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Resident tells committee mud and plugged catch basins flooded his storefront; committee to draft letter asking county, municipalities for more cleaning
Summary
At a Franklin City Waste Management Monitoring Committee meeting, resident TJ Stroking described repeated flooding and plugged catch basins he blames for mud and debris. Committee members agreed to draft a letter requesting more frequent street and ditch cleaning from county and municipal authorities.
TJ Stroking, a resident who addressed the Waste Management Monitoring Committee, said overflowing catch basins and mud from landfill truck traffic flooded his storefront basement "3 and a half feet of water." He told the committee he has contacted the DNR, the city and the county and that he still has a plugged pipe and persistent mud on nearby roads.
"The mud. The mud. I got an area in the back of my house that I've been trying to get cleaned out for the last 10 years," Stroking said during the public-comment period, describing repeated clean-up efforts he said cost him money.
Committee members heard details about blocked catch basins and local drainage features, including a pipe the resident said was hooked into a storm sewer near a storage unit and a former drainage district he described as effectively "disowned." Members also heard complaints that trucks from multiple waste haulers — including Waste Management and GFL — tracked mud and debris onto Highway 45, Loomis Road and other local roads, and that dumped tires and other trash have been left in roadside ditches.
Committee discussion focused on who is responsible for maintenance: the resident said he had been referred among city, county and state agencies when he sought help. A committee member noted that once stormwater leaves private property it becomes public and may be subject to easements and municipal maintenance, and another recommended using the committee's contacts to press for more frequent county maintenance.
"I would recommend since we got Waukesha County at the table that the committee makes the request that the street is cleaned and the ditches are cut more frequently than they are now," a committee member said, proposing the group ask for biannual or quarterly maintenance rather than the current once‑a‑year schedule for catch‑basin and ditch work.
The committee did not take a formal vote on a regulatory enforcement action at the meeting. Members signaled consensus to draft a letter to the relevant county and municipal authorities asking for increased sweeping, catch‑basin pumping and ditch cutting; a committee member said they would "figure out how to compose a letter." That direction was described as a follow‑up action rather than a formal motion recorded with a roll call.
The committee also discussed community cleanup and enforcement measures for illegal dumping, including contacting police with license plates when dumping is observed and coordinating Monday morning or Saturday cleanup efforts in municipalities bordering the landfill sites.
The monitoring committee noted that the drainage and road‑sweeping problems affect multiple jurisdictions (city, county and state roads) and that resolving them will likely require coordinated enforcement or funding decisions by those agencies. The committee scheduled its next meeting for August 7 and planned a site tour after that meeting.
