Top Stories

Robot greenskeepers may take over

July 08, 2026

A committee of Ozaukee County supervisors last week voted to recommend spending more than $400,000 to buy four robotic lawn mowers that would cut the grass at the county’s two golf courses at night and eliminate about 1,900 hours of labor every season.

“It’s definitely been a trend in the industry to switch over,” county Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck told the Natural Resources Committee.

Struck said the county has experimented with robotic mowers for three years. “We’re very confident in the equipment and the software,” Struck said of the robots.

Panel told Lion’s Den beach signs destroyed

July 08, 2026

Ozaukee County supervisors have been “brought up to speed” on the clashes between beach walkers and homeowners living next to Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton.

Although neighbors’ have complained and made several appearances at county meetings, last week’s Natural Resources Committee meeting was the first time the issue was put on an agenda, allowing for an open discussion by county supervisors.

Deal calls for county to own Waubeka Mill site

July 08, 2026

A committee of Ozaukee County supervisors last week approved a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Fredonia that states that the town will transfer the Waubeka Mill and Button Factory to the county for remediation and possible development of a county park.

The action brings the saga of the dilapidated properties one step closer to its conclusion.

The county has a $142,800 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to assess whether the properties are a brownfield site in need of remediation, and last month the town gave the county access to the property.

Council delays deal for city land

July 08, 2026

Port Washington officials, who have put a priority on selling the land on which the police and fire stations stand to encourage redevelopment of the site as quickly as possible once the new public safety building opens, extended deadlines for two conditions of the sale to PFD Redevelopment on Tuesday.

Aldermen unanimously agreed to postpone the date when a developer’s agreement for the project must be signed from July 31 to Aug. 21.

They also agreed to move the closing date for the sale of the land at the corner of Wisconsin and Pier streets from Sept. 15 to Sept. 30.

End of stewardship fund blasted at Lion’s Den

July 01, 2026

Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton, which was developed in part using funds from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, was an appropriate setting Monday as Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin and others blasted the fact that funding for the program ended June 30.

She called for people to push legislators to approve funding for the stewardship program when the state budget is finalized next year.

“I am confident that we can come together next year and get this done,” she said. “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Another data center tops out

July 01, 2026

A crowd of roughly 200 people gathered at the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus in Port Washington Thursday to watch the final steel beam be put in place on a 750,000-square-foot building.

Two construction workers helped position the beam as it was lifted by a massive crane, then two journeymen bolted it onto the structure to applause.

Assessment a win for data center power line foes

July 01, 2026

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is recommending that the so-called south alternative route for new transmission lines intended to provide power to the Vantage Data Center Lighthouse Campus in Port Washington, a route that largely follows existing electrical lines, be chosen by the Public Service Commission.

County panel to weigh in on beach access debate

July 01, 2026

Ozaukee County supervisors hope to be “brought up to speed” on the controversy surrounding access to the Lake Michigan beach near Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton that has led to confrontations in recent months between beach walkers and landowners over where the public is allowed to walk.

Sales tax collections continue to set records

July 01, 2026

As has been the trend for some time, sales taxes collected by Ozaukee County are headed for another record year.

Through April, sales tax collections in the county have totaled nearly $4.28 million compared to $3.59 million in the first four months of 2025.

Last year, the county collected $12.65 million in sales tax revenue, a record, according to the state Department of Revenue.

In 2024, the county collected nearly $12.2 million, an increase of 11%, or $470,000, over 2023’s then-record collections of $11.73 million.

Stroebels aim to keep Circle B Recreation alive

July 01, 2026

When he was younger, Duey Stroebel said, he used to bowl at Circle B Recreation Center at the intersection of Highways 60 and I in the Town of Cedarburg.

As a parent, he used to bring his children to Circle B for parties and events.

Today, he and his wife Laura, who live in the Town of Cedarburg, own the facility and are looking for an operator to run the recreation center, which includes a 24-lane bowling alley, banquet hall and party rooms, bar, restaurant, volleyball court and horseshoe pits.

Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

125 E. Main St.
Port Washington, WI 53074
(262) 284-3494
 

CONNECT


User login