Long-awaited Waubeka Mill cleanup begins

Charles Sheridan was in Waubeka last week leading what he said was more than $40,000 in work to clear the debris of the collapsed west-side addition to the Waubeka Mill.

Sheridan said he plans to fence the mill property, which is owned by his son, and build a retaining wall to both support the now-exposed sagging west-end of the mill and fill the foundation with sand.

Ozaukee County Sanitation and Zoning Specialist Barry Sullivan said the fence project should be “easy” for Sheridan to receive a permit for, but said the latter request would be more of a process to see approved.

“We will work with him as long as he is willing to work with us,” he said.

Sheridan is only allowed to spend 50% of the structure’s value in repairs, Sullivan said. The fair market value of the building was last assessed at $2,540, so he can only complete $1,270 in repairs. 

Anything more than that and Sheridan would need a building code variance, which the county has repeatedly denied, saying the buildings are in a floodplain, have essentially no setback from either the road or river and are grossly out of code.

Meanwhile, the Town Board last week declined to issue a raze order on the properties. For the order to stand up in court, it likely would have required an engineering study, but the town has been unable to find a firm willing to complete it.

The board instead ordered Sheridan remove debris from Mill Street to allow for at least one-way traffic, build a fence around the property and hire an engineering firm to produce a report on the building, all of which Sheridan said he is willing to do.

If Sheridan complies with the order, as he appears to be doing, it will save the town the expenses of all of those projects, Town Clerk Christophe Jenkins said.

“To be blunt, we are letting him spend his own money,” he said. “It’s money the town doesn’t have to spend.”

Demolishing the buildings would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars — an amount that “would be extremely difficult to regain” by the town, he said

Jenkins said the town is also reluctant to get into a legal battle with Sheridan, who could challenge a raze order in court and launch appeals — a possibility Sheridan acknowledges.

“We are going to push back, we are going to stand up for our property rights,” he said.

  Nevertheless, Jenkins said the town is “getting serious now” about the mill, adding that while he acknowledges Sheridan’s good-faith efforts, he sees few paths forward other than demolition.

Sheridan, however, has maintained that both the mill and the Button Factory down the road, which he also owns, can be fixed. The Button Factory, he said, is in overall good condition and the mill simply needs its dilapidated additions cleared and the main structure patched up.

One section of the mill’s east-side addition is cleanly punched through. Sheridan said he imagines cutting away the structure from the hole to the edge of the pier towards the lake for use as an outdoor patio.

He said patrons of the mill, if it was converted into a restaurant, could sit out there and “have a nice big beer.”

Sheridan estimates that stabilizing the mill would cost about $200,000. He said funding for the work is coming in chunks from other real estate deals.

Town residents criticized the condition of the buildings at the Town Board meeting last week, arguing that they are an eyesore and safety hazard and could attract vandalism.

One resident said the mill “smells like a cesspool, like a New York subway” and guessed the wind would catch the open side and blow the structure down soon.

Sullivan said the county has a standing offer to pay for the cost of demolition of the buildings, which would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if Sheridan donates them.

“If he is willing to come forward and say, ‘OK, I’m done,” Sullivan said, then the county Planning and Parks Department would “seriously consider” the donation.

The county proposes putting a boat launch where the Button Factory is and a parking lot where the mill is.

The mill has led Sheridan on some misadventures over the last few weeks.

While inspecting debris from the west-side addition that collapsed late last month, Sheridan called the Sheriff’s Office after seeing chains around portions of the structure he believed could have been used by a vandal to pull it down.

According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, the responding deputy observed the chains appeared to be holding up the structure and suspected no foul play.

Earlier this month, Sheridan posted on Facebook a request for a “talented video person” to help him create a documentary titled “This Old Mill” in the style of the PBS TV show “This Old House.”

He added that he planned to visit Northern Ozaukee High School to see if the school could facilitate student involvement in the project. A few days later, he posted that after “a long talk” with a school official, he was “unable to establish a working relationship.”

Sheridan offered to donate part of the mill property to the county last week for use as a kayak launch, which the county rejected.

Sullivan said it would only consider a donation of the entire mill and Button Factory properties.

Town and county officials have said they hope for a cooperative relationship with Sheridan.

“We’re trying to work with him the best we can. The ball has always been in his court,” Sullivan said. “He has been following the rules — for now.”