Flip Flop Applesauce

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Dysfunction Around the Estabrook Dam Continues at Milwaukee County as Finance Committee Votes to Switch County Policy on Dam. Again.

This morning, Theo Lipscomb introduced an amendment to a 2015 capital improvement bonding resolution in front of the Finance Committee that would flip the policy of the County from removal to repair of the Estabrook Dam. This amendment was passed by the Finance Committee, 5-2 and will need to go to the full County Board of Supervisors next week at their regular meeting on Thursday, February 5 at 9:30 a.m. to become final. This is indicative of the nonsense and dysfunction around this issue perpetuated by a minority of Supervisors.

We issued a press release and hope that this issue gets into the public spot light. In the meantime, WE NEED YOUR HELP, again. Please contact the Milwaukee County Supervisors and ask them to consider the adverse impact the Estabrook Dam has on the Milwaukee River and environment, and to remember that the Estabrook Dam was officially declared a public nuisance by Milwaukee County District Court over two years ago. The County has an obligation under the Court’s order and a civic duty to its citizens to abate the nuisance. Removal of the Dam is the only option that will permanently abate the nuisance.

[/wr_text][/wr_column][/wr_row][wr_row width=”boxed” background=”none” solid_color_value=”#FFFFFF” solid_color_color=”#ffffff” gradient_color=”0% #FFFFFF,100% #000000″ gradient_direction=”vertical” repeat=”full” img_repeat=”full” autoplay=”yes” position=”center center” paralax=”no” border_width_value_=”0″ border_style=”solid” border_color=”#000″ div_padding_top=”10″ div_padding_bottom=”10″ div_padding_right=”10″ div_padding_left=”10″ ][wr_column span=”span12″ ][wr_accordion div_margin_top=”0″ div_margin_left=”0″ div_margin_bottom=”25″ div_margin_right=”0″ initial_open=”1″ multi_open=”no” filter=”no” appearing_animation=”0″ ][wr_item_accordion heading=”Facts about the EastBrook Dam” disabled_el=”no” ]Quick Facts about Estabrook Dam: 1) Milwaukee County built the Estabrook Dam in 1937 to elevate water levels for recreation (following some blasting of bedrock to alleviate flooding). Milwaukee County failed to maintain and repair the Dam per State Dam Safety regulations over the years. In 2009, the gates were ordered permanently open by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) due to hazardous conditions.
2) Recent studies of the Dam have shown that it increases flooding upstream, poses a liability for Milwaukee County, and will lead to increased flood insurance costs for upstream residents. 3) The ecological health created by a free flowing river offers greater long term value than maintaining the present impoundment behind the dam. Dam removal will:

4) Over $8 million has been spent upstream to improve access for fish to spawning habitat via dam removal and construction of fish passage structures. The removal of the Estabrook Dam would expand the benefits of those projects. 5) County consultants estimate it will cost 3 times as much to repair than remove the Dam if maintenance costs of $2.6 million are included for the next 20 years (the estimated life expectancy of the Dam). These costs do not include the administrative costs associated with state and federal permitting required for the Estabrook Dam.[/wr_item_accordion][wr_item_accordion heading=”How you can help” disabled_el=”no” ]How You Can Help!
1) Contact your County Supervisor and the County Executive and tell them that Estabrook Dam should be removed (contact info below). The County Board Parks, Energy and Environment Committee will vote on a “preferred alternative” for the Dam at their meeting on Tuesday, September 9th. The full Milwaukee County Board will vote on their preferred alternative in October. Public comments on the draft EA will be accepted by the County through September 17th at surveymonkey.com/s/EstabrookDamComments. 2) Attend the County Parks, Energy, and Environment Meeting on Tuesday September 9th. The Agenda is posted one week in advance, but this meeting typically begins at 9 AM at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, Room 301-B. 3) The WDNR and Bureau of Land Management (who owns some of the land the dam sits on) have both indicated that they will hold a public hearing to fulfill state and federal permitting requirements pertaining to dam operations and construction. We will publish information as it becomes available. 4) To receive more information, please email: christina@milwaukeeriverkeeper.org and keep up-to-date on our facebook page, or our website at: christina@milwaukeeriverkeeper.org and keep up-to-date on our facebook page, or our website at: https://milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/content/estabrook-dam-removal.”>https://milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/content/estabrook-dam-removal. Milwaukee County Board Contact Information: To find your supervisory district go to: http://www.findyourcountysupervisor.com/search.aspx *You are able to email all Supervisors at once by emailing: cboard@milwcnty.com

Mailing Address:

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MILWAUKEE (Thursday, January 29, 2015) — This morning, Theo Lipscomb introduced an amendment to a 2015 capital improvement bonding resolution in front of the Finance Committee that would flip the policy of the County from removal to repair of the Estabrook Dam. This amendment was passed by the Finance Committee, 5-2 and will need to go to the full County Board of Supervisors next week at their regular meeting on Thursday, February 5 at 9:30 a.m. to become final. This is indicative of the nonsense and dysfunction around this issue perpetuated by a minority of Supervisors.

The County was ordered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to repair or abandon the dam on July 28, 2009 (following previous requests for repairs in 1995 and 2004 that went unheeded) requiring the Dam to be drawn down immediately and kept open until the Dam was repaired or abandoned due to the Dam being deemed “dangerous to life, health, and property”. The original 2012 deadline was extended twice by WDNR to December 2014, and now, to December 2016. Initially, the County Board set a policy of repair of Estabrook Dam due to pressure from upstream homeowners. Since then, however, the Board of Supervisors were educated on the real costs to taxpayers and negative environmental impacts of keeping the 78 year old Dam, and the policy was switched to removal. Now, a small group of supervisors are trying to flip the policy back to repair and completely disregard relevant information and overwhelming public support for Dam removal.

Milwaukee Riverkeeper is asking the Milwaukee County Supervisors to consider the adverse impact the Estabrook Dam has on the Milwaukee River and environment, and to remember that the Estabrook Dam was officially declared a public nuisance by Milwaukee County District Court over two years ago. The County has an obligation under the Court’s order and a civic duty to its citizens to abate the nuisance.

Removal of Estabrook Dam is currently the only option that will permanently abate the nuisance. Removal is best for water quality, fisheries and the taxpayer, and would restore the natural and wild aspect of the Milwaukee River in the Estabrook and Lincoln Park areas, improving recreational opportunities and improving water quality. Overall, the ecological health created by a free flowing river offers greater long term value than maintaining the impoundment and continuing the nuisance.

Repair of the Dam is three times more expensive than dam removal when operation and maintenance costs are included over the next 20 years. These costs do not include costs for any future dredging from sedimentation or other unplanned contingencies, such as a breach to the almost 80 year old structure. The Dam’s estimated life expectancy is 100 years or 20 years from now. If repaired, County taxpayers will pay more than $5.1 million now, plus a much larger amount in the future to either remove, repair, or rebuild the Dam. In other words, we will be back here in 10, 15 or 20 years from now with a much bigger price tag if the Dam is repaired.

The majority of the general public supports removal of Estabrook Dam. The Milwaukee County Parks Department and County Executive favor removal. An Environmental Analysis shows that the Dam could significantly increase flooding upstream during the 100-year storm if all dam gates cannot be opened. Historically, the Parks Department has not had staff to operate the Dam. If electricity is lost during a storm, the gates need to be raised manually, and historically, there have been problems opening the gates. The liability for the County from the Dam is too great.

Insurance providers view the Dam as a flood risk, and property and flood insurance premiums for homeowners have sky-rocketed preventing many homes from selling in the area. Dam removal would lower water levels during the 100 year storm by up to 1.5 feet closest to the Dam, likely reducing flood risk upstream, and the need for many homeowners to purchase costly flood insurance.

Milwaukee Riverkeeper is hopeful that the majority of the Supervisors will do the right thing for the economy, the river, property owners, and the taxpayer and abate the nuisance once and for all.

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