If I Run In the Next Village Board Election — Part Two: Atwater Beach Lifeguards

I am not committing to running in the next election for Village Board trustee, but if I do, I want to share what I would like to see happen/change in Shorewood.

This past summer, Shorewood only committed to spending $10,000 on lifeguard service at our public beach.

This bought lifeguard protection for only 5 hours a day, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, from June 16 until I believe Aug. 18.

Atwater Beach is officially open to the public from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Being on Lake Michigan, and having a usable beach as nice as Atwater, has to be considered one of Shorewood's best assets. 

To have unprotected swimmers there, especially children, for the vast majority of the days and summer, in my opinion is not a very good use of that asset, and is a sad commentary on the priorities of the village.

In my recollection, Shorewood gave a tavern owner $10,000 back for a liquor license, why was that a priority equal to the financial commitment to safety at our public beach?

I understand there are complications involved, as Shorewood actually contracts lifeguard services with Milwaukee County, and that many of the lifeguards are students that cannot work all summer.

Get great local blogs like this on Facebook. Click to join us!

Maybe we should consider providing lifeguard service ourselves. Just a thought, but maybe we could hire temporary personnel for the summer through the Shorewood Police Department, as Community Service Officers (CSO).

There would be better accountability of the lifeguards if they reported to the SPD.  If we hired three part-time and temporary CSO's, they could man the beach for more time per day, and more days per summer. They could also be used in the village for other code enforcement duties and possibly generate revenue in addition to providing safety.

Right now it is very hard to patrol Atwater, as SPD does not have an ATV that can negotiate the path to the beach. An ATV or two could be used by the CSO's to also patrol the other parks for code enforcement.

To come up with a feasible plan to adequately provide safety at the jewel of the village, will take a lot of thought and discussion. I only have written my ideas above to show that there could be many ways to approach the problem.

Nevertheless, no matter how we accomplish it, Shorewood deserves better than the minuscule protection we are now providing at Atwater Beach and I would make it a priority for the village — not an afterthought.