Saturday, June 16, 2012

Milwaukee Ald. To Waukesha: No Information On Water, No Meeting, Discussion Wednesday

It looks like City of Waukesha water officials, their consultants and representatives of several of Waukesha's neighboring municipalities will pull all-nighters this weekend if they want to keep the City of Waukesha's Lake Michigan water diversion application moving through the bureaucratic and regulatory pipeline.

Ald. Bob Bauman, chairman of the Milwaukee Common Council's Public Works Committee, said in a letter to Waukesha Friday that if gaps in materials Waukesha has sent to the City of Milwaukee about Waukesha's Lake Michigan diversion request are not filled in quickly, there will be no comprehensive Milwaukee City Hall meeting about it scheduled for Wednesday, thus further delaying a water acquisition timeline Waukesha has said is already stressed.

As the Journal Sentinel reported Friday:

...the Public Works Committee will not discuss the city departments' reports Wednesday unless Waukesha provides additional information on its housing and public transportation plans by Tuesday morning, Ald. Robert Bauman, the committee chairman, says in correspondence sent Friday to [Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan] Duchniak...
Waukesha's proposed diversion plan includes a map showing possible distribution of water to portions of the Towns of Waukesha, Genesee and Delafield, and a piece of the City of Pewaukee, too.
...Bauman's Friday correspondence demands that each of the other municipalities within the future service area submit affordable housing and public transportation plans to Milwaukee by Tuesday morning. If not, Milwaukee will negotiate to supply water to only those municipalities included in the service area that comply with this demand, Bauman says.
[Saturday update, 9:35 a.m.] The Waukesha Freeman noted Waukesha's concern over any potential, lengthy delay (page two of its reporting on the Bauman letter).

Here is further background:
If you've been following the recent flow of information provided by the City of Waukesha to Milwaukee in support of Waukesha's bid for a Lake Michigan water diversion purchase by Waukesha - - here and here - - you've read that Milwaukee City Hall analysts and reseachers said some of the much-anticipated information from Waukesha about affordable housing, transit and access to jobs - - key to Milwaukee water-sales criteria - - is incomplete and insufficient.

The information gaps speak to larger issues percolating for a couple of years, at least:

 *  How much water does Waukesha need?

 *  Should the distribution area for diverted water include portions of municipalities outside the City of Waukesha's borders?

 *  Does the inclusion of the non-City of Waukesha communities oblige them to meet conservation standards called for by the eight-state over-arching Great Lakes Compact as well socio-economic expectations laid out to water-buyers by City of Milwaukee policy:
Inclusion [in the Waukesha application] would carry a mix of potential benefits, like a new water supply  - - but also perhaps worrisome costs for customers now on Town wells who would be hooked up, and conservation and public planning expenses for the Town so it is in compliance with the Great Lakes water management Compact that sets rules for water diverting communities.

Some Town residents are said to fear annexation to the City. There are a lot of unanswered questions, and it is by no means clear if any of the eight Great Lakes states whose approval of the application must be unanimous will object to the City of Waukesha distributing water to an expanded service area, such as the Town...

The City of Waukesha went ahead and included the smaller, neighboring and more rural Town of Waukesha and an expanded service territory in the application without consulting the Town.
Just yesterday, I wrote:
An independent review by Milwaukee City Hall fiscal and research staffers has found a Waukesha submission about a possible water sale to be insufficient and without adequate details.

Here is some history and information about the Milwaukee findings - - again demonstrating fundamental problems with the application:

Diverted Great Lakes water sales to a community like the City of Waukesha that is outside the Great Lakes basin are subject to a City of Milwaukee review and approval process separate from regional mandates in a 2008 multi-state Great Lakes management Compact.
A sale must also meet requirements for water buyers spelled out in Milwaukee Common Council four-year-old resolution #080457 (full text, here), regarding existing comprehensive planning, and transportation, housing and jobs plans in the buyer's city to help Milwaukee address those needs for its residents. 
Stay tuned.


16 comments:

WATER WORLD said...

Waukesha has never been accountable to anyone except themselves. Their "urban" planning has never been based on respect for limited water supplies, green space or public transportation. Now they suddenly find themselves wallowing in the very mess they created and have no clue on how to get out. Cooperation among themselves let alone the terrible Milwaukee vilified by Walker is not in their DNA.

Let me ask you this James- if they keep stalling, what will the consequences be?

James Rowen said...

I am not sure what lies ahead. The easiest path right now for Waukesha is to get the City of Milwaukee what it wants.

Jim Bouman said...

Waukesha Water Utility is busy about many more crucial and pressing issues.
Here's a quote from the most recent minutes of Water utility:

Motion by Couri, seconded by Thieme, that General Manager be supplied with a Water Utility Company Vehicle, to be used by the General Manager, either through lease or purchase, in the range of a Ford Edge or similar utility type vehicle... Motion passed unanimously

MORE...
Motion by Couri, seconded by Boyle, to have a performance bonus of $15,000 be paid immediately to the General Manager. A $30,000 longevity bonus will be paid, if the General Manager is still employed by the Waukesha Water Utility, when the final determination of our Future Water supply occurs and also when primary funding through available sources is secured. An additional $20,000 longevity bonus will be paid, if the General Manager is still employed by the Waukesha Water Utility, at the initiation of construction....
(Discussion: Duchniak will be evaluated on an annual performance basis and also be considered for potential wage adjustments made on this basis....Passed 4-2, Scrima and Thieme dissenting)

My grass is brown in Walkersha said...

Life is different in Walkersha.

James Rowen said...

Thanks for the information. I'd been remiss reading those minutes.

Interesting timing by the Commission.

I just soaked my lawn. said...

So I wonder if Scima feels a wee bit over his head in Watersha?

Anonymous said...

"James Rowen said...
I am not sure what lies ahead. The easiest path right now for Waukesha is to get the City of Milwaukee what it wants."

I'm not so sure it's that easy. The information from the other communities in the service area isn't comming from the City of Waukesha therefore it's going to cost somebody revenue and resources to gather the information.

For instance, if you're the City of Pewaukee and a small section of your community is south of I-94 and currently serviced by the Waukesha Water Utility are you going to fork over the resources or even give a hoot about what Milwaukee wants? Probably not. Taking that thought to the next level, are you going to comply with the requirements of the compact? Unlikely.

The exact same considerations can be expanded to the Town of Waukesha. A number of residents are currently on Waukesha water due to failed wells. The Town of Waukesha has taken a wait-and-see attitude about water form Milwaukee after watching what happened to New Berlin once they received Milwaukee water -- and who can blame them?

Alderman Bauman is apparently unaware of the customers serviced by the Waukesha Water Utility because he cannot sell only to those currently receiving Waukesha water - because they all do.

So where does that leave Waukesha?

I mean let's face it, 3 million in annual revenue is 1/5 of what Milwaukee brings in with parking violations. What Milwaukee wants is social policy, and to be sure, there aren't enough alderman in Waukesha who would go along with Milwaukee's demands.

What's pushing this sudden surge in activity is the rate request by Waukesha to the Public Service Commission. Waukesha singled out Milwaukee - not Oak Creek - not Racine - as the cheapest capital cost project to comply with the court ordered deadline of 2018 for another water source be it Lake Michigan or local sources. If Waukesha doesn't score with Milwaukee before the PSC meets to review the rate request testimony, the outcome may not be in Waukesha's favor.

To the alderman in Milwaukee thinking this is free money to good to pass up, do you really think this is going to pass the Council of Great Lakes Governors? Really?

James Rowen said...

Well, what I meant was that Waukesha and its partners need to make a good faith effort to get Milwaukee what it asked for, as the criteria have been known for months and years.

That said, if Waukesha cannot supply what Milwaukee says it wants from the other communities, too Milwaukee can go ahead and consider a water sale just to and within the City of Waukesha's borders - - which is what the application should have covered from day one.

The expansionist application has been and remains a political problem for Milwaukee, and will be cited in other states as inappropriate under the Great Lakes Compact.

At some point, Waukesha residents are going to realize that its water utility and council went down the toughest route possible in search of water.

Sue said...

'At some point, Waukesha residents are going to realize that its water utility and council went down the toughest route possible in search of water.'
No they won't. It will always, always be evil Milwaukee's fault. Has Charlie Sykes started his disinformation campaign yet?
Whether this is an international Great Lakes compact issue or not, I think a lot of people in Waukesha assume Walker will step in and make everything better.

MMilwaukee- open for business said...

What have the businesses said? Where is the sense of urgency.
It's got to be tough on WALKERSHA to be so beholden to the city condemned by Walker.

I'm radioactive From drinking the coolaid. said...

@Sue- well given Walker's latest in your face SCOTUS remark I have no doubt he has delusions for solving the problems of Walkersha.

John Casper said...

Excellent post and discussion. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

James Rowen said...
"That said, if Waukesha cannot supply what Milwaukee says it wants from the other communities, too Milwaukee can go ahead and consider a water sale just to and within the City of Waukesha's borders - - which is what the application should have covered from day one."

You cannot sell water just within the City of Waukesha borders. Years before SEWRPC defined the new borders Waukesha agreed to sell water to customers of failed wells in the Town of Waukesha and to Pewaukee residents south of I-94.

James Rowen said...

Well, Waukesha will havee to figure out how to keep those agreements within the confines of the Great Lakes Compact if that's the water supply it fixes to obtain.

It's always been an additional risk going after Milwaukee as the seller because of Milwaukee's conditions - - conditions not in existence if Oak Creek or Racine is the seller, but everyone knows those suppliers are too expensive to utilize, given the added distance.

Maybe this is all to much of a round hole for Waukesha to hammer this square-pegged application into - - but Waukesha wasn't much open to that kind of advice when the planning was underway.

m said...

. . . . or anytime since. They had one solution from the beginning: Lake Michigan water or bust. The 'science' was arranged to fit that conclusion.

JB said...

Planning? What planning? Why plan? We iz Waukesha!