Community Affairs Committee Agenda Packet for 7/26/22 Meeting.
Common Council as a whole will vote about which alternatives move on for deeper analysis on 8/2/22.
Did you know the Schoonmaker Creek on the south side of Lloyd continues underground through backyards between 67th and 66th from Lloyd to Garfield? For those of you who aren’t aware, the City of Wauwatosa will be taking on a project concerning the flooding of the whole watershed soon. Follow the details of the Schoonmaker Creek Watercourse System Planning on the city website here.
The Community Affairs Meeting, where the committee will review and likely vote on the various solutions for the Schoonmaker Creek, will be on July 26th at 7:30 pm at City Hall. Alderman Meindl believes there will be time for public comment. This committee will make recommendations to the whole council.
Please save the date and if you feel comfortable plan on attending to express your views on the acquisition of properties in Pabst Park. This project will be the largest infrastructure project the city has ever undertaken, and of course all options must be explored. However, some plans do include the removal of homes in Pabst Park. You can read the SERWPC report here.
The report might seem overwhelming, but we encourage you to consult it for the basis of this project. The flooding problem is not just the exposed creek in the Highlands. The watershed starts at Kops Park in Milwaukee and water drains from that point to the creek. Paul O’Keeffe from the Washington Highlands Association wrote a piece that was recently published in the Wauwatosa Neighborhood Association eBlast if you just want a brief overview.
How Will Schoonmaker Watershed Flooding Plans Affect Your Neighborhood?
Paul O’Keeffe leads the Schoonmaker Creek Committee for the Washington Highlands Association Board and is liaising with other neighborhood associations to find a solution that benefits every neighborhood in the watershed. Here is his summary of the creek watershed flooding situation:
Many East Tosa neighborhoods are in the Schoonmaker Creek Watershed. When it rains, water from these neighborhoods flows to the Menomonee River. In a hard rain, the underground pipes north of Lloyd are not large enough to carry the rainwater away, so there are considerable backups and flooding, including the neighborhoods north of Lloyd, south of Milwaukee Avenue and along State Street. The open creek in the Highlands regularly floods.
City staff is very aware of the problems with the stormwater design throughout the watershed. In 2019, SEWPRC (Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission) created a special report on the watershed and outlined 16 potential alternatives for flooding mitigation. These alternatives range in complexity and costs, including a number of alternatives that would entail purchasing and tearing down homes. One option is to create an open pond, nicknamed Lake Wauwatosa, in South Park of the Highlands. One house would need to be demolished and those living in Highland Park would be living downstream from a dam. Other alternatives impact neighborhoods in East Towne, Pabst Park and Inglewood that could impact up to 76 houses being demolished by creating open storage ponds. The good news is that the Engineering Department will not be recommending the destruction of property to create retention ponds.
The City Public Works Department is currently reviewing these options and will be presenting a narrowed-down list of options to further study at the July 26, 2022 meeting of the Community Affairs Committee. Further research and costing of those proposals would likely follow before presenting the financial implications of each option to the Finance Affairs Committee. This project will be the most expensive infrastructure project in the City’s history.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to Paul O’Keeffe at 6211 W Washington Blvd., paul@usafl.com or 414-460-4406, and plan to follow the July meeting of the Community Affairs Committee. Thank you, Paul!
If you are interested in forming a committee in Pabst Park about this project please reach out to Tammy Crouch at PabstPark@gmail.com.
Pabst Park Neighborhood Association 