Committee recommends adoption of Milwaukee County 2024 CMAR confirming sewer compliance actions

Milwaukee County’s Committee on Community, Environment and Economic Development recommended adoption of a resolution acknowledging review of the county’s 2024 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report, known as the CMAR, which documents actions to bring the county’s sanitary sewer collection system into compliance with state requirements.

Eliza Ramirez, civil engineer with Milwaukee County Architectural & Engineering (A&E), told the committee the CMAR documents goals to comply with Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit conditions, to minimize preventable overflows, to maintain and improve system reliability, and to reduce health risks from overflows. Under a stipulated agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the state Attorney General’s office, the county must file an annual CMAR and meet specific objectives on a timetable to avoid penalties, Ramirez said.

Ramirez described routine activities the county performs to meet goals: manhole and pipe inspections, rehabilitation of assets as needed, and completing related activities annually or within 18 months of identifying repairs. She said prior capital budgets included funding for these efforts but that no funds are proposed for 2026 because of surplus from previous years. The county’s annual sewer rehab contracts include a 25% Targeted Business Enterprise (TBE) goal.

On a motion by Supervisor Gomez Tom, the committee voted 5–0 to recommend adoption of the resolution acknowledging review of the CMAR. No members of the public spoke on the item.