Are YOU Concerned about PROTECTING Our Precious Natural Resources and PRESERVING Our Exceptional “Quality of Life” in Washington County?

April 11, 2008

Dear Friends & Neighbors:
 
    If you answered "YES" to this important question (in the subject line above), then please join us on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 9:00 AM in Room 1019 of the Washington County Courthouse (432 East Washington Street in West Bend, WI) where the Washington County Board of Supervisors will be considering and voting on the county's 2035 Multi-Jurisdictional Comprehensive Plan (also known as the "Smart Growth" Plan).  A PDF copy of the meeting agenda is attached here.
 
    Consistent with the HIGHWAY J CITIZENS GROUP, U.A.'s (HJCG) goals of environmental protection and community preservation, we are asking the Washington County Board of Supervisors to make several crucial amendments to the "Smart Growth" Plan when it is considered on Tuesday, April 15th.  These amendments include strong opposition to several Washington County road expansion projects such as:
 
1) Highway 164 four-lane expansion throughout the entire county (as well as in the neighboring Waukesha County everywhere north of Sussex),
 
2) Both the "southern" and "northern" reliever routes through the mostly rural areas of the Village of Richfield and Towns of Polk, Erin, Hartford, Addison and Rubicon,
 
3) Lannon Road (Highway Y) four-lane expansion in the Village of Germantown, and 
 
4) Highways NN, Z and Kettle View Drive connections and extensions through the Towns of West Bend, Barton and Kewaskum.
 
    Also, we are asking the Washington County Board of Supervisors to amend the county's main land use map (Map IX-5) to properly show and fully-document the two leaking landfills in the Ackerville area (Town of Polk).  Currently, these two landfills are improperly classified — one as an "Industrial Park" and the other as a "Rural Residential Building Site."  We strongly believe that the people who either currently live or will live in this area have a right to know about both the existence of these two dangerous landfills as well as the worsening groundwater contamination problems (mostly arsenic and trichloroethylene) now being caused by their continued leakage.
 
    To fully-inform the people about these very important community issues as well as the upcoming Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting (on Tuesday, April 15th), the HJCG has placed full-page advertisements in several Washington County newspapers this week (West Bend Daily News, Hartford Times-Press and others).  For your convenience, I have attached a PDF copy of our newspaper advertisement to this e-mail. 
 
    In that advertisement, we are asking area residents who care deeply about these key issues to do three things:  1) Call their county supervisor and ask that he or she support the above described amendments to the "Smart Growth" Plan, 2) Attend the Tuesday, April 15th county board meeting, and 3) Donate to the HJCG so we can continue our grassroots efforts to protect our precious natural resources and preserve our local communities.  Please review our attached advertisement and then join these many concerned residents in supporting our efforts here.
 
    Also, in this week's West Bend Daily News and Hartford Times-Press, State Representative Don Pridemore reaffirmed his strong opposition to the WisDOT's four-lane expansion of Highway 164.  In his letters published in those two local newspapers, Rep. Pridemore stated, "I still do not support expanding Highway 164 to four-lanes, and will do what I can to prevent such expansion."  In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to working very closely with Rep. Pridemore to achieve this important goal.  (For more details on this subject, please see Rep. Pridemore's letter — copy attached here — as it was published in the April 10, 2008 Hartford Times-Press.)
 
    Let's "make our voices heard" on this "Smart Growth" Plan which, if amended, will yield many long-lasting, positive benefits for the residents of Washington County.  YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  Please join us on Tuesday, April 15th at 9:00 AM in West Bend for the Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting.  Thank you for your concern and support!
 
Most sincerely,
 
Jeff Gonyo,
HIGHWAY J CITIZENS GROUP, U.A.
P.O. Box 152, Hubertus, WI  53033
Phone: (262)-644-8334
 
Attachments:
 
 
 
 
 

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