Village of Germantown, WI – There are four races for Trustee in the Village of Germantown on the April 6, 2021 ballot; two of the races are contested.
Candidates that participated in the Common Sense Citizens of Washington County voter forum included Village Trustee District 2 candidate Bill Neureuther
and Village Trustee District 4 candidate: Jan Miller.
Candidates were questioned about two new facilities constructed and managed by the Village for public rental and then the Village voting to deny permits for a local business to expand its facilities for the same purpose.
There was a question about Richfield’s request for water and sewer access, vision for transition from industrial land to residential development northeast of the Holy Hill corridor and whether there is enough housing in Germantown to support the workforce for all the new industrial development.
Candidate District 2 Village Trustee
Bill Neureuther
“I’d like to start out by just saying a thank you to the Common Sense citizens of Washington County for holding this forum and giving voters the opportunity, also to give the candidates the opportunity.”
“My wife Sandy and I live in Germantown, recently moved there. My employment background includes 31 years as a credit manager for Briggs & Stratton in Milwaukee. I also ran my own credit collection business for a short time and I am currently a business manager for a parish in West Bend. My wife, Sandra, is a teacher at St. Boniface in Germantown. I have two adult children, Therese and Ben, who both went to Germantown High School. And I am proud to say I have four grandchildren ages 2, 4, 7 and 8.
“I have an accounting degree from Spencerian College/Concordia College. I’m proud of that and I did that after high school. I have 20 years of local government experience. I was on the board for them in the Town of Richfield; they are now the Village so I have experience in preparing budgets, serving on the planning commission, working on land use planning, those types of things.”
“If elected trustee for Germantown, I would certainly work to keep taxes low unless an emergency occurs. I don’t see reasons to raise taxes. I strongly support the planning that they’re doing for the 2015 comprehensive plan. And I support local businesses as well as certainly supporting my police and firefighters to make sure they have the proper people-power and equipment. And I certainly compliment the village on the economic development that they are doing.”
Candidate District 4 Village Trustee
Jan Miller
“Thank you for inviting me to this forum. I appreciate it and it’s a great opportunity for me. My name is Jan Miller; I am running for Village Trustee District 4.”
“I grew up in the metro Milwaukee area and I’ve been a resident of Germantown in District 4 for 26 years. I moved to Germantown in 1994 because I was drawn by open spaces, high quality schools, low taxes and rural heritage, many qualities that make Germantown a great place to live. As your trustee, I am committed to ensuring that Germantown remains a great place.”
“After 44 years as a sales professional in the food industry, I decided to retire last summer. I concluded that I needed to spend time on the most important things in my life. My activities now consist of spending time with my family, friends and giving back to the community that I cherish. I continue my 27 year history of volunteering. I also volunteer at Riveredge Nature Center and local events. For the last two years I’ve been an active citizen/participant at village board meetings. Furthermore, I’ve also spoken on important community issues in front of the Planning Commission, Park & Recreation and the 2050 growth plan committees. These are some of the reasons why four Germantown village board trustees have endorsed me, including Art Zabel.”
“I believe my various community involvements make me the most qualified candidate on the ballot for district 4.”
Q: How do you feel the village is doing with road maintenance? Is there room for improvement and if so, how do you fund it?
BN: “Well, since I’m not on the board, I’m not totally aware of the money that is spent for road maintenance. I have to say in the short time I’ve been in the village and even before that, I’ve certainly seen roads in pretty good repair. I do know that it is very expensive when my own road costs are extremely expensive and I would gather that the village also probably rates their roads and their highway department knows which ones need to be repaired or resurfaced I should say. But again, without being on the board and knowing what that is, I’ve not seen anything for this year getting processed or anything like that. All I can comment and say right now is that I think there is certainty in knowing how Germantown does things; they’re trying to keep up with it but it’s not easy in today’s economic times.”
JM: “I have been to a couple of meetings at the Germantown Village Board where they did mention roads in Germantown. I do know there is a fund and there is a 5-year plan and there’s an evaluation of all the roads that need help, replacement and repavement. So I know that we are fully aware of the situation and that we will take care of those roads as needed and in order of importance so the roads that are worst will go first. And as I’ve been on my campaign trail, I know that some of our residents in the village want me to improve our roads and I do believe that maintaining good roads is part of our village priority.”
Q: Recently the village made for two facilities to be built and managed by the village for public rental events. At the same time, the village denied permits of local businesses to expand business for the same purpose. This could be seen as a conflict of interest. What are your thoughts?
JM: “Thank you for that question. I was in the village board meeting and I watched the two facilities being built in Germantown. One is at Fireman’s Park and the other one is at Dyne Mill. They are shelters, they are more open shelters and they will be rented and they will be for festivals. The other permit that was up at the village board meeting for one of the properties along 145 was not handed out and the neighbors had difficulty with the noise level. And that was the main issue so I think that we have to listen to our constituents and help them resolve their problems. That being said, maybe there is more that we could do but it has not come up yet.”
BN: “I did a lot of watching of the meetings on cable and I noticed that I believe they talk about afterwards and that is far different from shelters at Dyne Mill or at Fireman’s Park. And I think from what I could hear and see and listen to is part of the problem is when you have an existing business with residential areas around it you struggle and I think there was a lot of struggling as far as a traditional use permit and some of the requirements on there and the noise and measuring noise decibels and whatever seemed to be something that was rather difficult. I think the board did a good job in that they listened to the residents that came in and I give President Walter credit. He lets everybody talk and express themselves. There were a lot of comments that were made. As I sat and listened to that I kept thinking to myself the length of time that it was going. And it took several hours the one night. This leads me to believe that it’s time to either stop it, put it back to the planning commission, rework it or whatever. That’s a difficult thing to decide and it’s an existing business that’s been there. But again, when you are within a residential district, it’s very hard to come up with the right use.”
Q: Is there room for compromise in regard to Richfield’s request for water and sewer access?
BN: “As you know, I lived in Richfield, just moved from Richfield, so is there room for compromise on that. I look at it’s a difficult issue and I know Richfield is trying to expand that area on their eastern boundary and I believe they were asking for sewer extension from the Village of Germantown. As far as compromise, I was not in on any of those discussions so I don’t know what was talked about or whatever. I will say this, that I think when we look at development we have to do what’s best for Washington County. And I’ve learned a lot from our county executive that our development in our community is also going to benefit those around us and that’s how we have to look at this situation. I think for now the talks ended; there will be a vote taken (if I remember right) in November or December and I don’t know where Richfield’s at with it anymore. I don’t know who is going to pursue it any further. I think we have to look at it from an issue that how it benefits Washington County and if it does, than can we make it work. Can we make something like this work.”
JM: “I did attend one of the village board meetings regarding one of the Richfield representatives again and asking about having the water/sewer connection from Germantown. That was another long meeting. I believe that because the Germantown Village Board had people from Richfield, Washington County as well, talking about the water and sewer going from Germantown to Richfield, I think that there should be room for compromise and I’m not in a position to be voting. I don’t know if it is still an issue at this time but I think that we should take a look at it seriously. We are neighbors. I am sure since Richfield is so close there would be obviously other areas where Germantown would benefit by adding another commercial industry close by insuring services close by whether it be trucking, or food or whatever. I hope there would be compromise.”
Q: What is your vision for the transition from the industrial land to residential development of the area northeast of the Holy Hill corridor?
JM: “My vision, this has been an area where the village board has been trying to do, is make that corridor a transition piece so what does it consist of. Does it consist of residential, multi family, parks, whatever. So what we do have in place, I think that it should be a shared vision not only for the residents of Germantown but also the village board. Right now we have a 20/50-growth plan opportunity to voice your opinion on what type of growth that you want in the village and this is one of the areas that we are going to concentrate on so this is a virtual meeting. It’s going to be held on March 22, 2021 and it’s an all virtual, on–line tool where residents can use icons in the program to actually move businesses, restaurants, parks and trails. This particular application we will be able to get some feedback from our residents. And I think we should be a transition that includes some sort of park open space for trails.”
BN: “The northeast portion of Germantown and from what I could see in reading a little bit on the comprehensive plan (I hope I’ve got this right) I thought they were talking about 1 unit for 20 acres and a subdivision that would have to be 1 unit for 5 acres. Although if they would put any land near open space it would reduce the size of the acreage. I think that’s one of the things that really stands out for Germantown is that area being as open as it is. And it’s certainly the development of that is the key. I know it’s kind of a large farm there, etc. And I’m sure you’ve heard from those farms as well in the course of time but to keep it as open as possible and certainly you can always use additional parks is something that, I think, is instrumental but I think that’s the character and draws a lot of people to Germantown as there is a good mix of development. And this is certainly an area where let’s not mess it up. Let’s look at it right now and this is a chance to plan it right now and all should have a strong say in it.”
Q: Is there enough housing in Germantown to support the work force for all the new industrial development? If not, how would you address this?
BN: “Again, I don’t know that I have an answer to that question. I can’t say there is or there isn’t. Certainly, I have not heard that there is a huge shortage. It would be interesting to me to know of all the businesses that are in the, especially in the industrial park and even outside, how many of those are currently residents of Germantown. And you know, how many are not. And also you know, if we don’t have the actual housing and I don’t know if sometimes we don’t have enough housing from them, but it’s trying to add the housing that they need and they desire. So whether it goes from residential homes to condominiums to apartments; you know, what is the right mix. And I think that’s something we monitor with a planning partner, whichever company will tell you and inform you what is the right mix we need. And I think you also need to hear probably from the businesses that are here and from this community is do they hear is there a shortage from the people that work here. Would more people stay here in Germantown than live here, if we had more or certain types of housing. So without signaling out any facts or numbers, I can’t say we are short or we have too many. But I think it’s something that we need to work with our planning department and make sure that they are informing us and with this 2050 comprehensive plan, this is something that should be included.”
JM: “The housing in Germantown, I’m not sure if there is a shortage or not. I have not heard of it. This is something that has to be evaluated with a survey. I have seen the planning commission working hard on the 2050 plan and an opportunity for the current residents of Germantown to voice their opinion about where they want to live, etc. But as far as shortages and new industrial areas, I’m not sure if the shortage means that there is a shortage of a certain income level for a housing unit or if there are just too many workers to begin. So I think that needs to be evaluated and I think we need resident input as well. We are always looking for resident input. The 2050 plan is going to be an excellent opportunity and it is again occurring next Monday, the 22nd.”
Closing Statement District 2
Bill Neureuther
“In my introduction, I told you a little bit about who I am but as far as what would you get if you elected Bill Neureuther as a trustee of Germantown. You would get somebody that probably has a lot of experience: 20 years in Richfield. While we’re not the size of Germantown, we’ve had a lot of experiences that were comparable. You will also find somebody that is very conservative in spending. I’m conservative in my own spending, my family’s spending and I’ll be very conservative with taxpayers’ money as well. A lot of people in their elections they all say they are conservative; my director going back to Richfield said I was very conservative and always will be that way. I also want to make sure that our businesses in Germantown are supported and we probably need to work with the chamber and find out what their needs are and see if we can help businesses in these struggling times.”
Closing Statement District 4
Jan Miller
“My name is Jan Miller and I am the best choice for Village of Germantown Village Trustee in District 4. I am committed to making Germantown a great community and preserving the quality of life that Germantown residents have come to enjoy and expect. I would be honored to have your vote on April 6. Thank you so very much.”
Village of Germantown:
Village Trustee District 1 (vote for one)
Terri Kaminski
Village Trustee District 2 (vote for one)
Kevin Schodron
Bill Neureuther
Village Trustee District 3 (vote for one)
Dennis Myers
Village Trustee District 4 (vote for one)
Wyatt O Wiehr
Jan Miller
Click HERE to see races on your ballot on April 6, 2021.
