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Muskego council defers Hillandale funding resolution after disputed language, ARPA concerns
Summary
The Muskego Common Council on Nov. 11 deferred action on a proposed amendment to a resolution authorizing funding for the Hillandale Drive water‑main project after heated debate over wording that council members and staff said could jeopardize American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
The Muskego Common Council on Nov. 11 deferred action on a proposed amendment to a resolution authorizing funding for the Hillandale Drive water‑main project after heated debate over language that council members and staff said could jeopardize American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Alderman Alden Decker presented a written amendment that would rename the measure the "Hillandale Drive Road and Watermain Project," remove an earlier $4,000,000 estimate from the preamble, and add a table showing total project cost of $3,764,499.75, ARPA funds of $2,630,006.78 and a budget shortfall of $1,134,492.97. "I would like to emphasize that the changes I'm recommending ... make it clearer that this is what the resolution is addressing," Decker said.
Several council members and city staff pushed back. City legal counsel warned that calling the work a "road" project could risk the city's ability to use ARPA funds, which the council was told are eligible for water‑main work but not for stand‑alone road repairs. "If you call this a road project, you may not be able to use the ARPA funds for that," a staff member cautioned, urging careful wording.
The amendment also included language saying a closed‑session consensus had approved funding; Alderman Schrader disputed that assertion on the record, saying, "There was no vote in closed session," and other members echoed that they had not approved funding in a closed meeting. City staff said there was no written resolution from any such closed‑session vote in the public record.
After procedural votes on narrower name changes failed, the council voted to defer the amendment so Decker, the city attorney and staff could reconcile the language and confirm that the proposed wording would not imperil ARPA eligibility. A roll‑call to defer the item carried unanimously. The council did not adopt any funding changes at the Nov. 11 meeting.
Next steps: the item was deferred for attorney review and rework; council members said they expect a cleaned‑up resolution to return to the agenda for formal consideration and possible amendment.
