Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States, recently designated the Village of Greendale a Preserve America Community. The designation recognizes the Village of Greendale’s efforts regarding historic preservation initiatives. The Village received a letter and will receive a certificate of designation signed by Mrs. Obama announcing that the Village of Greendale is now a Preserve America Community. The Greendale Historical Society prepared the application for Greendale to be considered as a Preserve America Community.

Communities designated through the program have received the national recognition for their accomplishments in preserving special places and telling our nation's story. Communities are selected based on their protection and celebration of heritage, use of historic assets for economic development and encouragement to involve citizens in the preserved story. Over 840 communities throughout the nation have received the designation, with 20 in Wisconsin.

Benefits include the use of the Preserve America logo on educational and promotional materials; unique signage referencing the designation; and other support.

Preserve America is a federal program that encourages and supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy our priceless cultural and natural heritage. Goals of the program include a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthened regional identities and local pride, increased local participation in preserving our heritage assets and support for the economic vitality of our communities. Since the program's inception in 2003, the First Lady of the United States has been involved in supporting and promoting Preserve America.

The Greendale Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County will once again conduct their annual Greendale Candidate Forum to educate voters on the upcoming local Greendale elections. The Candidate Forum will be held on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Courtroom of the Greendale Safety Center (5911 West Grange). The Forum will be for the Greendale School Board (2 candidates for 1 seat). All of the candidates have been invited and are expected to participate. The candidates are listed below.

School Board

• Amy Ali
• Jim Schutte

The date of the election is Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

The Candidate Forum is an open format to allow the candidates to answer questions posed by the audience and non-biased questions through a moderator. Each question will be directed to all candidates. All moderation, timing and sorting of questions will be done by the League of Women Voters to ensure impartiality to the proceeding.

The Chamber of Commerce will once again organize and host this event. The public is welcome to attend and the local media will also be invited. Residents can enjoy this event and an opportunity to personally meet and discuss concerns with the candidates following the Forum.

The purpose of the Forum is to introduce and educate Chamber members and the citizens of Greendale to the issues facing their community. As an organization, the Greendale Chamber of Commerce will remain non-partisan and will not endorse any of the candidates.

Persons requiring additional information may contact Todd K. Michaels at (414) 423-2100.

The Village of Greendale has declared a Snow Emergency effective on Tuesday, February 1 at 4 p.m. and is in enforce until further notice. Below you will find the Village’s Ordinance covering Snow Emergencies.

7.04. Snow emergencies.

(1) Declaration of emergency. No motor vehicle shall be parked and no commercial or industrial vehicle loaded or unloaded on any public street, alley or highway in the Village during such period in which the Village Manager or, in his absence, the Director of Public Works shall declare that a snow emergency exists. The Village Manager or, in his absence, the Director of Public Works may declare a snow emergency at any time within a twenty-four-hour period that there is three inches or more of snowfall. The duration of the snow emergency shall be for such period of time as the Department of Public Works shall require to plow the public streets, alleys and highways of the Village and make them conveniently passable for vehicular traffic.

(2) Removal of illegally parked vehicles. The Village Manager, Director of Public Works, Chief of Police, officers of the Police Department or other duly authorized officers or employees of the Village shall either cause the Village to remove illegally parked, wrecked or disabled vehicles or shall call the Village towing contractor for the removal of such vehicles. Removal of such vehicles shall be at the expense of the owner.

(3) The public interest requires that there be available to the Village and all departments thereof the services of a qualified and responsible towing contractor on a twenty-four-hour-a-day basis to remove parked, wrecked or disabled vehicles from the public streets so that the following may be accomplished:

(a) Streets may be plowed and kept open for vehicular traffic during snow emergencies.

(b) Danger to the public shall be eliminated as quickly as possible.

(c) Impediments to traffic shall be removed and normal traffic flow restored as soon as possible.

(d) Parked, wrecked or disabled vehicles shall be placed where they are safe and secure until the owner can determine further disposition thereof.

(e) The Village shall have a lien against all illegally parked, wrecked or disabled motor vehicles for the expense of storing and removing the same from the Village thoroughfares.

(f) Whenever any motor vehicle has been towed away and has not been redeemed by the owner for a period of 30 days from the day of towing, it shall be deemed an abandoned vehicle and disposed of as provided by applicable law.

(4) Abandoned vehicles. The contractor shall notify the Village Manager of all cars which have remained unclaimed in his custody for a period of 30 days, including make, model, year and date of possession. Upon verification by the Chief of Police, the Village Manager shall make provision for disposal of the same.