UPDATE (6/3/24)
After scheduling two listening sessions, and sending almost 3000 postcards out over the weekend, Riverworks MKE is now saying their proposed Riverwest NID, will no longer move forward.
This comes after their first listening session which was held on July 2.
Ruth Weill, who works with Riverworks MKE, confirmed this on the Riverwest Facebook page Tuesday night. According to the post, the group still hopes to create a neighborhood association.
There is another meeting on July 10 at Falcon Bowl to brainstorm what this neighborhood association could look like.
______________________________________________________________
Riverworks MKE hopes to form a Neighborhood Improvement district in the Riverwest neighborhood.
Riverworks MKE tells TMJ4 that the NID would bring community and economic development to the neighborhood by pooling money and establishing a board to oversee community projects.
“People have been talking about litter clean up, beautification projects renter resources, first-time homebuyer planning work," said Ruth Weill, who works with Riverworks MKE.
The funds for the NID would come from the people in the neighborhood. If established, property owners would have to pay $50 per year for each residential unit they own. They'd also have to pay $125 per year for each commercial unit they own. That tax would be capped at $500 per owner.
Riverworks project that this would bring in $335,125 each year, and $74,000 of that would go to administrative costs to run the NID.
But there's a split between folks in the neighborhood on if it's the right decision.
"I do not think we need a NID," said Hannah Medrow. She has lived in Riverwest for 40 years. "Sometimes they’re like political campaign promises. They sound great but without very many details we don’t know what we’re getting.”
Medrow tells TMJ4 she is concerned about the money homeowners have to pay each year to the NID, as well as whether renters will have the same amount of influence as homeowners.
Some neighbors are on the other side of the fence. Claudine Lienau has lived in the Riverwest neighborhood for over 30 years. She says she'd be excited about pooling resources to help neighborhood projects.
“We used to pass the hat when we had a neighborhood association and we’d get about 35 dollars a month," said Lienau.
She's confident her neighborhood can use the funds correctly.
“I know our neighborhood can be fiscally responsible with those kinds of funds," Lienau said. "We need those kinds of funds to be able to do a lot of those things that the neighbors really would like to see.”
Riverworks is having listening sessions on July 2 and July 10 at Falcon Bowl at 6 p.m.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
