Committee approves MMSD green-infrastructure grant easement and two We Energies utility easements

The Parks and Culture Committee approved three separate land-use items affecting park property: acceptance of a Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) grant for green infrastructure in Washington Park with a 20-year conservation easement to MMSD, and authorization to grant two permanent utility easements to We Energies to relocate electrical feeders in Wauwatosa and Oak Creek.

Contracts manager Robert Singlaub told the committee the MMSD project will install stormwater-capturing native landscaping in Washington Park. The Urban Ecology Center will operate and maintain the green-infrastructure installations; the county will grant a 20-year conservation easement to MMSD that requires the recipient to preserve and maintain the installations. The Urban Ecology Center will be responsible for performance monitoring and upkeep for the 20-year term.

Separately We Energies requested permanent underground-utility easements to replace overhead feeders. The Watertown Plank/Mayfair Road easement is approximately 10,200 square feet (about 0.23 acre); the negotiated county compensation at $1.60 per square foot is $16,320. The Nicholson/Ryan Road easement in Oak Creek is approximately 34,104 square feet (about 0.48 acre). At the negotiated rate of $1.60 per square foot that project equates to approximately $54,566 in compensation to the county (area and per-square-foot rate described in committee presentation). Both We Energies easements will be installed using directional boring and include the standard negotiated easement terms described by parks staff.

All three items were recommended by Parks staff; each passed on roll-call votes (all recorded as 7 ayes, 0 noes). Parks staff said that any required utility easements or right-of-entry agreements for city or utility work will come before the committee if formal easements are required.