MMSD approves Estabrook dam land purchase
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's commission on Monday approved the temporary acquisition of land in Estabrook Park to enable the district to demolish a deteriorated 1930s-era dam on the Milwaukee River.
MMSD would purchase a 45.7-acre parcel on the west end of the park from Milwaukee County at a cost of $1 after the property is rezoned as nonpark land by the city, under an acquisition plan approved on a 9-1 vote of the commission. State Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd (D-Milwaukee) voted against removal of the dam.
Shorewood Village Trustee Paul Zovic thanked the district for working with the county to achieve "a creative solution" for removing the dam and reminded commissioners that the Village Board in 2015 adopted a resolution in support of demolition.
The next step in the process comes Tuesday when the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee takes up the proposed rezoning. The City Plan Commission last week recommended rezoning.
The full council will make a rezoning decision at a Nov. 1 meeting.
If approved, County Executive Chris Abele intends to transfer the parcel to MMSD. Abele can sell county-owned nonpark land without County Board approval, under a 2015 state law.
On Oct. 3, Abele joined Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer in announcing the multi-step strategy to end the longstanding dispute in county government over whether to repair or remove the dam.
County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. favors dam repairs and upgrades at an estimated cost of $4.1 million. Repairs would allow the county to close dam gates that have been open since 2008 because of safety concerns and restore an upstream 100-acre impoundment for boating.
Removal of the dam would cost about $1.7 million. Demolition would save public funds while improving water quality and reducing flood risks to 53 upstream properties in the river's floodplain, according to Shafer and Abele.
Herb Oechler of Wauwatosa, a representative of the southeast Wisconsin chapter of Trout Unlimited, told MMSD commissioners on Monday that the conservation group favors a free-flowing stream and supports demolition of the dam. The county could redirect dollars saved by not repairing the dam to renovations at other county park facilities, he said.
At the closing of the sale later this year, the district immediately would return all but a few acres in the 45.7-acre parcel to the county for continued use as park land. MMSD would hold on to a narrow parcel along the river on the north end of the dam, and an island at midstream, for equipment access during demolition.
Demolition would begin in 2017 and be completed by the summer of 2018, officials said. No later than 60 days after removal is completed, the district would return the shoreline parcel and island to the county for use as parkland.
MMSD spending approved
In other action Monday, the commission approved total spending of $309.6 million in 2017 — a $3.6 million increase from this year — for annual operating and maintenance costs, and a capital budget including major construction and equipment replacement projects.
Customer user charges — fees collected from industries, businesses and households connected to municipal and regional sewers — will increase an average of 2.5% in 2017. The fees will generate $75.1 million next year, the largest revenue source in a $90.39 million operating and maintenance budget.
MMSD will levy 2.5% more in property taxes from Milwaukee County property owners and collect 1% more in tax equivalent billings from communities outside Milwaukee County to help pay next year's capital costs. Those are the largest revenue sources for a $219.2 million capital budget in 2017.
A tax rate of $1.75 per $1,000 of equalized value for county property owners is needed to generate a levy of $98.3 million. The rate is 1 cent more than this year.
Ten communities outside the county that are in the district's service area will contribute $30.86 million in tax equivalent payments.
A family living in a Milwaukee County home valued at $200,000, as of Jan. 1, 2016, would pay about $10.16 more to the district for 2017 than this year, or a total of $474.22. The payment is a combination of $350.18 in property taxes, up $8.54 from this year, and $124.04 in user charges, up $1.62 from this year.
The largest expense in the annual operating and maintenance budget is the $42.7 million fee paid to Veolia Water Milwaukee. The company operates the district's Jones Island and South Shore sewage treatment plants, Milorganite factory, deep tunnel and regional sewers.