County hires firm to assess Waubeka Mill site pollution

Ozaukee County supervisors have agreed to hire a firm to assess the level of pollution at the Waubeka Mill and Button Factory.

The bid from LF Green Development of Milwaukee was $95,000, the lowest of the four bids received, and was approved by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) as their proposal met all the necessary requirements, according to a memo to the county Natural Resources Committee, which approved the bid earlier this month.

The work to evaluate and remediate the property is being financed by a $182,800 WEDC grant.

LF Green officials verbally noted that demolition costs “could increase depending on findings of the initial assessments and associated remediation actions ultimately required,” according to the memo.

The committee therefore also voted that the contract include a $87,800 contingency fund to cover potential change orders or increased demolition costs. 

Last month, the Ozaukee County Board voted to accept ownership of the dilapidated mill and Button Factory buildings in Waubeka from the Town of Fredonia, with an eye toward creating a riverside kayak launch.

The town bought the two buildings and one acre of land along the Milwaukee River for $40,000 last year from Charles Sheridan and his son.

The county contributed $38,700 in matching funds to obtain the WEDC grant. 

If remediation costs exceed the grant, the county likely will be liable for those costs, County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told the County Board.

The dilapidated mill has asbestos, a cracked foundation, rotted support beams and a roof that is partially collapsed. Fuel also has leached into the ground below the road from a storage tank under the mill.

A portion of the mill collapsed in 2024, causing part of Mill Street to be barricaded for fear more could fall onto the roadway.

Both buildings stand in the river and are undevelopable.

The Button Factory is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town had threatened to exercise eminent domain, which allows governments to take private property for public use as long as owners receive fair market value, if Sheridan and his son didn’t sell the property.

Sheridan, who lives in Illinois, bought the Button Factory in a 1990 auction from Ozaukee County and purchased the mill in 2019 for $1,000, later turning that building over to his son.

Officials have said they envision a “kayak loop”  between Waubedonia Park and its campground in Fredonia and the mill and Button Factory.

The mill will likely be torn down but some remnant of the Button Factory would remain due to its historic status.

Development of the site as a park has not been approved.