By S. Riley & R. Barrington
News-Chronicle
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt fired all seven members of the Green Bay Water Commission Monday evening apperently over dispute a on figures the comission was about to be present to the City Council.
The commission members, some of whom have served for nearly three decades, were told in a letter from Schmitt dropped off by police that their services were no longer needed. Schmitt said he will bring his new appointments to the Dec. 2 City Council meeting.
"I just didn't feel like we were making progress on a long-term plan for water," he said Monday night. "It just wasn't working.
"It's been three years of not a lot of progress.'
The Green Bay City Council agenda for tonight shows the Water Commission making a presentation to the Council, which Schmitt said in the letter will no longer happen.
"It's basically an announcement to the council on where we're at," he said before the firings were announced. "We worked last week and reviewed some things this morning I wasn't really happy with."
The Water Commission was going to recommend a proposal to the suburban Central Brown County Water Authority that does not increase rates to Green Bay users beyond the addition of $40 million to bring the city up to radium standards.
The proposal called for the suburbs to pay 25 percent more than the city's bulk rate to allow the city to build $78 million worth of upgrades to accommodate more water for the eight suburbs.
Schmitt said in the letter to commission members that the presentation failed to include $40 million in interest income and he couldn't allow it to be presented.
Commission finance director John Brogan said the mayor was told about the interest income - which would help stabilize rates for everyone, he said - but that an exact amount could not be determined because of fluctuating interest rates.
The 25 percent over bulk price was necessary to keep Green Bay from losing money on the deal, Brogan said.
"We told him that we did not include a factor for interest," Brogan said. "Is he the mayor of the suburbs? Isn't he the mayor of Green Bay?"
He said Schmitt first heard the proposal two weeks ago at a meeting with the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. He heard it again Nov. 11 at a Water Commission meeting, where Brogan said he agreed the proposal was the way to go.
On the Water Commission were representatives from four of the city's biggest water users, including Georgia-Pacific, Procter & Gamble, Wisconsin Public Service and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Two of the city's industrial customers pay nearly $1 million annually for water. Brogan said the city's top 12 users account for 45 percent of the city's water.
"If anything, this will wake up the 12 big users to come down on the (City) Council like mad," Brogan said.
Commission members included James Wiersma, Leon Engler, Brogan, Charles Parke, Brenda Mendolla-Buckley, Albert Toma and Carol Greenwood, who was replaced earlier.
Crunch time
Both Green Bay and the suburbs, along with more than 40 other communities in the state, have been forced to bring their water standards up to new radium levels by 2006. The authority has sent a plan with several options to the state Department of Natural Resources but must file a more specific plan at the start of the year.
"Early next year there's going to be a point where everyone has to determine what path they're going to pursue," said Don Swailes, chief of public water for the state's drinking water quality section.
There is a little flexibility in the upcoming deadline, up to a month or two, but the 2006 completion deadline is set in stone.
All of the suburbs have filed similar plans, showing they are looking for a common solution, but each of the agreements differs slightly because of the different situations in each community. They are waiting for the signed agreements back from the state Department of Natural Resources.
Schmitt said he met informally with Roy Simonson of De Pere, president of the Central Brown County Water Authority, Monday morning but that there were no serious talks.
"We're working internally," the mayor said. "We want good numbers, the right numbers, making sure we understand what the costs are and the bonding rates are. We're putting ourselves in their shoes."
Schmitt said the new commission has a good foundation to work on, thanks to the work of the Water Commission and its staff. He's confident the fresh ideas of lawyers and engineers will come together for an agreement that's fair to the city an the surrounding communities.
"The new commission is going to have to come up with the proposals pretty quickly," he said.
"It's the right time for a change," he added.
Most of the suburbs face severe radium problems from the ground water they use. Three options are still under consideration:
- Build a pipeline to Lake Michigan for suburban use only, costing in the neighborhood of $140 million.
- Buy untreated water from Green Bay's pipeline to the lake, which has to be expanded for city use and would have to be expanded even more for any suburban use for more than a few years. This would enable both sides to share the construction costs, but the suburbs would pay for water at a level 25 percent above the rate Green Bay's largest business users pay. The suburbs would likely also have to build a new treatment plant.
- Make a deal to buy treated water from Manitowoc, which has its own intake into Lake Michigan. The suburbs would pay for expansions at Manitowoc's treatment plant, pay for the water at an unstated markup above its bulk rate - lower than Green Bay's - and build a pipeline from Manitowoc to the town of Ledgeview. The two sides are in preliminary negotiations.
Simonson said the group's first priority for all the suburbs to commit to a contract agreement that would further solidify their union.
Green Bay's last proposal to the suburbs was not accepted, Simonson said. "We didn't feel that it was a long-term solution," he said. "Certainly we hope to make some decisions here in a timely fashion."
A look at Green Bay's estimated prices under different scenarios, as determined by the Water Commission:
1. Current rate per 1,000 gallons in 2003 for Green Bay users Bulk: $1.23
Retail: $2
2. Estimated Green Bay rates per 1,000 gallons after adding $40 million in needed improvements by 2006
Bulk: $1.56 or 27 percent over 2003
Retail: $2.57 or 27 percent over
3. Estimated impact on Green Bay rates if suburbs are served on the city's rates and terms by 2006
Bulk: none
Retail: none
4. Estimated impact on Green Bay rates if it were to agree with suburban demands to sell water at bulk rate under Public Service Commission review after adding $78 million for improvements by 2006
Bulk: $1.99 or 62 percent increase
Retail: $3.24 or 62 percent increase
Source: John Brogan, finance director, Green Bay Water Commission
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