Town seeks solutions for shoddy retaining wall

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

Taking a look at the intersection at Karcher Road and Pheasant Run, most residents in the area are wondering just went wrong.

What was supposed to be a wood retaining wall at the home of Steve Graham has now turned into an eyesore, and Burlington Town Board members discussed several solutions June 12.

In the end, the board met with contractors and Town Engineer Tim Lynch again Monday morning, and a fix is planned to stabilize a project that has already begun falling apart.

The wooden retaining wall – designed to stabilize one side of Graham’s yard and also provide a clear view from traffic moving onto Karcher Road from Pheasant Run – will be stabilized by a series of anchors called “dead men” at its base, and a further field stone wall along with plantings will be added.

The cost of the additional work will be about $21,000 more than originally budgeted by the town, but the town has received a two-year guarantee on the work from the landscaper, Cedarburg Landscaping.

Lynch said work was expected to start on Wednesday, weather permitting.

At the monthly Town Board meeting last week, numerous residents showed up to discuss the problem that the wooden wall had become. Pieces of the wall had already fallen out, and the ground behind the wooden wall had shifted – shifting the wall with it.

The end result is a warped wall that one town resident called “horrendous.”

“I’m no professional when it comes to construction, but that’s horrendous,” Phil Peterson said.

The Town Board agreed. While the motion to make the fix was quickly made at the meeting, voting was pushed aside in favor of a long discussion.

“I’m uncomfortable making any further payments until we have these issues resolved,” said Town Board Member Jeff Lang.

The solution presented at the meeting did not initially involve placing the “dead men” as anchors. Instead, there would be a stone wall, terraced, with plantings to stabilize the soil. The wooden wall would remain, but be less visible because of the stone wall in front of it.

The eight-foot wall is of concern to Graham, who has two children and has worries that just about anything can go over the edge – including kids chasing a ball or riding a bike.

There will now be a fence placed at the top of the wall, and Graham said Monday evening that he was “much more happy” with the work that would be done now.

However, much of the discussion at the meeting involved making sure that there were avenues for the town if the solution did not work. With one option already a clear failure to both the board and residents, a resident bluntly asked if the town had its lawyer involved.

While a lawyer is an option, the Town Board also wanted to get a fix in place and get it done quickly. With the project already stretching well beyond the expected finish time, the board is now looking at the work being done by early to mid July. There was also some discussion about switching to another contractor, but it would have lengthened the time of the project.

But at the same time, a clear consensus was reached by the board, because it seemed no one wanted to be coming back again with a failure.

“I want this thing to work,” Lang said. When Viki View Peterson called the proposed solution a Band-Aid approach, the conversation shifted to an additional meeting Monday so the contractor could be included.