Town gets OK to try to purchase blighted parcels

Electors in the Town of Fredonia have given the Town Board the authority to acquire the long-embattled Waubeka Mill and Button Factory along the Milwaukee River.

If and when the properties are obtained from owners Charles Sheridan and his son, the town plans to turn them over to Ozaukee County, which has said it would use a grant to transform the land into a public park.

The vote at the May 27 electors meeting was 23-10, which came until after nearly an hour of discussion and debate.

Town Chairman Chris Janik said since the partial collapse of the mill last year and an edict from the fire department that the building has become a hazard, the town has been seeking ways to clean up the property.

The cheapest option is to partner with the county, he said, “because they have access to grant funds to do cleanup work.”

But the clock is ticking. An agreement needs to be reached on the ownership transfer of both sites before June 15 for the county to receive a $142,800 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to assess whether the properties are brownfield sites in need of remediation. The grant is dependent on the property owners giving permission to access the site.

The town was ready to buy both properties for $45,000 as of last month, but Sheridan changed his mind, Janik said.

Another, although more costly, option is for the town to exercise its power of eminent domain, which allows governments to take private property for public use as long as owners receive fair market value. The process, Janik said, involves getting an appraisal. If one party doesn’t like the number, another appraisal is done. Negotiations eventually land in a county committee and can involve court and attorney fees.

Janik said the appraisal of both properties is zero since cleanup work costs more than they’re worth.

“It sounds like we’re on a dead end with two weeks (to go) and he’s not cooperating,” former town chairman Lance Leider said during the public comment session at the electors’ meeting. “I think the electors should put a cap on this.”

Christine Luft argued against the purchase.

“Do you want the town in the real estate business using our tax dollars? No,” she said.

Patricia Binkowski said she doesn’t understand what makes the properties so toxic.

“This is just a building sitting there and people shouldn’t be going on other people’s properties,” she said.

Jessi Schweiger said the buildings attract rats, cats and raccoons and emit a foul smell.

“As wonderful as the history has been, it is a mockery right now and we’re a laughing stock,” she said.

Town Plan Commission member Tom Mishefske, who said he used to be a licensed construction inspector and has signed hundreds of condemnation orders, said both buildings could be condemned “without a doubt.”

He supports the town taking ownership of the properties and turning them over to the county so the buildings can be razed. He suggested that town costs be deducted from the purchase price.

“(Sheridan) owes the town for installing barricades four or five years ago. He’s never for paid that. The town installed that fence that’s out there. He has never paid for that,” Mishefske said. “There’s been ongoing cleanup costs and other costs that the town taxpayers have been paying. All of those fees, along with attorney’s fees, need to be deducted from whatever paycheck he gets at the end of the day.”

Leider suggested capping the purchase price in the electors’ resolution. Janik said he wanted to leave that to negotiations.

“The town, from my part and everybody who sits up here, is pretty darn frugal and is looking for the best way to approach this,” Janik said. “I hate spending money, but it’s gotta be spent.”

Sheridan’s latest of many plans for the Button Factory is to turn it into a kayak school and launch.

He bought the Button Factory in a 1990 auction from Ozaukee County and the mill in 2019 for $1,000, later turning it over to his son.

Sheridan has been trying to turn the buildings into a number of businesses or residences for the past several years, but the largely dilapidated mill has asbestos, a cracked foundation, rotted support beams and a roof in need of repairs. Fuel leached into the ground below the road from a storage tank under the mill. Part of the roof once collapsed, exposing asbestos.

Sheridan tried to donate half the mill to the county but was denied. The county was only going to accept the entire building.

Years ago, Sheridan tried to have the Button Factory property rezoned to single-family residential, but the Plan Commission denied the request, citing the building’s location next to a floodplain and that it  doesn’t meet setback requirements.

Sheridan has sought investors to help him restore the foundation of the Button Factory, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, but has been unsuccessful.