Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water And Sewer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pewaukee weighs Lisbon's request for municipal water service; council seeks legal, rate and repair clarifications
Summary
The council discussed a formal request from the Village of Lisbon to receive retail water service for a small area tied to quarry operations and PFAS-related well abandonment. No final commitment was made; staff were asked to obtain legal and PSC-related clarifications and return with specifics.
The Pewaukee Common Council spent a large portion of its Feb. 26 meeting discussing a formal request from the Village of Lisbon for retail municipal water service to a small area in Pewaukee's northeast.
City staff (Maggie, S5) said Lisbon submitted a formal request after earlier study and a public-works committee review. Staff reported the city is finishing a pilot study for PFAS treatment and plans to apply for a Safe Drinking Water loan in June; construction on the PFAS treatment system is expected to take about a year with the treatment plant online around mid-2027 — roughly the same time Lisbon expects new customers to be ready to connect.
"We are submitting an application in June to get a Safe Drinking Water loan for that project and we expect that construction is going to take about a year and would be online about mid-2027," staff said.
Council members raised several concerns: the city's current capacity with PFAS-affected wells, the long-term maintenance and replacement costs of infrastructure that the city would own, the possibility of increased pressure on Pewaukee ratepayers, and whether the Public Service Commission (PSC) or other regulators would allow any surcharge on out-of-jurisdiction retail customers.
Staff said Lisbon's plan envisions the village installing the main and then turning infrastructure over under contract terms; staff said the quarry has provided or offered funding to help pay for construction. A village representative (S3) said on the record that "the payment will come from the quarry. It will not be the property owners." Staff, however, said homeowners would still pay regular quarterly water bills once connected.
The council also discussed the potential benefits to local fire protection from additional hydrants and the long-run trade-offs of adding sparsely distributed customers versus denser developments. Staff said the PSC had indicated Lisbon would be treated as a retail customer and the city could not unilaterally impose an extraterritorial surcharge on retail customers.
Rather than deciding yes or no at the meeting, council members agreed to seek specific legal guidance and an analysis of rate impacts and repair-cost pass-through options. The mayor suggested asking whether the city could levy a surcharge (figures discussed included a hypothetical 15%) and whether future repairs could be passed through to the village under an intermunicipal agreement; council asked staff to obtain legal opinions and bring answers back. The council scheduled further review by staff and invited Lisbon officials to continue discussions.
No formal vote to accept service was taken; the council's direction was to gather targeted legal and rate information so Lisbon, Pewaukee and other potential suppliers (Sussex was mentioned as another option) can make a timely decision.
