I had written about the closed meeting demand, and thus the meeting's cancellation, here.
The Daily Reporter did some fine reporting on the matter, and I am reprinting from its story - - a registration is required - - these salient paragraphs:
"The city has submitted its application twice, most recently in September, and failed to gain approval each time. Bruce Baker, administrator of the DNR water division, asked to meet with Waukesha officials to discuss what the state needs before the request can be processed.
Baker said the information sought from Waukesha would not have changed regardless who was in attendance, and the DNR sees no reason to prevent the public from attending.The City of Waukesha is also in a contentious relationship with the neighboring Town of Waukesha over water supplies. Frankly, the City's strategy right now is a total mystery, as the DNR's website devoted to the application continues to rate the application as deficient (see the "EIS process" button - - though the Waukesha Common Council approved it in early April.
“I can’t identify anything that would justify meeting in closed-door session,” Baker said. “I guess that’s something the city views differently, and that’s their prerogative.”
Dan Duchniak, Waukesha water utility general manager, refused to say what items in the public application the city considers legally sensitive. He said the city’s attorney advised it would not be in Waukesha’s best interest to meet with a third-party present.
The city would consider meeting DNR officials, Duchniak said, if some agreement is reached beforehand on what could be said in the public forum.
“There is already a public process in place that allows outside parties to comment,” Duchniak said. “Why should that process be changed for this application?”
The DNR routinely lets public groups attend such meetings, said Ezra Meyer, water resource specialist for Clean Wisconsin. Meyer said he had planned to observe Thursday’s meeting until Ybarra announced Waukesha would not attend."
Regardless of what the City of Waukesha's intent was, cancelling a meeting with the DNR because "third party" and "special interest" groups would be in attendance creates the perception that the City has something to hide. As a taxpayer, the last thing I want to see is multiple units of government talking about and planning for the use of a shared natural resource as important as Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes in a closed meeting.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that the "special interests" have been doing is speaking up for that resource and demanding that ANY diversion comply with the letter and the spirit of the Compact. Why, putting forth an application that does so requires being done in closed or carefully controled meetings is hard to understand.
Steve Schmuki
Steve nails the issue.
ReplyDelete"Regardless of what the City of Waukesha's intent was, cancelling a meeting with the DNR because "third party" and "special interest" groups would be in attendance creates the perception that the City has something to hide."
"Dan Duchniak, Waukesha water utility general manager, refused to say what items in the public application the city considers legally sensitive. He said the city’s attorney advised it would not be in Waukesha’s best interest to meet with a third-party present."
ReplyDeleteMaybe its time to get a new city attorney--one who actually knows something about the law!
Will Bill McClenahan comment today? Or perhaps the $13000/month doesn't include weekend work.
ReplyDelete“There is already a public process in place that allows outside parties to comment,” Duchniak said. “Why should that process be changed for this application?”
ReplyDeleteWhat's meant by "outside parties"? Are the consumers of the Waukesha Water Utility service area considered "outside parties"? That's strange, they're paying for the chosen method to reduce radium in the drinking water supply.
Tick, tick, tick...
It is really starting to show that the Waukesha Water Utility, despite the tens of thousands of dollars spent on consulting, is really in over their head on this water diversion issue.
ReplyDeleteThey thought this was going to be something as easy as filling out a couple of forms and sending in their fee.
No wonder they fought tooth and nail against the Great Lake Compact before it was signed. They at least had the foresight to know that once the compact became law it was going to be very difficult to obtain a diversion.
As I have written several times in fairly recent posts, the problems with the application have been diligently pointed out to the water utility for more than a year by the very environmental groups, in a coalition, whose members asked to sit in on the meeting.
ReplyDeleteThat coalition is not in a confrontation with the utility over access to the lake. It has offered its help which the utility has chosen to ignore it.
James, in my opinion, the major difference between the sides is this; one side wants to protect and preserve and the other would like to exploit this resource resource.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that Waukesha does not see the issue in the same perspective as the environmentalists therefore, it seems, they reject any participation in the application process.
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ReplyDelete