County Board rejects Waukesha's water plan

Published on: 4/22/2010

The Milwaukee County Board voted Thursday to oppose Waukesha's plan to use county streams to send treated wastewater to Lake Michigan, with concerns raised over potential pollution and flooding damage.

The board's 13-3 vote came after supervisors said waiting to take a stand on the plan was unwise. Waukesha officials had asked Milwaukee County to hold off on a decision for a month so they could make a detailed presentation of a plan to purchase lake water from the City of Milwaukee and pipe back treated effluent to the lake via Underwood Creek.

County Executive Scott Walker said he would veto the board's move, calling it a "knee-jerk reaction that flies in the face of regional cooperation." Nonetheless, enough supervisors oppose the Waukesha water plan now to override a Walker veto.

Waukesha wants lake water because of radium pollution in its underground water supply.

Waukesha has already submitted its lake water plan to the state Department of Natural Resources for approval but did not discuss it with Milwaukee County until opposition began to surface this month, said Supervisor John Weishan Jr.

"They do not care about the concerns of Milwaukee County," he said. Others were equally blunt.

"Why should I trust them?" said Supervisor Mark Borkowski. "Our job is to protect Milwaukee County."

Supervisor James "Luigi" Schmitt said Wauwatosa's $150 million flood-control project could be jeopardized by the Waukesha water plan. Underwood Creek flows through Wauwatosa. Waukesha officials have said they would not discharge effluent to Underwood Creek during rainstorms.

"They get the water and we get - I don't want to say it - we get everything else," Schmitt said.

The treated effluent would be cleaner than flows that are now in the creek, according to Dan Duchniak, manager of Waukesha's water utility. He called Thursday's County Board action "disappointing."

The practical impact of Thursday's County Board move is unclear. Waukesha needs DNR approval, as well as signoff from the Great Lakes states for an exception to restrictions on diversion of lake water. Milwaukee County can't directly block the water sale.

Mental Health Complex. Also Thursday, the board declined to bring up a plan to more closely monitor patient assaults at the Mental Health Complex, but the idea is expected to be reviewed over the next month. Six supervisors wanted to expedite consideration of the plan Thursday, based on reported assaults of patients at the complex last year.

A federal investigation in January found multiple instances of patient sexual assaults last year and threatened to cut off millions in aid to the county. The complex was faulted for inadequate safeguards, including incomplete patient care plans, skipped medical exams and staff unaware of hospital policy banning patient sex. One patient became pregnant last summer after reporting wanted and unwanted sexual contact with another patient with a history of sexual aggression, according to a federal inspection report.

A re-inspection of the Mental Health Complex on March 22 "found that the deficiencies which led to our (aid) termination action have been corrected," according to an April 14 letter to the county from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The county filed a corrective action plan that involves more staff training on patient abuse policies, better monitoring and more thorough documentation of problems.

Supervisor Lynne De Bruin said she was concerned that wasn't enough. She is calling for mandatory reporting to law enforcement of suspected patient abuse, creation of a "multi-disciplinary response team" to review all assault reports and a county audit of the problem.

She said the Mental Health Complex administrators had not dealt with the assault issue fully and that additional oversight was needed to protect patients.

Security contract. The board deferred action on hiring the private G4S Wackenhut company to take over prisoner transport duties for the county, sending the matter to two committees for more study. Supervisors raised questions about the $643,000 in estimated 2011 savings from the move.

The delay also followed last week's removal of a Wackenhut employee whowas supervising courthouse and other county building security. Walker ordered Chad Wegener dumped after disclosure that he had five misdemeanor convictions while serving as a small-town police chief.

Sheriff's Inspector Kevin Carr said the Sheriff's Department would do criminal background checks of anyone proposed to be hired by Wackenhut for inmate transport.