Report says mill in extremely bad shape but not a danger

A condition report on the Waubeka Mill reviewed by the Fredonia Town Board last week shows that the structure is in extremely poor condition but is not at risk of collapsing onto Mill Street.

“The old feed mill, while structurally distressed in several key areas due to water exposure and prior building alterations, does not currently present an immediate risk to public safety,” according to a report by Pewaukee-based Epang Engineering. “Temporary shoring and enclosure measures are strongly advised to prevent additional damage and to stabilize the structure for future occupancy or renovation planning.”

The Town Board has ordered Charles Sheridan, who along with his son own the mill and the Button Factory down the road, to contract the structural report last month in addition to removing debris from Mill Street to allow for at least one-way traffic and building a fence around the property.

While Sheridan has completed most of those conditions — spending by his estimation more than $40,000 in the process — the fence he put up around the west side of the building surrounds less of the building than town officials hoped for.

Town Chairman Chris Janik acknowledged Sheridan “has put some effort in,” but said the report is vague and the board wanted the fence to wrap around the mill.

The town requested the fence be extended by April 28.

Sheridan said the town’s fence proposal would be unduly expensive and unnecessary.

“They want it in the road. But why? What will that do for them?” he asked.

He said he wished the town would be clear in what it expects from him.

“Talk to me. What do you want me to do?” he asked.

Janik said he is willing to hear Sheridan out and sees some potential in the structure that county officials have said is a lost cause.

“It is in tough shape,” he said. “I’ve worked in construction for a long time and it takes a lot for a building to be too far gone — if you have the money to pay for it.”

Sheridan is only allowed to spend 50% of the structure’s value in repairs, Ozaukee County Sanitation and Zoning Specialist Barry Sullivan said. The fair market value of the building is $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.

Nonetheless, Sheridan said he plans to apply for a variance to build a retaining wall to support the now-exposed sagging west end of the mill and fill the foundation with sand.

The town has been reluctant to issue a raze order on the mill and Button Factory as the demolition would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars — an amount that “would be extremely difficult to regain,” Town Clerk Christophe Jenkins has said.

He 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.

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.

Sullivan said the county has a standing offer to pay for the cost of demolishing the buildings if Sheridan donates them to the county.

“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.