1.) COVID-19 Pandemic Response: 2020 will be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 16, 2020, the Village declared a Public Health Emergency as a result of COVID-19. Immediately, the Village pivoted staff and services to limit potential outbreaks while continuing to provide outstanding service. Some of these changes included splitting DPW into teams, meeting virtually through video conferencing, and encouraging absentee voting to limit COVID-19 exposure to residents, staff, and poll workers. During the early months of the outbreak, Village Staff prepared a weekly dashboard to provide updates to residents when accurate information was difficult to find. In addition, the Village passed a mask mandate on July 23, 2020, to slow the continued spread of the virus in the community. Furthermore, the North Shore Health Department (NSHD), led by Director Ann Christiansen, undertook the enormous task of providing support and advice to North Shore municipalities, businesses, and residents. The NSHD continues to handle countless hours of contract tracing and provides daily informational public briefings. Finally, Whitefish Bay residents also rose to the challenge as well, by donating over 200 N95 masks to our First Responders when supply was limited.

2.) Whitefish Bay Fire Station 84 Remodel: With the support of Whitefish Bay and the other North Shore municipalities, North Shore Fire Rescue completed a $941,000 capital renovation project on Station 84 in Whitefish Bay. These renovations helped to bring much needed improvements and code compliance to the “home away from home” for our firefighter/EMTs and Paramedics. These improvements also ensure our members have the facilities necessary to complete continuing education, remain physically fit for duty, and become accessible by all members of the public regardless of disability.

4.) Infrastructure: The Department of Public Works (DPW) is an integral and visible part of Village operations. DPW focused on a wide variety of projects throughout the Village. In 2020, the Santa Monica repaving project was one of the department’s highlights. The project provided a cost effective solution to resurface approximately 1.5 miles of deteriorating roadway. In addition, the Lake Drive Safety Improvement Project was completed with 90% federal funding. This project installed crosswalks and rapid flashing pedestrian beacons in multiple locations on Lake Drive. 2020 was also the pilot year for the Foundation Drain Disconnect Program which will test the effectiveness of Village/MMSD grant funding for residents to install sump pumps with a goal to remove clear water from the sanitary sewer system. Several ongoing DPW projects include working with FEMA to secure a grant to mitigate and restore Klode Park Beach and the installation of an Ice Rink at Cahill Park in partnership with the Milwaukee Winter Club. 2020 also included an alley reconstruction project, the replacement of approximately 13,000 square feet of sidewalk, and the full reconstruction of a portion of Lydell Avenue in partnership with the City of Glendale. Check out several photo highlights below:

5.) Historic Flooding of 2010 – A 2020 Look Back After a Decade of Improvements: In 2010, Southeastern Wisconsin experienced two substantial rain events within a one week period. On July 15 the Village of Whitefish Bay received six inches of rainfall in a 12-hour period, which resulted in costly basement sewer backups for residents. Seven days later, as residents were still cleaning up from the July 15 storm, an unprecedented 7.5 inches of rain fell in a four-hour period. Again, this resulted in basement sewer backups throughout the Village as well as substantial street flooding in many areas. The Village had been in the process of performing utility improvements to increase the flow capacity of both the public storm and sanitary sewer systems but these large rain events pushed the systems beyond their capacity.

Following these extraordinary rain events, the Village conducted engineering studies to identify capital utility projects that would offer solutions to minimize future basement sewer backups and flooding. Geographic areas with recorded high clearwater inflow and infiltration into the sanitary sewer system were identified as target areas to address future improvements. Areas that experienced surface flooding were targeted as well.

Over the past 10 years, the Village has implemented capital utility improvement projects to reduce basement sewer backups and flooding. These included the Cahill Park Stormwater Detention Project, the New Milwaukee River Storm Sewer Outfall Installation Project through Estabrook Park, Private Sanitary Sewer Lateral Clearwater Inflow and Infiltration Reduction Program, Residential Downspout Disconnection Program, and numerous Storm Sewer and Roadway Reconstruction Projects. To help fund this extensive work, the Village secured an 87.5% federally funded Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A full list if these projects can be found here: https://conta.cc/3hnaCFj

A friendly reminder from the Whitefish Bay Police Department that overnight permission or permits are not needed for the following dates:

Alternate side parking is still required. Vehicles should park on the even-numbered side of the street with an even calendar date before midnight, and on the odd-numbered side of the street on those nights with an odd calendar date before midnight (unless an exemption applies). Vehicles must be moved once every 24 hours.

While the overnight parking restrictions are lifted, please remember that you are still required to adhere to all other relevant signage that pertains to parking (no parking areas, loading zones, fire lanes, etc.). For dates without lifted parking restrictions, overnight parking permission can be obtained online.

More information on spring elections can be found on the District website.

Incoming 2021-2022 4K Virtual Visit: January 7th and 8th: Whitefish Bay Resident families of students who turn four on or before September 1, 2021 are invited to a Virtual 4K Overview at Cumberland or Richards Elementary Schools. This event will be hosted through Zoom by the Elementary School Principals and include a welcome from the 4K teachers, a short story from the Library Media Specialists, and time for questions and answers. Click here for more information and to sign up for the event.

Please find important information below about how to pay your property taxes, where your property taxes go, and what services they pay for. This year, we strongly encourage you to use the 24-Hour Drop Box or to pay online via e-check ($1.50 flat fee). Please note that Associated Bank will not be collecting taxes this year.

- Jaimie Krueger, Whitefish Bay Finance Director

Due date is January 31, 2021. Residents have the option to pay property taxes and other charges as indicated on your tax bill in installments. Installment due dates are as follows:

Please note – if any installment payment is missed, the installment option is no longer available and the entire balance becomes due in full.

Click here to make an appointment to pickup. Click here to read about items available for pickup and view a list of our online resources.

Book Bundles: We're thrilled to officially launch our newest project: Book Bundles for kids and teens! We know that browsing is an important way to find books, especially for our youngest library patrons, so we're hoping this can recreate that feeling of discovery and delight.

How does it work? Click on the form, tell us a few favorite topics or genres, include any extra information that might be helpful, and we'll get to work! These items will be placed on hold for you, and you can easily schedule a pick-up time that works for you: https://bit.ly/37mFdR2

The safest way to celebrate winter holidays is to celebrate at home with the people you live with. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others, as traveling and/or gathering with others increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 or the flu.

Ways we can all make winter holidays safer:

If you plan to host or attend a gathering, there are things you can do to reduce the risk of transmission.

Alternative holiday celebrations:

More information is available on the CDC website: Winter Holidays | CDC

For the most recent updates on COVID-19 in the North Shore, visit our website. We also encourage you to frequently monitor the DHS website and CDC website.

North Shore Health Department COVID-19 Dashboard (12/18/20):