Can city afford $17.5M Valley Creek project?

The Port Washington Board of Public Works on Wednesday, July 22, was expected to take action on a proposed timeline and budget for improvements to Valley Creek.

The improvements are aimed at creating an aesthetically pleasing and functional waterway, stretching from the city’s far north side south to Lake Michigan at Veterans Memorial Park.

The city has been working for years to find a solution to the issues plaguing the waterway, which are exacerbated during storms and have caused significant flooding in the area.

The presentation Wednesday was likely to mimic in part a discussion by the city’s General Government and Finance Committee earlier this month, prompted in part by questions from aldermen about funding and how much priority the city should place on the project.

The project thus far has been primarily funded through grants, and Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said he expects much of the cost of rehabilitating the waterway will continue to be paid that way.

It’s an expensive project, with an estimated total cost of $17.5 million.

Depending on funding, Vanden Noven said, work could begin next year in an area from Birchwood Hills to Hales Trail. That phase alone is estimated to cost $7.6 million.

The second phase, from Hales Trail to an area upstream of Lake Street, is estimated to cost $7.4 million, with the final phase, which will daylight the stream to Lake Michigan, estimated to cost $2.5 million.

Cost isn’t the only reason to phase the project, Sarah Majerus, the project manager with Stantec, the engineering firm hired by the city for the work, said.

There are also Department of Natural Resources restrictions on when work can be done in portions of the stream, she said, adding they hope to obtain a waiver to extend the usual June 15 to Sept. 15 timeline.

Ald. Deb Postl, a member of the General Government and Finance Committee, noted that recent heavy rains didn’t bring the surge of water down Valley Creek that the city has experienced in the past, likely due to retention ponds at the Vantage data center site.

“With those ponds in place, is there still a need to do so much work on Valley Creek?” Postl asked.

Majerus said that while the retention ponds will help mitigate flooding, it’s not enough.

The design of the project has been paid for with a $915,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $500,000 from the Wisconsin Coastal Management program.

So far, the city has obtained a $1.8 million donation from Vantage for phase one, and it could use $2.1 million from the data center tax incremental financing district as well.

It has submitted an application for a $3.8 million National Coastal Resiliency Fund grant and a $218,4000 Department of Natural Resources grant.

Another $750,000 from the Vantage donation and $7.9 million from the data center TIF could be used for the second and third phases, and the city has submitted applications for another $465,000 in grants. The city will also seek a $5 million National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant and a $4 million congressional allocation for this work.

In addition, the city has received a $375,000 grant to add bio-retention basins in Upper Lake Park and is applying for a $150,000 grant for that work.

If the city doesn’t receive all the grants it is seeking, it can delay portions of the work, or opt not to do the entire project, Vanden Noven said.

Ald. Dan Benning, chairman of the General Government and Finance Committee, said that he would prefer not to use as much of the TIF funding as allocated in the TIF plan.

“I know it’s a small number in regard to the whole thing, but we’re trying to end it (the district) as soon as possible,” he said. “It’s hard to swallow.”

The city has been working on the Valley Creek project since a 2018 flood caused significant damage to Veterans Memorial Park and the nearby Lighthouse Condominiums.

Not only does the city want to prevent flooding, it also wants to return the creek to a more natural state and in the process create a home for wildlife as well as increase public access to the waterway.