Milwaukee Posing Crucial Water Cost, Policy Questions To Waukesha

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Common Council President Willie Hines Jr., and seven other Aldermen - - a Council majority - - have sent fundamental cost and policy questions to the City of Waukesha with respect to a possible Lake Michigan diversion and water sale by Milwaukee to Waukesha.

Here is the text of the letter:

May 13, 2011

Mayor Jeff Scrima 201 Delafield Street Waukesha, WI 53188-3633

Dear Mayor Scrima:

We are aware that the City of Waukesha recently submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) information to supplement the City's Great Lakes Water Application.

It should be clearly understood that any and all costs related to the study, design, construction and connection of the water supply from Milwaukee to Waukesha, and the return of treated water to Lake Michigan, shall be borne by Waukesha. The City of Milwaukee will not be responsible for any of these or related costs.

With respect to all other items pertaining to a possible water service agreement with the City of Waukesha, we refer you to our letter of April 9, 2010, in which we set forth our position,including reference to resolution #080457. As such, we are once again requesting a response to our earlier letter as to whether the City of Waukesha is agreeable to the terms outlined therein.

Sincerely,
Tom Barrett Mayor

Here is a news story about the April 9, 2010 letter that the May 13, 2011 letter references.

[Note: The Council resolution referenced,  #080457, contains the City of Milwaukee's declaration that a water buyer like Waukesha must meet multiple regional planning and policy goals.  Copy this link to the resolution  - - dailyreporter.com/files/2009/12/water-resolution.pdf - -  into your address box to bring up the resolution. Google's blogging service crash prevents me from finding offering commentaries and other links about the resolution from my blog archive at this time.]