New Berlin Water Buy Near <> Milwaukee Panel Approves Sale From Lake Michigan; Full Council Votes Today
By NICK HALTER
A Milwaukee Common Council committee Tuesday backed the sale of additional Lake Michigan water to New Berlin.
The Public Works Committee voted 4-1 to recommend a 20-year agreement to send water to the middle part of New Berlin, which has radium in its groundwater.
At issue was the relatively unknown value of water, and how Milwaukee can harness that value in negotiations with suburbs in the future.
Ald. Michael Murphy said the deal does not set a precedent because Milwaukee already had an agreement to provide water to the eastern third of New Berlin. This is just an extension of that agreement, he told the panel.
Under the deal, New Berlin would provide Milwaukee a one-time payment of $1.5 million. In addition, the agreement would generate an estimated $650,000 a year to Milwaukee Water Works. That could increase if New Berlin exceeds the maximum flow rate agree upon.
Murphy sponsored a resolution passed by the committee that would fund a $50,000 study to determine how to better assess the value of water.
Ald. Bob Bauman, chairman of the committee, voted against the agreement, warning aldermen to wait for the study on water value to be completed.
Bauman said the council has criteria for providing water service to communities, and New Berlin has not met them, especially in the area of providing affordable housing and transit.
“The bottom line is we have certain structures in place, and this council and this committee is willing to throw it out the window and say they mean nothing . . . ,” he said.
Voting for the deal were Aldermen Joe Dudzik, Willie Wade, Robert Donovan and Robert Puente.
As New Berlin’s aquifers deplete, the amount of radium in water will increase. Most of the water coming from New Berlin’s aquifers already exceeds state standards for radium. Soon, Mayor Jack Chiovatero said, the Department of Natural Resources will start fining New Berlin.
“Any more delays and I’m not sure I can hold them off any longer,” he said.
The Milwaukee Common Council will vote on the agreement today. Mayor Tom Barrett sent letters to the Common Council urging it to support the measure.
In other action, the committee voted to recommend reappointments for Public Works Commissioner Jeff Mantes and City Engineer Jeff Polenske. The vote for Polenske was unanimous, and only Dudzik voted against Mantes’ reappointment.
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