Public Works Committee hears Milwaukee Water Works update, sets private-side average at $3,999 for lead service-line replacements

The Public Works Committee on March 20 heard a semiannual report from Milwaukee Water Works on its lead service-line replacement program and voted to set the average private-side replacement cost at $3,999 for 2025.

Committee Chair Alderman Jose G. Bauman convened the discussion and Patrick Pauley, Milwaukee Water Works superintendent, and Michelle Natarajan, water quality manager, presented program progress, testing results and financing details. Alderman Lamont Westmoreland moved to recommend adoption of the substitute resolution that establishes the annual average private-side amount; the motion was adopted without objection.

The update described the utility’s inventory work, testing practices and the program’s scale-up. Pauley said the utility submitted a comprehensive service-line inventory to the Wisconsin DNR last year as required under recent Lead and Copper Rule revisions and has posted the inventory on its website. He told the committee the 2025 budget plans for about 3,500 total replacements, of which roughly 2,300 are in the prioritization program administered by the city’s owner-representative. He also said replacements have accelerated: “we surpassed 9,000 services as of the end of last year,” and the utility expected to reach 10,000 replacements in early May 2025.

Pauley reported that contractor experience and higher volumes have reduced per-service costs; "the cost for a total replacement 5 year average is now 8,441," he said. The committee adopted the required annual figure for the private-side maximum payment by property owners: $3,999 for 2025. Pauley said the ordinance now requires the property owner to be charged the lesser of the actual private-side contractor cost or the published annual average.

On testing and water quality, Natarajan described the three-bottle sampling protocol used after service-line replacements (stagnant-home sample, a sample intended to represent service-line water, and a sample representing water from the main). She said most childcare-site tests were below 2 parts per billion, and that average sample results across the program were below 5 ppb. She noted a small number of post-replacement samples exceeded the internal action level (10 ppb), and in those cases staff offered customers flushing/fixture cleaning and retesting; in most retests levels fell precipitously.

Committee members pressed staff on whether removed lead pipes are recovered and recycled. Pauley said crews generally leave the larger lengths of old lead in the ground because soil conditions and construction methods make full removal impractical; small exposed sections removed at the connection are recycled where feasible. In response to a finance question, Pauley described federal infrastructure funding and state-administered Safe Drinking Water loan/principal-forgiveness arrangements that reimburse the city for much of the public- and private-side replacement costs and said the state has received federal allocations and is reimbursing the city on a periodic basis.

The committee also discussed outreach and notifications required by the Lead and Copper Rule changes, including annual mailings to properties with known lead services and to properties where the service-line material is unknown. Pauley said the utility is asking residents with unknown internal service-line materials to provide photos to help reclassify those services.

The committee’s formal action on the agenda was the substitute resolution establishing the 2025 average private-side cost at $3,999; Alderman Westmoreland moved to recommend adoption and the motion carried by unanimous voice vote ("hearing no objection, so ordered").

The department said it will continue contractor oversight, customer outreach and sampling with the DNR-required inventory updates and compliance testing schedule.

Speakers

- Patrick Pauley — Waterworks superintendent (government). First referenced at 1592.19. - Michelle Natarajan — Water quality manager, Milwaukee Waterworks (government). First referenced at 1598.67. - Alderman Jose G. Bauman — Chair, Public Works Committee (government). First referenced at 0.40. - Alderman Lamont Westmoreland — Vice chair, Public Works Committee (government). First referenced at 11.68. - Alderman Andreada Pratt — Member, Public Works Committee (government). First referenced at 11.68. - Alderman Wilent Taylor — Member, Public Works Committee (government). First referenced at 29.80.

Authorities

- regulation: Lead and Copper Rule revisions / Lead and Copper Rule improvements (referenced by Patrick Pauley) - agency: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) (referenced by Patrick Pauley) - law: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (federal) / Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (referenced by Patrick Pauley)

Actions

- kind: other identifiers: {agenda_item_id:"241703"} motion: "Adopt substitute resolution establishing the 2025 average private-side cost for lead service line replacement at $3,999." mover: "Alderman Lamont Westmoreland" second: "not specified" vote_record: [] tally: {} outcome: "approved" notes: "Adopted by voice vote; committee recorded 'hearing no objection, so ordered.' The ordinance requires owners be charged the lesser of actual private-side cost or the annual average."

Clarifying_details

- {"category":"2025_budget","detail":"Total replacements budgeted","value":3500,"units":"services","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Patrick Pauley"} - {"category":"prioritization_program","detail":"Properties in prioritization program for 2025","value":2300,"units":"properties","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Patrick Pauley"} - {"category":"program_progress","detail":"Replacements completed as of end of 2024","value":9000,"units":"services","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Patrick Pauley"} - {"category":"per_service_cost","detail":"Five-year average cost for a full public+private replacement","value":8441,"units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Patrick Pauley"} - {"category":"annual_private_side_average","detail":"2025 annual not-to-exceed private-side average established by committee","value":3999,"units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Patrick Pauley"}

Proper_names

[{"name":"Milwaukee Water Works","type":"agency"},{"name":"City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works","type":"agency"},{"name":"Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources","type":"agency"},{"name":"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance

{ "geographies": ["Milwaukee"], "funding_sources": ["Bipartisan Infrastructure Law / federal funding","State SDWLP principal forgiveness"], "impact_groups": ["residential property owners","childcare facilities","school populations"] }

Meeting_context

{ "engagement_level": {"speakers_count":6,"duration_minutes":120,"items_count":2}, "implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2024-10-01","note":"Comprehensive service-line inventory submitted to DNR."}]}

Topics

[{"name":"lead-service-line-replacement","justification":"Core subject: program progress, testing, costs, and an adopted fiscal figure for private-side cost","scoring":{"topic_relevance":1.00,"depth_score":0.90,"opinionatedness":0.05,"controversy":0.30,"civic_salience":0.95,"impactfulness":0.90,"geo_relevance":1.00}}]

Provenance

{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"1592.1901","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"Patrick Pauley, waterworks superintendent. ... we're here to present the semi annual lead service line replacement report.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"3916.1648","local_start":0,"local_end":140,"evidence_excerpt":"... the new dollar amount for 2025 is $3,999 That's a reduction of $360 from 2024. ... Alderman Westmoreland moves to recommend adoption of this item. And hearing no objections to that, so ordered.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]}