News, Waterford

Waterway district delays drawdown

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

After going back and forth for about 45 minutes on the pros and cons, the Waterford Waterway Management District voted last week to postpone a possible drawdown of the Fox River within its borders.

The district had been pushing to start a drawdown in its coverage area – from Tichigan Lake and the related Fox River down to the Village of Waterford dam – in September.

However, with the district still waiting to receive its permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, several members of the board said it is prudent to hold off for at least a year.

The proposal was made at the meeting by Dave Spurlock, due to the timing of the project and the delay in getting the permit from the DNR. One of the other commissioners agreed the timing of the project was not ideal, and Chairman Barb Baron said there needed to be a cold winter to guarantee that weeds in the waterway would be killed.

Vice-Chairman Mike Waghorn started the conversation by saying he hadn’t expected the permitting process to take this long, and even if the permit is issued in the next few weeks, it would be too late for a 2016-17 drawdown.

“We have more time to educate people, we have more time to ease people’s concerns,” he said in regard to a possible delay.

Spurlock’s motion was to make the delay official, seconded by Don Baron, and after a long discussion – which included Waghorn saying he wants to make it clear the district would suspend the work for a year, not the permitting process – the motion was made to complete the permit process and then perform the drawdown no earlier than the 2017-18 season.

The vote was unanimous.

 

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At the beginning of the meeting, officials announced the district got its permit for the hydraulic dredging it is proposing within its boundaries.

“This is a gigantic, gigantic step for this district,” said Barb Baron, who added the next step would be to have riparian owners complete a survey to gauge reactions.

According to a press release the district sent out Tuesday, the survey will be administered by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Center for Political Science and Public Policy Research. The survey window will be Aug. 12 to 26, and replace the previously mentioned “straw vote” to gauge support.

Paper surveys will be available for those who do not have internet access, and will be controlled to assure one opinion per household. Informational meetings on the survey will be held Aug. 11 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Waterford Town Hall.

Barb Baron said at last week’s meeting the WWMD needed the public’s support to do the project, and cautioned the public should consider not only the potential cost to themselves, but also the improvement of the waterway.

“It should not be solely based on the dollar figure,” she said. “You’re not going to find people to do this over again,” referring to the 12-plus years the WWMD has put into moving ahead with the dredging.

Town of Waterford Chairman Tom Hincz made a public statement at the meeting criticizing the lack of support by the DNR for the waterway, which is one of three scenic urban waterways under their control.

“This isn’t anything the DNR has done for this waterway,” Hincz said, adding that he believes it is the DNR’s responsibility to pay for the dredging, not just permit it.

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