Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee officials consider refunding snow removal fees after 'frustration' at December storm response

Published

1 year ago

January 6, 2025

Milwaukee officials consider refunding snow removal fees after 'frustration' at December storm response

Milwaukee alders are pushing the city to explore eliminating a city fee for snow removal after “widespread concerns” about snow removal failures during a recent snowstorm.

The fee paid by most Milwaukee residents has been in place for years, and the discussion by City Council members comes after resident complaints about how the city manages plowing.

“If we can’t handle four inches of snow now, what’s going to happen the rest of the winter?” Milwaukee Alder Peter Burgelis said.

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Milwaukee got around 4.5 inches of snow during a storm on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20. Burgelis said he believes many of the main roads in the city were properly plowed.

“But inside of neighborhoods, where people live, those streets, many were untreated altogether,” Burgelis said.

He said he heard similar complaints from other alders.

“It wasn’t just an isolated incident or isolated plowing or lack of plowing in a handful of neighborhoods in my district, but that was really seen citywide in all parts of Milwaukee,” he said.

A statement from Burgelis said residents reported “unsafe road conditions” throughout the city after the storm.

Milwaukee Alder Lamont Westmoreland also said he received numerous complaints from residents about the snow removal response from the Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

“Taxes can’t continue to go up, people can’t continue to shell out more dollars, and the services continue to be lackluster,” Westmoreland said.

A Milwaukee County plow clears a street in Wauwatosa. Morry Gash/AP Photo

The city’s snow and ice removal fee is $1.13 per foot of street frontage on a property. Residents are charged the fee annually, Burgelis said. If the city were to return that fee to residents, it would leave an $11.3 million gap in the city’s budget.

Burgelis did say the city likely doesn’t have the “capacity” to return all of that money to citizens.

“But if the city is charging for a service, there’s an expectation that residents get something for that fee,” he said.

On Wednesday, Milwaukee’s public works committee will discuss “evaluating mechanisms to provide a snowplow fee refund to some or all city residents,” Burgelis’ statement said. “It will also address potential improvements to ensure timely and effective leaf collection and snow removal in the future.”

Some of the problems of the December storm were exacerbated by late leaf pick-up.

Burgelis said the snow removal fee in Milwaukee began years ago when shared revenue from the state remained stagnant. However, the city now gets more money from the state due to Act 12, a bipartisan law that overhauled local government funding.

“And unfortunately, we’re still not getting the level of service that residents expect to get from DPW (Department of Public Works),” Burgelis said.

Burgelis said he was told only around half of the city’s 200 snow plows were used during the December storm. A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Department of Public Works said the commissioner was not available for an interview.

Prior press releases from the spokesperson said crews were out for hours following the storm.

“Crews are still out working to get the side streets cleaned up,” a Dec. 20 release said. “They are salting with brine and plowing curb to curb in the residential areas. We’re making sure our streets are in good shape as the temperatures drop tonight.”

But Westmoreland said the response wasn’t good enough. He said he heard similar concerns from residents last year after a snowstorm pounded the city in January 2023.

“And then here we are, almost a year later, and not one thing has changed,” Westmoreland said.

When asked about the refund on the snow plow fee, Westmoreland didn’t say he believed that idea was “realistic.”

“People don’t want a refund on snowplowing,” he said. “People want the job done right the first time.”

In an email, Jeff Fleming, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, said the mayor “thinks the Department of Public Works employees do very good work — often under remarkably tough conditions.”

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Weather – Frosty and cold morning, sunny day ahead

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels

Frosty Monday morning with temps in the teens inland to low 20s near the lake.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies on Monday. Highs in the mid-40s inland, upper 30s near the lake.
A total lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning, total eclipse from 5-6am. It may be tough to see due to increasing clouds.
Increasing clouds on Tuesday with highs in the low 40s. Chance of rain and storms possible Wednesday through Friday with warming temperatures.

Today: 39 Lake. Mostly sunny.
High: 44°
Wind: SE 5-10

Tonight: Partly cloudy this evening, mostly clear overnight.
Low: 27°
Wind: SE 5

Tuesday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy.
High: 43°
Wind: E 5-10

Wednesday:41 Lake. Chance for scattered showers and t-storms.
AM Low: 32° High: 45°
Wind: E 5-10

Thursday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 37° High: 42°
Wind: NE 5-10

Friday: Chance for showers and t-storms Warmer. Warming at night.
AM Low: 37° High: 57°
Wind: SE 5-15

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with AM rain showers. Blustery with falling afternoon temperatures.
AM Low: 47° High: 53°
Wind: NE 5-10

6-day planner

FOX6 Weather Extras

Local perspective:

Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:

FOX6 Storm Center app

FOX LOCAL Mobile app

FOX Weather app

FOX Weather

Big picture view:

Maps and radar

We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.

School and business closings

When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.

FOX6 Weather Experts in social media

Daily ForecastWeatherMilwaukee

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Milwaukee, WI

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Published

14 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.

The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.

Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II, emceed the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of four new community-powered fridges.

District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.

“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.

People fill up the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.

This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talks about opening the first community-powered fridge at her cafe.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.

“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.

Danell Cross (right), executive director at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Metcalfe Park resident Farina Brooks (left), and other attendees applaud during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.

Residents line up to fill the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.

Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges

3624 W. North Ave.

Rooted & Rising- Washington Park

3940 W. Lisbon Ave.

Sherman Park Community Association

3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Dominican Center

2470 W. Locust St.

Tricklebee Café

4424 W. North Ave.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Milwaukee, WI

At the Bar

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

The bar can be “the place” where memories are made, friendships blossom, and stories live forever. This episode of Real Stories MKE features stories from Dasha Kelly, Kristia Wildflower, Shep Crumrine, and Katelyn Nye. Real Stories MKE is hosted by Kim Shine and Joel Dresang with support from producer Jasmine Gonzalez and audio engineer Sam Woods.

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