Dredging of Lakes Advances in Whitewater

In 2018, the city received a $25,000 grant to conduct a study and planning process for the likely drawdown. The city hired the engineering firm Ayers and Associates to conduct that study.

According to Boettcher, Ayers reported that there were “some traces of metals (chromium, copper, lead, and zinc)” found in the lake samples. He added that Ayers “believes suitable method of disposal is land-spreading with two‐foot cover of clean fill material.”

Ayers has sent the samples and disposal plan to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), but has not heard back yet.

The drawdown process will take three years to complete, beginning in 2019 with restoration completed by the spring of 2021, ideally no later than that June. That process would include a slow drawdown so that most fish and wildlife (mostly reptiles, amphibians and birds) will move up or downstream from the lakes. During the winters of 2019-20 and 2020-21, the lakes would be dredged. They would be restocked with fish when the water is returned to the lakes, along with any that would return naturally from the creeks and streams that feed the lakes, in the spring of 2021.

City Manager Cameron Clapper informed the council that there were two separate projects: the drawdown and dredging. He said that the city staff was seeking how to move forward “with expectations” on the two related projects.

Clapper said that the funding for the dredging would be covered by the removal of other project funds in the city’s capital improvement plan. Boettcher added that the original cost for dredging was for hydraulic dredging, costs more than the “dry” dredging once the lake is drawn down.

Public Works Department Director Brad Marquardt added that the process will help the city with stormwater management issues and reduce levels of phosphorus, both of which are also general concerns of the DNR.

Council member Carol McCormick called the project a “shot in the arm” that will bring people into town, not only to see what is going on during the drawdown and then to enjoy the lakes when they are returned to a healthier state.

Three members of the public spoke on the topic, and ultimately, the council unanimously approved both the drawdown and dredging.

Also Tuesday, the council approved a Transportation Project Plat (TPP) for the Clay Street reconstruction, which is scheduled for 2020. The TPP is formally required, Marquardt said, as part of the federal-funding process that is covering 80 percent of the project’s cost. The city is paying 20 percent.

The reconstruction requires temporary easements from property owners so that the project, which includes “laying out, improving and extending public sidewalks and rights-of-way along Clay Street,” can meet federal guidelines. The authorization and completion of the TPP are part of those required guidelines.

The authorizing resolution approved by the council grants city attorney Wally McDonell “to undertake title acquisition procedures for the acquisition of the real estate interests needed for this project,” and that the TPP will be recorded in the Walworth County Register of Deeds.

There will be a public meeting on the Clay Street project at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, in the Whitewater Municipal Building. It will have an “open-house” format to allow for dialogue, individual questions and comments. City staff and consultant representatives will give a brief presentation at 5:15 p.m. and then be available to discuss the proposed project and address any questions or concerns afterward.

Regarding a third city project, the council heard Clapper report on the first meeting of the In This Together Group (ITTG), which is comprised of property owners who live adjacent to, or will be affected by, the Milwaukee Street reconstruction set to begin this spring. That project area is Milwaukee Street from Newcomb Street to the east-side roundabout.

Clapper said the people attending the meeting provided city staff with “a number of points” and staff provided information on the project.

“It was a very good meeting, and we expect very good feedback in the future,” Clapper said.

McCormick, who represents the area, said that she was pleased with how many citizens turned out for that first meeting.

The ITTG will meet monthly throughout the entire project, the city manager added, “to enable all involved to provide feedback and to keep the flow of communication open.”

Afterward, Clapper commented on the city moving forward on multiple fronts.

“Yes, things are moving, and it will be occupying a lot of time for city staff, myself included, in the next several weeks and months,” Clapper said. “We are happy to have these projects moving and the ability to make a difference with the Milwaukee Street project that has been way long overdue, and that will be a big positive change for that area; and this work on the lake, including the positive feedback we got tonight, with suggestions from residents, and we want to take a close look at that.

“Some of the things we have researched, but did not have the material here to comment on tonight, so we will come back with that,” he added. “We will be busy. Hopefully, it will be more like a beehive … in the next few weeks.”

In other matters, the common council:

As with the original contract, collection pick-up rates are subject to change each year, but are limited to the Consumer Price Index.

The basic prices for 2019 are $8.29 per unit for weekly trash pick-up and $2.59 for bi-weekly recycle pick-up.

Prior to approval, the council decided to have city staff ask John’s Disposal if it could hold a public educational “open house” on what can and cannot be recycled.

In short, she reported that the library has 4,459 registered users within the city and another 3,074 who live outside the city, who combined visited the library a total of 68,667 times in the last year. A total of 248 programs drew 3,332 attendees in 2018, as well.

The library had a circulation transaction total of 119,913 that included 30,556 children’s materials. It also had 12,285 “uses of electronic materials,” which includes audio, video and e-book users, an increase of 23 percent from the previous year, Lunsford said.

A second item was pulled from the closed session’s agenda: a discussion of new memorandum of understanding with DP Electronics.

_{Source: dailyunion.com}