Author Archives: nbta53151

New Berlin residents will have another local full-service fitness center option starting this Spring (2022). Originally scheduled to open in late 2020/early 2021, the economic turmoil created by coronavirus policies delayed completion by over a year.

The 62,000 square foot, former Pick-n-Save building, at the corner of Sunnyslope Road and National Avenue was sold for $3.25 million in December 2019. Notable construction work began in the fall of 2021 with work on the parking lot and building exterior observable to motorists from the road.

VASA Fitness shared the following details with NBTA:

AMENITIES:
The New Berlin facility will include all of the standard amenities of other VASA Fitness clubs including a basketball court, pool, steam room, sauna, a recovery area with massage chairs and infrared beds, InBody scanner, group fitness, free weights, machines, performance lifting, functional turf, group fitness, STUDIO RED (HIIT) and STUDIO FLOW (infrared yoga) and more.

HOURS:
VASA will be open daily Monday through Saturday 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Senior Citizens:
VASA’s New Berlin location will participate in the Silver Sneakers program.

Membership Rates:
VASA memberships start at $9.99 per month for “Basic” which gets members access to the cardio deck, free weights, functional turf, and performance lifting area at one club. The next level costs $21.99 per month for the “Fitness” membership which gets members access to all VASA clubs plus unlimited group fitness classes, the pool/steam/sauna areas, the massage and recovery lounge, and basketball court. The third membership is called “Studio” and for $39.99 it includes everything from “Fitness” plus unlimited Studio classes like STUDIO RED and STUDIO FLOW, unlimited InBody scans, and includes the Burn & Earn Rewards program. More information about what is included with each membership level is available at https://vasafitness.com/join/.

If you have any questions post them in the comments and NBTA will reach out to our contact at VASA for additional information.

Want to be notified of upcoming announcements and information about New Berlin? Enter your email at the bottom of the home page to receive an email alert whenever a new item is posted: https://newberlintaxpayers.org/

Coming soon: Stay tuned to NBTA for candidate information in the upcoming spring school board election!

On April 23rd, 2021, The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance initiated a petition to repair the Moorland Road railroad crossing just south of Greenfield Avenue. (see initial story here: https://newberlintaxpayers.org/2021/04/23/example-post/ )

This crossing had fallen into disrepair for many years. Hundreds of complaints had been received by the City of New Berlin. Union Pacific Railroad is responsible to maintain the crossing. Calls to Union Pacific were ignored. The petition garnered hundreds of signatures within the first few hours and attracted the attention of Waukesha County Supervisor Ted Wysocki. Supervisor Wysocki began drafting a resolution ordering Union Pacific to repair the railroad crossing. NBTA provided additional assistance and maintained communication with Supervisor Wysocki throughout the process.

The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance is please to announce the State of Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Railroads (OCR) has ordered Union Pacific to repair the entire crossing by June 1st 2022. In the meantime a complete temporary repair of the northbound lanes has already been completed.
Timeline of Events:
–April 23, 2021: New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance initiates petition, hundreds sign petition within hours.
–April 24, 2021: Supervisor Wysocki becomes aware of petition and begins drafting resolution for Waukesha County Board of Supervisors.
–May 25, 2021: Waukesha County Board passes resolution requiring UP to repair crossing.
–June 25, 2021: Union Pacific served with resolution.
–September 9-13, 2021: Supervisor Wysocki requests, and NBTA provides petition from New Berlin residents.
–October 1-11, 2021: OCR accepts additional public comment on railroad crossing condition.
–October 12, 2021: OCR holds hearing, received petition and public comments collected. Ruling expected within a month.
–November 2, 2021: Temporary complete fix to northbound lanes completed.
–November 16, 2021: Public Service Commission publishes ruling requiring Union Pacific Railroad to complete repairs to entire crossing by June 1, 2022

The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance would like to thank all of the residents of New Berlin who took the time to sign the petition and/or submit public comment to the Railroad Commission. Over 500 residents contributed to this effort.

The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance would also like to thank Supervisor Wysocki who did all of the heaving lifting on this endeavor. The NBTA contacted Supervisor Wysocki who issued the following statement.

“Thanks to all those people who were willing to take the time to register comments in support of the need to fix the crossing. I firmly believe that without that support we would still be “begging” to get the RR to fix it. When we get together on common issues we can do a lot of good things for our community! Thanks again.” – Ted Wysocki

…Up next: Sunnyslope 😉

On Tuesday, December 21st, a lawsuit was filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court naming The New Berlin School District Superintendent Joe Garza as a defendant. The lawsuit, brought by a New Berlin Resident who’s daughter attends New Berlin West High School, alleges Garza violated Wisconsin Open Records Law – Wis. Stats. § 19.35(1) and § 19.37(1).

On November 29th, 2021, after years of hearing extreme dissatisfaction expressed from parents of student athletes, observing standout athletes leaving the New Berlin West High School Girls Basketball program in surprisingly large numbers, and being told of an overall dismissive response from NB West Athletic Director Jordan Napoli, a parent made an open records request of AD Napoli. The open records request sought electronic copies of the “end-of-season survey responses from parents/student athletes for the girls basketball program” for the previous 5 seasons.

The lawsuit alleges that Garza refused to provide the requested records unless the parent remitted payment of excessive fees ($140.00) not authorized under Wisconsin law. The complaint alleges Garza’s failure to abide by the provisions of Wisconsin’s Open Records Act was “willful, intentional, arbitrary and capricious” and seeks punitive damages as well as reasonable costs and attorney’s fees necessary to bring the legal action.

According to information from the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of Open Government: It is imperative that (governmental bodies) recognize that transparency is the cornerstone of democracy and that citizens cannot hold elected officials accountable in a representative government unless government is performed in the open…. ….Wisconsin’s open government laws promote democracy by ensuring that all state, regional and local governments conduct their business with transparency. Wisconsin citizens have a right to know how their government is spending their tax dollars and exercising the powers granted by the people.

The New Berlin Taxpayer Alliance will provide additional updates to this lawsuit and information gathered from the open records request as they become available.

The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance has been working with public officials to compel Union Pacific Railroad to repair the deteriorated and dangerous Moorland Road railroad crossing. (see prior articles regarding this effort at http://www.newberlintaxpayers.org)

The Wisconsin Railroad Commission will be holding a hearing to discuss the Moorland Road crossing. YOUR COMMENTS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED so the Wisconsin Railroad Commission is aware of how much public support there is for a repair to the crossing.

Share your comments with the Railroad Commission with the following comment form:

https://apps.ocr.wi.gov/APPS/OCRapps/publicComment/filecomment.aspx?docket1=9040&docket2=RX&docket3=1380

Public comments will be accepted until October 11, 2021

The Wisconsin Railroad Commission can compel Union Pacific to fix the crossing. This is your opportunity to urge them to do so.

Please share on social media!

On April 23rd the New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance began a petition to repair the railroad crossings at Moorland and Sunnyslope roads in New Berlin. See original post here:

https://newberlintaxpayers.org/2021/04/23/example-post/

This petition was posted to the Nextdoor.com website and shared in a number of other social media places and received a very large response.

County Board Supervisor Ted Wysocki took note of the interest/concern about the railroad crossings and introduced a resolution calling for Union Pacific to repair the Moorland Road Crossing. (See below)

The New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance will continue to provide updates as they become available.

We will also be continuing our push to get the Sunnyslope Road crossing repaired as well.

Please be welcome to subscribe your email to receive updates from the New Berlin Taxpayers Alliance any time a new article is posted. You can subscribe at the bottom of the home page. www.newberlintaxpayers.org

Petition to repair/replace Railroad Crossings at Moorland and Sunnyslope roads:

The railroad crossings at Moorland and Sunnyslope roads are in terrible disrepair. These crossings are not the responsibility of the City of New Berlin The Union Pacific Railroad is responsible for these crossings. The City of New Berlin has made multiple requests for the railroad to repair these crossings but the railroad considers them “low priority” because they are spur lines, not main rail lines. The rail line may be a spur, but Moorland road is the busiest road in New Berlin.

If Union Pacific Railroad does not repair the crossings they wouldn’t be addressed until Moorland road has its planned repairs in 2026. (Sunnyslope does not have planned repairs on the horizon) In addition to costly tire and suspension damage to vehicles these rough crossings present a safety hazard in inclement weather as they cause vehicles to lose traction and steering.

This petition will be presented to the Assembly Reps and Senators that represent New Berlin in Madison, asking them to activate state officials to compel Union Pacific to repair these crossings. Please sign this petition to support this effort and share with other New Berlin residents who want to have safe and well maintained roadways in our city.

Please consider signing and sharing the petition:

https://forms.gle/Y5XHhoCu3SHybA659