New Berlin Alderman Questioning Parameters, Payment In Water Deal

A New Berlin Alderman is questioning key elements of the tentative agreement between his city and Milwaukee to supply Lake Michigan water to the central portion of New Berlin.

In addition to the one-time payment of $1,5 million to Milwaukee, there is objection by Ald. Dave Ament to the water being allowed to serve areas not yet connected to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, essentially establishing possible water service into sprawl circumstances.

This point was raised emphatically at the Milwaukee Common Council's July 29th Public Works Committee hear by Ald. Bob Bauman, a Milwaukee opponent of the deal.

Bauman said the city's negotiating team had exceeded its Council-authorized mandate by agreeing to the water service extension into the additional New Berlin acreage.

Team members said their only motive was minimizing the need for repeated future negotiations and approvals for new hook-ups if New Berlin chose to extend water service past the current MMSD service borders.

The deal was approved by the Milwaukee Common Council on July 30 by a 9-3 vote, along with a companion resolution to fund a study into the true cost of water that could be used when evaluating future water diversion applications from additional communities.

The Milwaukee Water Works has also produced an explanation about how it initially over-stated the estimated first-year annual revenue from New Berlin by about 30%, and filed materials with the Milwaukee City Clerk for online posting making that explanation part of the official file.

I have posted these materials, here.

The City of Waukesha is expected to seek a diversion significantly larger than New Berlin's; while New Berlin would return all the diverted water to Lake Michigan through the MMSD, Waukesha and the state Department of Natural Resources are still studying how best to manage Waukesha's more difficult return-flow process.

Rather than pipe water back to Lake Michigan, the more distant Waukesha would probably discharge treated effluent into a tributary or tributaries, such as the Root River,

Return flow is required by the Great Lakes Compact, recently approved by the state legislature, to maintain water levels in the Great Lakes basin. Great Lakes waters are considered held in trust for the people in the region.

Here is the text of a story from the Waukesha Freeman about the unhappiness with the deal in New Berlin:

New Berlin alderman questions water agreement

Ament concerned about broad map and $1.5 million payment
By MELISSA RIGNEY BAXTER Special to The Freeman

NEW BERLIN – When Alderman Dave Ament saw the map used for the official agreement to purchase water from Milwaukee, he said he was shocked.

Ament, council representative on the utility committee, said he will not support the agreement because of his concerns about extending the city’s utility area as well as the $1.5 million onetime payment to Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Common Council agreed last week to sell water to New Berlin. Included in the water service agreement are areas west of Calhoun Road which are not currently part of the city’s utility area. The agreement must still be approved by the utility committee as well as New Berlin’s Common Council.

“I brought this up a month ago, but (Mayor Jack Chiovatero) said we couldn’t change the map,” Ament said.

Ament said Chiovatero has told the council and the media that the water agreement will not extend past the existing utility area, so he does not understand why the MMSD 2020 map, which shows possible utility extensions, was used as the basis for the agreement.

He is not opposed to purchasing water from Milwaukee, Ament said, but he cannot accept specific provisions of the agreement, including the $1.5 million one-time fee and the map used in the agreement.

Chiovatero said when he sat down at the negotiating table with Milwaukee, they suggested broadening the map.

“I was kind of worried by what they meant by that, but they said ‘Do you want to have to come to us every single time you want water?’ I said ‘no,’” Chiovatero said.

Because any extension of water utility requires sewers be extended as well, Chiovatero said the council and the people of New Berlin would have the power over if, or when, those utility expansions would happen.

“Why tie the hands of future councils?” asked Chiovatero.

Chiovatero said there are no plans to expand the utility area, and taxpayer money will not fund the $1.5 million onetime cost or the ongoing utility payments to Milwaukee for the use of the water.

Any future sewer expansion, Chiovatero said, would require a public hearing, approval by the council, approval by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and a final public hearing.

“I told (Milwaukee) we are not going past Calhoun,” Chiovatero said. “We all feel the best choice is lake water for a long-term solution. The people who are objecting to the agreement – it’s not costing them a penny. It’s my job to tell people (Milwaukee) is not taking advantage of us. They’re giving us a permanent water solution of clean, healthy, radium free water.”

Ament said the original water agreement with Milwaukee for the eastern part of the utility involved no one-time cost, and he’s concerned about the $1.5 million that is part of this agreement.

“Now we hire a consultant and pay them, and they come up with this cockamamie thing,” Ament said.

Because of Milwaukee’s investment in their water facilities, Chiovatero said they would not accept an agreement without a one-time initial cost. The payment was a deal breaker, and initially Milwaukee wanted a higher amount. Under the agreement approved by Milwaukee’s Common Council, New Berlin will also pay $650,000 annually for the water.

Chiovatero said he understands Ament’s concerns but also said the alderman is constantly at odds with him and his decisions.

“If I say the sky is blue, he’ll say it’s green,” Chiovatero said.