Deal calls for county to own Waubeka Mill site

A committee of Ozaukee County supervisors last week approved a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Fredonia that states that the town will transfer the Waubeka Mill and Button Factory to the county for remediation and possible development of a county park.

The action brings the saga of the dilapidated properties one step closer to its conclusion.

The county has a $142,800 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to assess whether the properties are a brownfield site in need of remediation, and last month the town gave the county access to the property.

The town bought the two buildings and one acre of land along the Milwaukee River for $40,000.

The dilapidated mill has asbestos, a cracked foundation, rotted support beams and a roof in need of repair.

Fuel 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, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, fell through since it doesn’t meet setback requirements.

The town threatened to exercise eminent domain, which allows governments to take private property for public use as long as owners receive fair market value, if Charles 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 the mill in 2019 for $1,000, later turning that building over to his son.

In the MOU, the town asked the county to contribute half of the $40,000 purchase price.

Supervisors said no because the county has already invested $38,700 in remediation matching funds and more costs may follow.

“We don’t know the remediation costs yet, although we have a pretty good idea,” county Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck said. “We’ve already done a lot.”

Officials have suggested the two buildings and the one acre would be suitable for a kayak launch.

Struck said he envisions a “kayak loop”  between Waubedonia Park and its campground in Fredonia and the mill and Button Factory.

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

He added that a small parking lot would be developed as well.

“There’s not a lot else we can do there,” he said, adding that it’s likely some signage would be added noting it was home to the mill and factory.

“We need to respect that,” Struck said,

Talk of another new park had some supervisors express concern over how much they were committing to in agreeing to the MOU.

“What are we committing ourselves to?” Supr. Tony Matera asked, noting that no plans for a park on the mill site have been approved.

The County Board will have to approve the MOU.