Describing Riverside, Deb Pike, a 40-year resident, said, “It’s an unbelievably unique, special village to live in.” That’s what Pike told the Landmark as she and many others stood outside in the cold at Centennial Park when Riverside opened its year-long celebration of its 150th anniversary as a village.
And Pike is right. Riverside stands alone as a community, planned back in the 1860s around its alignment with nature, with open, shared spaces. It has hewed to that plan, crafted by Frederick Law Olmsted, with some ferocity.
In his speech to the assembled, Doug Pollock, Riverside’s village president, made a key point in lauding the people of the village who have stepped up as volunteers over these 150 years. He noted the early settlers who in 1875 created a governing structure around an unincorporated and only partially developed village. He credited those who have stepped up across decades to grow the strong sense of community that only an invested citizenry can nurture. And he singled out what he said were the 400 volunteers currently working across all aspects of Riverside to make this community the “unique, special village” that Pike described.
This is a moment for authentic pride in Riverside. Honoring and celebrating this village is a worthy endeavor for 2025.
Resetting permit fees
Resulting from a thoughtful discussion between Brookfield’s elected leaders and its diligent staff, the village government has now approved increases in a range of building permit fees. It is the first increase in these fees since 2018.
The increases, though, were not merely an effort to raise cash to hit a budget shortfall. The discussion and the research reflected a plan to make the permitting process pay for itself as a reflection of a governing philosophy. The full population of Brookfield taxpayers should not be paying for a permit for a homeowner remaking a kitchen or a commercial developer building a house. With a goal of keeping its permit process speedy and responsive, the village needs to cover those costs.
Trustee Edward Côté was the lone vote in opposition to the increased fees. He raised valid concerns about defining just what does require a building permit in Brookfield and what does not. And while he may feel that requiring a permit to install a backyard shed is overreach, he did succeed in convincing staff to add a page to the permitting website delineating just what you don’t need a permit to undertake in town. (For instance, repairing a deck or fixing a hot water heater would be considered “routine maintenance,” which does not require a permit.)
Overall, these increases and the thinking behind them seem thoughtful and reasonable to us.