Yet another chance for Country Bliss

Posted: Jan. 10, 2012

Town of Mukwonago - The Country Bliss saga isn't over yet, and hope for a solution to flooding concerns there still glimmers. The Town Board spent an hour in closed session Jan. 3 discussing the possibility of purchasing land needed to see a proposed solution to fruition.

Back in open session, board members considered how to proceed on a number of components that together would determine whether the proposed project would still be feasible.

Purchase offer

On Dec. 29, the town received an approximate one acre lot at the bottom of the hill on Campfire Lane in the Country Bliss subdivision to be used as a location for the retention pond. The town has needed the land to move forward with the last project it considered: a pipeline that would divert water from Memory Lane-Paradise Lane in Country Bliss and send it west along Memory Lane to South Oak Tree Drive.

On Dec. 14, the town received a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Administration stating that the town had until Jan. 20 to "show positive progress toward the construction of the drainage system and infiltration pond, or another reasonable solution" or the state would withdraw the grant.

"I'm not entirely confident we will be able to keep the $506,000 grant," Town Chairman Dave Dubey said at the start of open session, though he supported moving forwarded with the project.

Town Supervisor Peter Topczewski said, "I think we need to explain this is a process (to the county and the state). It's not going to happen overnight."

He added, "If we show the state that we now have something that we had not had until this point (an offer to buy property), the state isn't going to take that money away."

"This is a problem that has occurred at least twice in the past," Topczewski said of flooding in Country Bliss. "There is an opportunity in some way that meaningfully addresses the problem" by using the grant money.

The town obtained the $506,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in June 2009.

During the meeting, board members discussed having Town Attorney John Macy draft a counteroffer, but decided to wait until after a Jan. 31 town electors meeting at which residents will be able to vote on whether the town should purchase the land.

Utility district

All board members agreed during the meeting that some way to cover excess costs beyond the $506,000 grant and maintenance of the pond and pipeline would be need to be established. Forming a utility district seemed to be the means of choice.

"We have to have some way of financing this project," said Town Supervisor Tom Stefanowski.

Board members debated who should be included in the district, as some residents feel flooding problems are contributed to by surrounding subdivisions.

If residents show support in going forward with purchasing the 1-acre lot, a special town meeting would need to be held to determine who would be included in the utility district.

Over all, board members favored moving forward with the pipeline project, assuming the following items would be in order: creating a utility district to cover overage and maintenance of the pipeline; that a counteroffer be drafted; that all approvals are granted from the state, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), etc.; and that the town is given access to the 1-acre lot on Campfire Lane.

Public opinion

While there was no agenda item to allow for public comment, board members approved a motion to allow public comments twice during the Jan. 3 meeting.

Resident Tony Vanlennep, who lives just a couple of houses from where the proposed retention pond would be placed, expressed concerns that the pipeline project would only move the problem from one end of the subdivision to the other.

"Being on the other receiving end, I'm concerned I'll be in their same situation shortly," he said.

Vanlennep asked that the town hold off on the project until research can be conducted to ensure the problem would not just be relocated.

"I would urge the town to certainly hold off until you find certified results," Vanlennep said. "My concern is we may be pushing forward without proper data."

Country Bliss resident Linda Dykas thanked the town for considering following through with the project. She asked the board to consider including surrounding subdivisions in a utility district.

"We feel that the district should include Stone Brook Hallow homes as they are at the same groundwater mark as us," she said. Dykas added that residents in surrounding areas such as Normandy Green and Jericho should be included as well, as groundwater from those areas pool into the basin in Country Bliss.