methods of testing both teachers and student in this regard without testing mental development.

The danger here lies in the collective predetermination of specific pieces that become organized and are to be superimposed on individual mentalities. I've come to believe that we must help guide each mind as it comes to gripe with each subject that appears basic.

Although learning what is known is an important collective, learning “about” what is known is an individual matter.

It is the mind that we are aiding and developing in terms of the subject. The subject should usually be suspect as it is the result and development of the collective systems and rules. The mind may be aided by rules and systems but is always to be considered as one of a kind.

This somewhat presents the basis of what I describe as education and when I speak of educating adults or our children, I believe that these notions guide my views.. Each student should be “taught” as one person. But the economics of mass society do not permit this. Then we must find the best economic methods which at the present time seem to be our “public schools” and universities.
 

In the coming period of great unemployment and underemployment we have the opportunity to begin giving attention to the individual's education, especially in this period that may become a time of many idle adults. This overall idleness must be converted to a great period of education.

The collective aspect of this new economic process will be to pay adults while they seek education and develop their individual minds. Our schools should as much as possible be oriented in that way.

The individual contribution shall then be what is given in turn to society. Therefore, this period of unemployment must become a period of education and even, one might say, of re-education.

I'd appreciate any comments on this subject.

Although I'm making it a point to concentrate on the correction of Shorewood's sewer systems, for a moment, for this posting, at least, I want to get our minds off the sewer question.

I want to deal with the mind itself. The human mind has developed into an organic mechanism beyond that required for survival. It has enabled us to act collectively moving in a direction that diminishes its growing potential as when the mind functions on its own.

We could list hundreds and perhaps thousands of great minds. But when acting collectively, we act as a culture, as a society, as a group, as a gang. The human mind then turns into part of an expanded organism that lines up thought so that it gives up its individual thoughtfulness usually to a common denominator and level where a leader or party can take over thought processes.

There is a name for this, “politics.” But society itself is a form of madness run with injections of political madness.  How we come together in our every day survival activities also becomes part of that social madness that some describe as “economics.”

I suppose economics is how as societies we deal with both individual and collective survival.   In the most recent of this social survival process we've engaged in huge factory operations that program certain activities that one person can do, called a “job.”

The social idea of a job has many facades. One, is going to work on a regular basis and collecting a weekly check. The human being is no longer the essential element of production he or she once was. Now we have robots as well that can do the”job”.

Our abilities to travel the world dilute the community nature or community as part of the productive function. This process is referred to as out-sourcing, sending jobs over seas, finding cheap labor there. So that working as a community member has lost most of that social characteristic.

Therefore, the call for “jobs, jobs, jobs” has little to do for survival either for individual or community. It has moved into the political realm. And even the cry for “jobs” has lost whatever meaning it might have had.

So the collective mind is on the road to madness when it pretends to operate in the field of economics, a field of madness when it uses the magic term “jobs.” The idea of jobs will no longer be the same. It is only a historical term in the ephemeral field of economics and collective thinking.

What is needed today, especially in the United States is the manner by which the individual alone and within the family and perhaps within the community can find the means to survive. Some will find the “job” once prevalent, most will not.

Therefore, even job-related health insurance is not a very good idea., especially as more and more jobs disappear.  The concept of insurance, let alone health insurance is not a very good idea, even in the  total realm of “economics.”

It seems to become clear that the individual human mind as long it sticks to survival is the way to go and one of things that society seems to do best with all its faults is what we call “education.”

Perhaps the cry should be, “education.” “education” with a similar form of pay as jobs until one attains a survival activity. I would say let's go with the best of humanity, the human mind and the best way to educate it.

I've been talking to a couple whom I know quite well and that own their home in Shorewood which they'd like to sell and then move into one of the new apartments that are being build here. Good luck on selling the home.

Then they wouldn't have to worry about sewer back-ups, especially if they live on one of the upper floors. I reacted, “let's hope that the elevator equipment is not in the basement.”  I was feeling rejected. 

Then I wondered, as to whether these condos and apartments that the Village is responsible for building have any had sewer backups?

If not, what's the secret?  Of course they are adding to the sewage?  Is it fair that  they are adding to the sewage and not suffering any backups?  Can anyone tell us if these places have experienced any back-ups?  If they are adding sewage, wouldn't it be fair that  they suffer back-ups?  At  least, let's find out why not.  Perhaps we can see some humor in this.

Some citizens have asked for a prohibition on new development that adds to the problem of sewer back-ups. How will this whole situation now affect our redevelopment programs? Of course we need a good infrastructure if we are going to  intensify our development.  Intedification of development is a question we have to put off until later. 

So some people expect that  the sewer situation will decrease the value of our homes, indirectly reduce the reputation of our village and slow down sales of homes and reduce the process of development and redevelopment even further.  Will new development values and the pace of development be affected?  Most homeowner are of course concerned.

Perhaps this will effect the high cost of land and thus of the rent that operates against business wanting to locate in the Village?  But this sort of situation may not be the kind we want.  What are our immediate and long term costs if we leave everything alone?

Look here, we're not stuck out here,those of you who have volunteered to serve us on the various boards to represent us and to lead us as you said you would when you were running for office, what are we going to do about this sewer mess?  You are not alone.  We are all of us in this thing together.  Let's all work together. 

I don't believe that you or any of us has had to face up to such huge task that we have here before us.  It's going to cost millions and we have been putting it off too long.  Now is the time.  And if no one steps up to lead us we are in big trouble. 

Village officials, you are our only leaders and now is the time to represent us. Now is the time to lead us as you once believe  you could.  Some officials claim less knowledge of sewers and our sitution than many citizens do.  And we can understand this.

This is no time for politics.  You volunteered and ran to lead in times like this.  And its going to be a big job and many of the citizens of Shorewood want to help, for we must all succeed tegether.   So now is the time for all of us to work together.  Most of us are willing to help.

But you have the leadership reins and authority in your hands.   We need you right away!  So let all of us work together to get the sewer system that we need right away.    

I'm sure that our “volunteer”elected officials and our appointed paid staff and consultants are finding it difficult to sleep nights in trying to come up with solutions to our sewer back-up situation in Shorewood.

The solution might come to their minds soon and I'm sure that before that point, officials will call in any citizen willing to be a “volunteer” and make a planning contribution. For our officials are also modest volunteers above all, willing to consider the advice of the citizens who live here.

Let's invite citizens to participate in the decision-making.   I'm ready to participate.  Let us know when the next meeting for considering what is to be done about our sewers is to be held.  Let's hope that meeting is soon. 

Please read one or more of my last five postings for my ideas on this issue.

Sewer back-ups. We know that many people experience raw sewage in their basements almost every time it rains.  These basements become sort of septic tanks, retaining tanks for sewage.

So it's the rain that causes the back up of raw sewage.

Its seems that everything would be all right if it never rained.  The problem is the ground run-off water, the excessive rain water that taxes the capacity of our sewers.  Simple enough.

The solution too seems to be a simple one, build a a large drainage system that will handle these large water run-offs that we've been experiencing or separating the rain water from the sewage. 

We've been living fairly free on the systems that previous generations paid for.  Now that our sewers are too old and dysfunctional, let's build our own drainage systems for future generations. 

We can pay for the systems over 20 years and bequeath them to future generations as past generations did for us.

So the solution here in Shorewood is a large drainage system.  If we say this over and over it may sink in.  But we must be careful with the word "sink".

We  must of course, pay for the new system  ourselves. Not all at once.

We can finance it over 20 years. The system will add to the value of our homes instead of detracting from the value, as it would do if we leave things as they are.  The special assessment will be passed on to each new owner until paid. 

Now how do we accomplish this?

Get our leaders to lead the way.  What does our Shorewood Business Improvement District think of this? What about our Planning Commission?  What about Community Development?  What about Public Works? What does the Village Board think of this?

Are we not going to get a word nor hear  from any of these people on the stage again?  Or will we have to wait for the next storm to use our basements as sewage retention  tanks and then be given another review of history by the Board, staff and paid consultants?

 

Our titular leader in Shorewood is the President of the Village Board, Guy Johnson.  All right, Guy. Let's say it.  

 “We're going to design a new system by year's end and we're going to start building it at the beginning of the year."

Pretty simple. Then let's go.  What else is there to do or say?   Anyone?   What's holding us back?  Tell us.  Why can't we get a new system.  There must be some solution?  Tell us there's a solution. 

Let's get it underway.

Let's get this straight. Modern community's, mainly cities and their suburbs when planned reasonably are built on infrastructures that can handle those needs required by the community.

A historical review of Shorewood's sewer system provided by village officials at recent meetings proves that our sewer system does not work during rather normal times, let alone when the best is required of it.

It's been indicated that the system leaks and along with interconnections of storm water and sanitary waste partially contaminating and running into reservoirs of already insufficient capacity when maximum efficiency is required causes regurgitation of raw sewage into peoples' homes.

Would anyone go to a community health center with comparable dysfunctional or inadequate facilities when a serious medical operation is required, or board a flight with similar dysfunctional elements?

Our sewer system must be designed to function adequately during the worst of weather conditions.

Most automobile manufactures advertise that their cars are safe at the time of an accident, at the worst driving event as well as during a regular driving experience. Our sewer system should be so designed.

We have an old dysfunctional car when it comes to our sewer system. The main requirement now is a decision to buy a new car, a new sewer system. Shorewood's president Johnson must make this decision before we can go ahead with proper correction and engineering of our sewer system.

It's fairly simple. We need a new system and cannot avoid the cost of new system as we must pay more perhaps for constant repair of this old dysfunctional one.  And we don't want even one inch of raw sewage in our basements 

Please read my previous posting calling for President Guy Johnson to lead us in this decision and in the implementation of a new sewer system. And please, let's have your comments. If Johnson is not going to lead us, who is?

 . 

Shorewood's citizens called for leadership tonight in handling the community's sewer crisis--LEADERSHIP.

They demand a sewer system that works and keeps raw sewage and rain water out of their homes. A plan with a real and immediate solution is required. No bureaucratic dodging and no finger pointing at other agencies or past boards and consultants.

We need an engineering firm that will tell us what this real solution is and what it will cost. We'll find out how to pay for it an not avoid its implementation because of cost.  Amsterdam Holland doesn't have raw sewage backup.  None of the canal communities do. 

Twenty-year bonding is one good financial alternative, an assessment to each property over 20 years.  

Now on the LEADERSHIP part. President of the Shorewood Board Guy Johnson must announce by the last of these sewer basin or district meetings, announce that he is going to take charge and produce a new sewer system plan by the end of the year and begin implementing it by early Spring.  Hold a press conference.  The press will certainly be there. 

This is his calling and what he's been president of this broad for these years. Now is the time. He must zero-in on this project and get the rest of the board to follow.  Otherwise we are sunk as a community.

What will our reputation be next year and the year following—five and ten years from now, if we don't act now in a forceful manner. Only President Johnson can take charge and he must take charge.

Mark my words. If he doesn't do this, all of Shorewood's sewer history lessons are for naught.  And all the defensive talk by our officials is going to dig us further into this sink hole. These defensive gestures are not going to help Shorewood's future.

What we need is positive LEADERSHIP now. Guy step up to the plate.

What do citzens of Shorewood think, or does it matter?  Shouldn't we give the president of our village board our support in this necessary and required positive LEADERSHIP?   

THE SUBJECT IS SEWER BACKUPS?

I was surprised not to see the sewer backup item on the agenda of Shorewood's board coming meeting.

The letter announcing the coming neighborhood meetings dealing with “the rain and flooding” makes no mention of raw sewage backup.

The Board members can maintain a good distance from this problem for as long as possible. I hope that these scheduled meetings will involve more than the history lessen on neglected raw sewage backups in Shorewood.

This does not seem like it is going to be an event announcing the cure to the problem.  It has all the attributes of a new song and dance or the old song and dance done over.  Are Board members going to refrain from touching the subject at the next Board meeting?

Will Board members be present at the various neighborhood meetings? Perhaps they don't want to soil their hands in this rare sewage businress. 

Now that we know that homes experiencing backups not only have to notify the State of that fact and can expect to lose tens-of-thousands of dollars of value when selling their homes, shouldn't these property owners also expect to get reduction in property value assessments.

These neglected sewers will cost citizens and the Village big bucks. Are we going to hear how this situation will be corrected or will we be told that because of government processes things will remain the same, or appear slightly different while remaining the same.?

Overflowing sewers.

THOSE IN CHARGE in the past in Shorewood bet on more for less in a combined sewer system. Now we have less for more.

The time has come for THOSE IN CHARGE to concentrate on separating our runoff water system from our sewage system.

We should not be making plans and developing patches of residences here and there putting more sewer  backup potential in our community while ignoring our present sewer capacity.

Schools and property values stand to decline if we don't fix our sewers now.

Let's put someone IN CHARGE of achieving a workable sewer system for Shorewood now. What good is the slogan “the walkable community” if it means  in raw sewage.

More for less, doing it on the cheap usually means less service for more money in the long run.

And the long run has come and gone in the case of sewers in Shorewood. We cannot continue to ignore that this important element of infrastructure is dysfunctional and working against all aspects of community.

Bad sewers are not going to help property values nor potential sales, nor any potential commercial activity. This situation is certainly not going to help our school system.

A house with a "for sale "sign and a stack of sewage damaged stuff in front isn't going to be too attractive to potential buyers, is it?

So what do we do? FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM.  Let's come up with a plan and put a special person in charge of sewer improvement now.

Let's hear from somebody in charge and from some citizens of our community on this subject. 

In reading the views of past successful businessmen and top economists, who are predicting the future or telling us what we should do now to cope with the future I've re-learned a bit of wisdom passed on to me one by my favorite wise men, that the future is never anything like the past nor the present.

Some economists however are in the business of predicting the future and some engaged in what that implies as to how to deal with the future.

I'm looking at the present and see few ways of doing things as we saw them in the past nor do I see how we can do many things in the future. For example, we may have millions more unemployed than we ever expected but we don't have the greatest depression expected.  How did that happen?

We have to recognize that some members of families, in many cases remain employed. Some are receiving unemployment insurance payments, some receive monthly Social Security payments and others are retired receiving monthly pension checks. Health care relieves a lot of people much of their health bill, all contributing to money circulation.  As this money remains in circulation, it keeps contributing to  many business in operation as well as to feeding many people.

This was not the situation that could describe to some parts of the Great Depression.  So we cannot predict the future based on these past experiences. We cannot cope with what should have been today's depression, that turned out to be a recession, as we did in the past, although features created as a result of last depression have served to make this one less severe.

Outsourcing wasn't a problem in the thirties. It is a problem today when we talk about business creating a sufficient number of new jobs to employ or re-employ all those who want to go back to work. Twenty-million people can't be advised to merely go out and seek a job when few jobs are available, not even half that number nor a significant portion of that number are there or we wouldn't be in an economic recession.

These jobs don't exist and even as our economy begins turning upward as is being predicted, corporations are not going to hire the way they did.  Among new employment characteristics is also the negative job factor of outsourcing.

We are fortunate that most families with unemployed members do not have only one breadwinner as in the past, this present situation having cushioned our general economic fall and present existence..

But the idea of “jobs, jobs, jobs” for the immediate future is a mere misconception.  Where are these jobs to be found and what is the process that is developing in our future economy that suggests that the future is going to be like the past with plenty of new jobs?

The amount of money in circulation determines the number of various jobs required to service the demand.

Where is the increased money in circulation coming from?  “What comes first the chicken of the egg?” Or is all of the money going to trickle down with the rain?  But have you ever immagined  money come down with rain,  unless you are a farmer of course?  

.

Shorewood should definitely separate its run off water from our joint sewer system.   This is the only basis for a solution to our backups as I see it at the present time.

Another immediate bypass of run off water would be to develop underground water retention systems for run off water in the space occupied by our boulevard areas and areas along the park areas, on Wilson Drive for example.  

We could do this in conjunction with Whitefish Bay.  Forget about building on Wilson Drive. The expanded tax base doesn't seem to solve our basement backup problems.

Over a medium time span, we should work with UWM in developing a self-contained sewer system that would be installed in Shorewood.  One concept would allow thermophilic bacteria to consume the organic waste in our sewers and they would then return the favor by giving us clean water at temperatures that would permit us to provide heat for institutional buildings.  The system would also produce methane gas. 

 We should work toward obtaining patents on what we develop jointly so as to increase the possibilities of producing revenues for both UWM and for Shorewood.  What do readers say? Give us your opinions.

Does the hundred- year principle that this kind of flood occurs only once every hundred years make those citizens of Shorewood happy today that this happens only once every 100 years. What's going to happen tomorrow, another 100-year flood?

Are we the unlucky one-hundred year winners. How come this one-hundred year event has happened three times over the past 25 years—the hundred-year flood three times in 25 years. So its been  happening more often than once every hundred years lately. So much for that principle.

These heavy rains are "an act of God."  Of course, everything is an act of God. How else could it be explained? We drain the rain water from our roofs fairly successfully even though that rain is an act of God. We build up dams holding back rivers, even though that water flow is an act of God.

We've learned to act with God in many ways on this earth and fairly successfully. Has this cooperation with God broken down when it comes to Shorewood's and the Metropolitan Sewer District's diplomatic relationships?

Engineers seem to know how to cooperate with God. Maybe our elected officials rather not act with God. Let's get some engineers who are on the good side of God to design us a workable sewer and drainage system. I don't want to blame God for our outmoded dysfunctional sewers.

(Our sewers are linked to ancient ways of thinking. I want to get away from sewers for today.)

I'd like to talk about another outmoded way of thinking--”jobs, jobs, jobs.”

We're never again going to have large industries and corporations that are going to be the great sources of jobs.  Jobs cost these profit-making agencies a lot of money. And they want to avoid as many of them as possible.

Where they need people to work, they prefer immigrants who will work for less than those seeking jobs. Robots and other systems replace “jobs” and cost less than workers in the long run.

If these processes cannot be implemented then we outsource to countries where work is for less.

So the concept of “jobs, jobs, jobs” is an outmoded concept.

Many if not most of the millions of unemployed will have to make their own jobs if they can.

They will have to become like individual craftsmen or service people offering some form of individual service. They will have to create “their own space” similar to the way the family farmer operates.

Many immigrants who came here a century ago had to create their own jobs. In the cities they sold fish, vegetables and fruit from carts. Today, even here in Milwaukee these have graduated into large family held food distributing firms.

Some gathered junk and rags. Some became carpenters and barbers and later with the increase in car ownership became car mechanics. Some became cab drivers.

Lawyers, doctors and dentists, accountants and real estate agencies operate pretty much “in their own space,” “on their own”.

As industries and corporations are not going to be the providers of jobs that they once were, we cannot expect to take that route to provide for the many jobs required for people to make a living in this country.

The unemployed are going to require training in how to become individual entrepreneurs, in how to do it “on their own” and how to find “their own space.”

Even aiding small businesses in becoming bigger businesses is not going to be enough. We are going to develop ways of helping individuals to make it “on their own” and there are plenty of existing models and new ones coming up. The next decade or two will be that of the “individual entrepreneur.”

There's no question that Shorewood's sewers should be upgraded immediately so that they do not spill raw sewage into residents' basements, turning those basements into sewage holding tanks for sewage that is going to be sent into the lake anyway.

And what about the mess that follows and the required repairs? What is sanitary about our sanitary sewer system?

We don't want to be known for our raw sewage backups. What about the invention of an innovative sewer system that with the help of the appropriate bacteria would rid us of the waste, produce methane gas and hot water to be used for heating and in the end supply clarified water to be returned to the system or to the lake.

Perhaps that's too much to expect. But it seems that a community like ours, can make us safe from sewage backup. Let's get with it and let's do it now. We know the old excuses. Please, no new excuses.

Between the backup events and the next Board meeting, over a month's time, the Board should be able to present us with several alternatives.

Several years ago, I suggested some alternatives. Were they considered? Were others considered? Why not? There's been several years to consider those and even many more years before that. ..

Some one needs to run for office on the issue of upgrading our outmoded sewer system and to eliminate the backups of sewage in our neighbors' basements.