Posted on June 13, 2018
By Duke Behnke, Post Crescent
The restoration of an illegally dredged and rerouted stream will cost more than $250,000, pushing the cumulative toll of the fiasco beyond $500,000.
Radtke Contractors Inc. of Winneconne submitted a low bid of $258,576 for the restoration work. The Town Board is expected to award the contract Monday.
The schedule calls for the restoration of the navigable stream and adjacent wetland to be completed by Aug. 31. The stream is located west of State 76 and north of State 96.
The illegal dredging occurred in December 2016 and was exposed in an April 2017 report by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. State and county regulators said the dredging drastically altered the stream and damaged a karst feature.
Town officials blamed one of their own — Supervisor Mike Woods — saying he directed the dredging on land he rents and farms without obtaining the necessary permits. Contractor Robert J. Immel Excavating Inc. did the dredging, and the town paid the bill for the work.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice subsequently filed a lawsuit against the town, Woods and Immel Excavating for alleged violations of the state’s waterway and wetland laws.
The DOJ lawsuit was resolved in May after the three defendants agreed to pay $90,000 in penalties and to restore the damage that was done.
The known costs of the illegal dredging now have reached $525,150:
•$16,785 for the dredging
•$159,789 for erosion control, engineering, permits, and consultant and legal fees
•$90,000 in penalties
•$258,576 for restoration work
The town has taken the lead on the engineering, permitting and restoration, but the settlement of the DOJ lawsuit reserves the right of each defendant to seek reimbursement from the other defendants for all or part of the costs.
Greenville has sued Woods and Immel Excavating to recover its expenses. It also seeks punitive damages. The case is pending in Outagamie County Circuit Court.
Town Administrator Joel Gregozeski said four bids for the restoration work were received. They ranged from $258,576 to $352,209.
Officials had hoped the bids would be closer to $200,000. The tight schedule and seasonal demand for contractors contributed to the higher bids, Gregozeski said.
“Given when the permits were received and the deadline for completion that the state had required for us, it was difficult to get a price better than that,” he said.
In addition to the restoration, the defendants will be responsible for monitoring the stream and wetland for three to five years to ensure the vegetation is established to the satisfaction of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Gregozeski said that task would fall to the town as part of its normal operations.
“Our stormwater superintendent will be monitoring, managing and reporting back to the DNR on status updates,” he said. “If any repairs need to be made, we will have our staff do it.”
Greenville has created a web page to track the town’s response to the illegal dredging.
Source: Post Crescent
