Business View Civil and Municipal | September 2022

141 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 housing development right next to The Rock. According to Regetz, “It’s a linchpin in the developing housing market, providing quality market housing.” Currently, Velo Village has 265 units. But it continues to grow, with another complex of high-end apartments, as well as a hotel in the works. In addition, businesses are sprouting up in the area – including a bike shop, and sports rehab, as well as Midwest Orthopedic. Regetz adds, “It is its own little community and it’s right next to this really cool recreational facility.” The Rock project has been so successful in Franklin that the developer, Mike Zimmerman, is hoping to strike gold once again. He is working at another mall redevelopment – turning a former commercial center and some adjacent vacant property into a multi-use development. The project will bring in residential as well as retail development. Projects such as these are openly visible in a city. The community can observe the progress of the build, get excited about what they see, and enjoy the finished product, whether it’s a park or a new building. Some things, though, are a bit more behind the scenes. Take, for instance, a big change for Franklin: a new water supplier. Mayor Olson explains, “We’re going to have a new water supplier for our wholesale water. The water supply will be equally high quality, equally reliable as we currently have, but what we’re doing will stabilize our rates for the duration of the contract, as opposed to what we have now. We’re paying high rates and high increases and, as a city, we’re moving to mitigate that.” Bobowski praises Olson for his efforts, “The mayor really championed this whole idea. Water is a precious commodity and we could have just let our prices go high. But the mayor went out and found us another supply. Of course, the citizens will probably just take it for granted. You could tell people how much it would go up but until they feel the pain, they really won’t get it. This is huge. It’s a huge project and all of us in Franklin will benefit because of it.” FRANKL IN, WI SCONS IN