The Milwaukee Post

6 • Milwaukee County Post • April 28, 2017 By DAVE FIDLIN Special to the Post MILWAUKEE — Enhancing riverfront water access, restoring wet- lands and, yes, maintaining industrial buildings are in the mix of the Milwaukee Harbor District's just- unveiled plans for the city's near South Side. A renewed effort between Milwaukee munic- ipal officials and a number of civic and nonprofit organizations has sparked a broad-brushed planning effort aimed at bringing new development to under- used land in the city's har- bor area, which is roughly bound by South First Street, the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers and the lake's coastline. This week, representa- tives of Harbor District Inc., the nonprofit group overseeing the conceptual planning, unveiled a series of preliminary land use recommendations at a pair of informational meetings. The land use recommen- dations are the outgrowth of feedback gleaned from a series of feedback meetings six months ago and a subse- quent survey. Lilith Fowler, executive director of the Harbor District Inc., said there were several recurring themes that surfaced in last fall's information-gather- ing efforts. "People are looking for more recreational space," Fowler said during an open house question-and-answer session Tuesday at the Independence First facility on South First Street, not far from the core area under scrutiny. Enhancing access to the waterways within the Harbor District is outlined in the plan. One specific project, Take Me to the River, calls for a new public plaza space at the end of Greenfield Avenue. A boat launch could also be part of this specific project. Harbor District Inc. held a design competition last fall. The winning entry was showcased at this week's information meeting. Dan Adams, planning director at Harbor District Inc., said Take Me to the River has fueled interest in an area that has long been under the radar. "The goal is to start rais- ing funds for this next year," Adams said. While some of Harbor District Inc.'s conceptual plans for the site are a com- plete overhaul from the current use, the organiza- tion's recommendations do include the region's vast history as a significant manufacturing hub. The plan calls for a mix of commercial uses near the lower Kinnickinnic River, including a variety of light industrial businesses in an area where the for- mer Horny Goat Hideaway and an operating restau- rant wholesale building are located. Housing also is included in the document, and that specific component is already coming to fruition. The four-story, 76-unit Freshwater Plaza apart- ment complex opened in November near South 1st Street and East Greenfield Avenue. Additionally, Harbor District Inc.'s proposal calls on a wetland restora- tion project near a grain elevator business at 960 E. Bay St. Several concerns about this pinpointed area have been raised, including poor soil conditions. Harbor District Inc.'s public presentations are part of an ongoing effort to refine the group's recom- mendations. Nearby resi- dents and other persons are invited to take an online survey, available at w w w. h a r b o rd i s t r i c t . o r g , and offer feedback on the latest sets of plans. "We're going to continue refining and revising the plan," Fowler said. For now, all of the rec- ommendations are concep- tual. In an effort to give them more teeth, Fowler said Harbor District Inc. plans to bring them before the Common Council this fall as a guiding document for future land use decisions and policy issues specific to the area. Even if local govern- ment does back the plans, however, Fowler is quick to point out they could take years to implement because much of the land is private- ly owned. "But we're trying to do whatever we can to get the ball rolling," she said. "Piece by piece, this can start to come together." BUSINESS Manpower Group reports solid first quarter MILWAUKEE — ManpowerGroup Inc. reported a solid showing in its first fiscal quarter of the year. The workforce solutions and staffing firm reported net income of $74.4 million ($1.09 per diluted share), an increase of over $3 million from the first quarter last year. But $24 million in restructuring charges within the company reduced earnings per share by 30 cents, and the stronger U.S. dol- lar added on 3 cents per share, though that decline was offset by the lower income tax rate. "The strong first quarter results are very encouraging, and build on the progress we made last year," Jonas Prising, chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup, said. "We are seeing further broad-based improvement in Europe, setting the stage for what we believe could be a slow but sus- tained labor market recovery in that region." Manpower's operating profit was $127 million in the first quarter, a decline of 3.6 percent from the same quarter last year. Total revenue in the quarter was $4.8 bil- lion, a rise of 3.7 percent from last year's same quarter. Harley-Davidson reports declines in first quarter MILWAUKEE — Sharp declines in sales in the year's first quarter were the story for Harley-Davidson Inc., the company report- ed last week. The motorcycle manufacturer reported declines in revenue and profit in the first quarter. The $186.4 million it reported in net income is down over 25 percent from the same quarter in 2016 ($250.5 million). Reported revenue in the first quarter was $1.5 billion, which was also down com- pared with the first quarter last year when it reported $1.75 billion in revenue. Harley Chief Financial Officer John Olin said in a news release that the compa- ny has tried to manage demands and think toward the future, which includes offering its dealers incentives to sell its stock of left- over motorcycles while limiting its 2017 supply of new-model motorcycles. "It shows our resolve to make sure that we are aggressively managing supply in line with demand," Olin said. Badger Meter reports record first-quarter earnings MILWAUKEE — Badger Meter on April 19 reported a record for its first quarter of the year. Its total net sales ($101.6 million), net earnings ($8.74 million) and diluted earn- ings per share ($0.30) were all records and a produced major increases from last year's numbers. Richard A. Meeusen, the chairman, president and CEO of Badger Meter, said that the growth in the company was partly due to technological advances in many of its products. "This was an excellent quarter for Badger Meter," Meeusen said. "Our net sales, net earnings and diluted earnings per share set new first quarter records, despite a challenging comparison against our record first quarter performance last year. "Sales of our E-Series Ultrasonic meters, Orion Cellular radios and Beacon Advanced Metering Analytics managed solution were all up over last year's strong first quarter. We are especially encouraged by the growing customer acceptance of our ultrasonic solid-state metering technology." Submitted rendering Plans for the Milwaukee Harbor District on the city's South Side have been unveiled by the nonprofit Harbor District Inc. Harbor District plan touches on waterfront, housing, other amenities An overflow of ideas for lakefront on near South Side

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