Mayor Fails to schedule a Public Hearing on MMSD 2020 Plan as requested by Common Council!
The Story: Definition: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District, aka MMSD.
March 2006, MMSD officials asked for input from participating municipalities regarding wants as of 2020. New Berlin public is assured that a local Public Hearing will be held in early 2007, and their input will be considered.
May 2007 Ruekert & Mielke Consultants apparently develop sewer plans for City of New Berlin. This plan is given to New Berlin Engineering Staff and to Mayor Chiavatero.
Mayor and Staff do not call for Public Hearing and do not notify aldermen. Plan sent to MMSD offices. MMSD officials have public hearing in Wauwatosa. Aldermen could not attend and MMSD approves district wide expansion program.
MMSD 2020Plan is sent to Department of Natural Resources for the DNR approval.
Common Council discovers that the MMSD 2020 Plans are in place and have reservations about many aspects. One of which appears that MMSD may charge land owners, in a newly approved sewer extension area, taxes retroactive to 2007, as soon as that area extension is approved.
New Berlin Common Council approves a resolution with, a 7-0 vote, at the September 11 meeting, which asked the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to hold off on the DNR approval until New Berlin can hold a Public Hearing.
Letter is sent on September 14, 2007, from Mayor Chiavatero's office to John Welcker , secretary of the Department of Natural Resources. No answer is received from the DNR and no follow-up letter is sent asking for the first letter's status.
New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government asked State Senator Mary Lazich in Late October to call the Secretary of the DNR and see what is happening and why the Common Council letter was never answered.
Mary Lazich found that Mr Welker was not the Secretary, had never seen the letter and and the new Secretary of DNR had never seen the letter. Mary Lazich asked the DNR on November 2, to Call Mayor Chiavatero and inform him that the DNR had granted an extension for written comments to November 30. This information appeared on my Blog site on November 5, 2007. There is much interest in MMSD 2020 Plan as evidenced by the 2797 "hits" on that article.
I asked Mayor Chiavatero on November 20 at the Budget Hearing, when the New Berlin, MMSD Public Hearing will be and he said the Council had not done anything on the matter, and it was too probably too late now.
This is absolutely unacceptable. Many people west of Calhoun and in other areas of the city that do not have MMSD sewers, have no septic problems, or have invested heavily in the new Wisconsin State Code approved alternatives. Now it appears that the City may be able to force sewers upon them regardless of their wishes.
Schedule a Public Hearing NOW and hear what we have to say!
Mayor Chiavatero should immediately contact the Secretary of the DNR and ask for an extension, because the DNR also either did not forward the original letter, or completely ignored it.
Ralph Heun, President NBCRG
