Board OKs contract for PWHS hill stabilization

The Port Washington-Saukville School Board on Monday voted to pay a Cedarburg firm as much as $171,536 to stabilize a hill on the south side of Port Washington High School that collapsed in spring after torrential rain, covering a road below with mud and trees and damaging the adjacent city swimming pool complex.

Not included in that amount is money for a chain-link fence at the bottom of the hill and landscaping or the $38,100 the School Board agreed in July to pay an engineering firm to draft requests for proposals, review them and oversee the work.

The hill work is expected to be done in November.

When the hill collapsed on May 18 after heavy rain that caused flooding in areas throughout the city, there was concern that work done on the high school in 2017 and 2018, which included the construction of a large gym and cafeteria on top of the hill, may have compromised the slope and changed the water runoff dynamics.

But Miller Engineers and Scientists found no connection between the work and hill collapse and concluded instead that deposits of silt and sand in the lower two-thirds of the slope, which hold up a heavy layer of clay, became saturated and unstable, causing the collapse.

Michael Gasper, a Port Washington alderman and member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board who spoke during the public comments portion of Monday’s meeting, said he’s not convinced the school project didn’t contribute to water runoff and erosion problems.

“It’s quite a coincidence that the problems began the moment the school was redone,” Gasper, who is an engineer, said, adding he was not speaking on behalf of the city. 

Jim Froemming, the School District’s director of business services, said, “He (Gasper) is correct that the hill didn’t destabilize before the rebuilding of the high school, but our experts did not find a connection between the project and the destabilization.”

Gasper noted the city did not open the swimming pool this summer because of the pandemic but said even if it weren’t for Covid-19, the pool would have had to remain closed because of damage from the hill collapse. It’s important the hill and runoff problems are corrected so the pool can open next summer, he said. 

In addition to covering a city road that runs along the north side of the outdoor swimming pool to the Parks and Recreation Department office with a mountain of mud, the hill collapse damaged curbing on the road and a piece of pool equipment and destroyed a section of fence around the pool.

To stabilize the slope, WSO Grading & Excavating of Cedarburg will construct a treated timber retaining wall at the top of the hill. Below that, geotextile fabric and stone will be used to prevent erosion.

In response to city concerns about the use of rocks on the hillside, the School District plans to erect a chain-link fence at the bottom of the hill and plant vegetation among the rocks.

“Because they decided to essentially cover the hillside with rocks, we raised concerns that some of those rocks could find their way into the pool,” Rob Vanden Noven, the city’s public works director, said in an interview. “They are addressing those concerns, which is important to us.”

When asked if the city was satisfied with the School District proposal, Vanden Noven noted the plan is not subject to city approval and said, “I’m satisfied what they are planning to do is geo-technically sound.”

In approving the contract for the project, the School Board chose an option that is about $20,000 more expensive than the base bid in order to stabilize a slightly larger section of the hill. 

The board decided to pay for the work with money from the district’s $6 million fund balance account.

Board member Aaron Paulin voted against awarding the contract without explanation. He did not return messages earlier this week.