Vacant Land Could Remain Empty: The former historic home of Grede Foundry at 1st and Greenfield has been leveled and the five-acre site now awaits new buildings. The first plan, however, received a cold reception from the Milwaukee Common Council's Development Committee. Andy Busalacchi bought the northeast corner of the intersection and wants to put five buildings with parking on the site across the street from Allen-Bradley.

Four of the buildings would be 50 ft. high and the fifth would be 18 ft. high. Most of the materials in the buildings would be former bricks from the factory on the site. The lack of spiraling high-rises in the plan had committee aldermen wanting to put the brakes on the project. They want more density and aren't happy that 65 percent of the land would be surface parking.

Ald. Bob Bauman called the plan "a suburban office park" that's more suited for the northwest side of the city.

Committee Chair Ald. Mike D'Amato called the idea "a very unusual plan" and Ald. Michael Murphy viewed the property as "extremely valuable" and saw the proposal as "not the best use."

Busalacchi said he has one firm tenant, Independence First, which ironically lost a former home due to the Downtown condo craze. But his plan is to erect the buildings and hope tenants come. The committee balked at that idea and offered Busalacchi a month to redraw his plans, which he declined to do. The committee sent his plan to the Common Council with a negative recommendation for its meeting Dec. 11.

Chaser's Still has Life: Bay View's venerable Chaser's Pub, 2155 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., received a reprieve of sorts in October when the Milwaukee Common Council Licenses Committee voted to give the bar a 30-day suspension instead of revoking its license. The pressure on the tavern came from Ald. Tony Zielinski who tired of a series of drug arrests at the bar, including a bartender who admitted to police to selling cocaine at the bar.

This week the committee is holding a special hearing to confirm its decision. Zielinski, who initially asked for the license revocation, offered an amended complaint last week to the committee, which essentially restated his initial request. His additional ammunition this time, however, revolves around the fact that owner Frank F. Dobert promised the committee in October he was going to sell the business, but has since raised the asking price, which Zielinski views as an affront to Dobert's previous statements made to save his license.

A revocation hearing for Club Escape, 6263 N. Teutonia Ave., where a major shoot-out last week killed one patron, will also be held this week.

Aldermen Shoveling on Plowing: What should we expect from the first snowstorm of the year? Apparently a lot better plowing, according to at least nine Milwaukee aldermen, who berated the Department of Public Works in a press conference for its effort over the weekend. It is an election year after all and aldermen no doubt recall the big Chicago snowstorm that actually ended up ousting that big city's mayor.

The nine? Terry Witkowski, Bob Donovan, Joe Dudzik, Ashanti Hamilton, Jim Bohl, Tony Zielinski, Michael Murphy, Robert Bauman and Robert Puente. The East Side's Mike D'Amato is not running for re-election and that's likely the reason for his absence, since Riverwest saw nary a plow by Sunday evening. Both sides of the street were parked full creating the need for some careful surfing down the middle of the road. From the perspective of my porch in Bay View, plows first came through Saturday night after 1 a.m.

The aldermen complained that the plowing effort was done with fewer trucks to save money, but reports were that more than 90 city vehicles were active in the clean-up, about the average number.