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Conservatively Speaking

State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.

Despite an approved Compact, Milwaukee holds a gun to New Berlin

By Mary Lazich
Monday, Jul 28 2008, 12:55 PM
 

I must admit I was taken aback when I read the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel that Milwaukee is negotiating with New Berlin to sell Milwaukee water. The price tag would be hefty $1.5 million one time fee in addition to actual costs.

During the lengthy deliberations about the Great Lakes Compact, I made it clear that despite my reservations, I supported an effective document that was good for the Great Lakes, the state of Wisconsin, and would preserve our greatest natural resource.

Time and time again, I heard Compact proponents make the case that the Compact would address the water needs of New Berlin. The conventional wisdom was that the Compact needed to be approved quickly, and if it was, New Berlin’s water woes would be taken care of. Making those arguments were city of Milwaukee officials from Mayor Tom Barrett on down. They claimed the city of Milwaukee would no longer have issues with New Berlin getting water if Wisconsin would simply okay the Compact.

It seems that isn’t the case. Wisconsin has approved the Compact, but for the city of Milwaukee, on this critical public health issue, it’s still business as usual, imposing a hefty price tag for a community in desperate need of water. For the city of Milwaukee, it was never about the Compact. It was and remains a question of money and control over a suburb to the west.    

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Comments

The Nice Crowd   

It is typical Milwaukee if you ask me. Stick it to everyone because they still feel they can prevent people from moving to the suburbs.  If we have to pay the $1.5 million, that's fine, but let's quit dragging our feet and get this done now. If there would be a way for us to deal with Oak Creek or someone else, I would gladly do it.  However, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

July 28, 2008 1:42 PM

thecityisbetter   

Now let us look at the facts so I may educate you.

New Berlin has radium tainted ground water that is only becoming more concentrated, more dangerous.

It would cost $6,000,000 for equipment to remove radium from the water supply.

It will cost a one time fee of $1,500,000 and annually operating cost to cleanse the dirty water created in New Berlin and bring it back to where it belongs, Lake Michigan.

Now you can go to another lakeside community like Oak Creek.  But guess what? It will be more expensive and not receive the superior Milwaukee water treatment.

We Milwaukeeans are not even asking you white fighters to even look at water supply in an economical and social context.  So you can remain in your segregate bubble of suburban ‘bliss’.  Aren’t you lucky?  

So now that you are educated, I suggest you at least pretend to be grateful.

Prost!

July 31, 2008 9:19 AM

solomon juneau   

So much misinformation, so little time (and posting space). In order to receive Lake Michigan water from Milwaukee, there are certain REQUIREMENTS that must be met. These are called laws -- I'm sure you're familiar with them, seeing as how you are a State Senator -- and New Berlin has met NONE of them. The State (and Milwaukee) have required New Berlin to do a housing study; no thanks, said NB. A transportation study is also required; NB didn't do it. The $1.5 million is a very small price to pay -- this is for a 20-year contract! When Cleveland sold Great Lakes water to a suburb, it got $200,000 per year for 20 years -- that's more than $4 million. (And they took more than four years to work out the details, so Milwaukee has bent of backwards to do this at lightning speed, by comparison.) At the end of the day, New Berlin's only argument was, "We want the water, so you should give it to us." They didn't even pretend to care about following the water-sale requirements. And your mad at Milwaukee? YOU GOT YOUR WATER -- and you got it for an absolute bargain! Unbelievable.

August 3, 2008 9:12 PM

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