By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
To say the issue with the East Troy Dam and whether to repair or remove it has been a hot-button topic in the community and at Village Board meetings over the past year is an understatement.
From residents who don’t want their tax dollars spent on repairing the dam and the resulting maintenance for years to come that the dam and lake will need, to the homeowners on East Troy Lake who just want the water back and the cattails gone, some village residents have a strong opinion about the future of the dam and surrounding area.
At the July 23 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Village Board decided to form an ad hoc committee to look into both the repair and remove options and present the board with a general plan for each next month.
The Village Board is asking for individuals interested in serving on the dam committee to send an email or submit a letter of interest to Village Administrator Eileen Suhm before Aug. 3. The board will appoint the committee members at the Aug. 6 meeting and they will have a short turn around to give their recommendations to the board because the village is facing a tight timeline in regard to the grant money from the DNR for repairing the dam.
“We have this Sept. 15 deadline so they need to be able to commit a few nights a week for three to four weeks to meet that deadline,” Suhm said Tuesday morning.
The Village Board is seeking candidates for the committee who are on both sides of the issue.
“When they send in their email or letter of interest we need them to indicate their position on the repair/remove debate and tell us their stance because we want to make sure it’s a balanced committee.”
Village Board President Scott Seager said the committee will be creating two plans for the dam, impoundment and surrounding area that will give the board a general idea of what the residents want the area to look like and what amenities they would like to have.
If the dam was repaired, some of those amenities could include a public beach and/or boat access, walking trails and more. If the dam is removed, the area also has potential for walking paths along the creek, parks and other amenities.
The Village Board members want to know what the public wants from the entire area, not just the dam and lake.
Seager said the village is in the position to take over the old Trent Tube property and what the residents want that land used for should also be considered in the plans for the dam, as the property is adjacent to the dam and East Troy Lake area.
“This is about the ultimate use of the entire area,” Seager said.
Trustee Matt Johnson said he believes it will cost less to repair the dam than to remove it in the short-run because the shoreline area will have to be restored. However, the long-term costs, which include continued dam maintenance and possible dredging would be higher.
While dredging is considered more of a want than a need, for the lake to be usable for recreational activities such as boating and swimming, some dredging would have to be done, according to Village Department of Public Works Director Jason Equitz.
The dam discussion got a little testy at times during the July 23 meeting, with a couple of the homeowners on the lake expressing frustration over the situation and Trustee Matt Johnson’s comment that many residents in the village that have spoken to him have said they don’t want to pay for the dam when they don’t benefit from it.
“Residents do benefit from it with the storm sewers,” East Troy Lake Association President Steve Rostkowski said.
Rostkowski went on to say that his yard is an open sewer now because the storm sewers were designed to empty into the lake, not land. He said he didn’t think the village had done enough in the past with the dam maintenance and wasn’t happy with what was going on now.
“Steve, I get your frustration, but I’m just trying to help you out here,” Johnson said. “We can sit here and talk past each other or we can work on a shared vision.”
The board decided the dam committee should consist of at least two Village Board members, a representative or two from the Parks and Recreation Department, representative from the East Troy Lake Association and interested village residents on both sides of the issue.
Emails and/or letters of interest to serve on the dam committee can be sent to Suhm at esuhm@easttroywi.gov or dropped off at Village Hall, 2015 Energy Drive.
Anyone wanting more information about serving on the committee should call Suhm at 262-684-5482 or Seager at 414-803-7130.
