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Trustees unanimously adopt Sewer Pack plan expanding Menomonee Falls' sewer service area by about 33%
Summary
The Village Board unanimously adopted Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Community Assistance Planning Report No. 208 to amend the sanitary sewer service area, adding roughly 5,248 acres and increasing the village's eligible sewer service area to about 21,219 acres; staff noted allocation and capacity considerations and recommended negotiating allocations with Sussex.
Menomonee Falls trustees voted unanimously on Feb. 2 to adopt the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (Sewer Pack) Community Assistance Planning Report No. 208 (01/26/2026), which updates sanitary sewer service-area boundaries affecting Menomonee Falls and the village of Lannon.
Don Heckle, senior planner with Sewer Pack, summarized the draft update and said the two revisions before the board would add about 5,248 acres to the existing sewer service area, increasing the total to roughly 21,219 acres, "an increase of about 33% over the current sewer service area." He said Sewer Pack estimated the new residential areas would accommodate a build-up population of about 15,849 people and that the total proposed sewer service area buildout population is about 56,975 people based on the village's comprehensive plan.
Heckle also noted environmental features in the proposed area: about 3,752 acres of primary environmental corridor, 321 acres of secondary corridor, nearly 500 acres of isolated natural resource areas and about 400 acres of small wetlands or surface-water areas; overall, environmentally significant lands would make up roughly 26% of the SSA.
On wastewater capacity, Sewer Pack staff reported that the regional wastewater treatment plant's current average annual flow is about 2,890,000 gallons per day and that Menomonee Falls currently has an allocation of about 1,100,000 gpd to that plant. Heckle said the village's allocation would be exceeded by roughly 0.5 million gallons per day under the scenario examined and recommended negotiating an increased allocation with the Village of Sussex as the village approaches its current allocation.
Ben McKay, deputy director with Sewer Pack, flagged a recent map shading error in the draft report (areas near Lannon were mistakenly shaded) and said the version shown to the board corrects that issue; he emphasized the correction did not change boundaries and that commission staff will respond to the Village of Lannon's comments prior to commission action.
During board questioning, Village Manager Mark Critstero clarified that adopting the planning map makes properties eligible for sewer service but does not by itself compel immediate connection; where sewer is made available by infrastructure, new development is typically required to connect and local ordinances set the connection timeframe (Critstero said that timeframe has historically been about 10 years in similar situations).
Trustee Tanner moved to adopt the Sewer Pack report as a guide for the provision of sanitary sewer service within Menomonee Falls; the motion was seconded and passed by unanimous voice vote.
Next steps described by Sewer Pack staff include committee-level review by the commission's Planning and Research Committee and then full commission consideration, followed by DNR administrative approval.
