WELCOME TO RIVER HILLS, WISCONSIN
July 13, 2023
Dear Resident(s),
Well, the news this quarter is mostly about The Grove (the development on Brown Deer Road consisting of 51 luxury townhomes), water and the Public Service Commission. In addition, I wish to share a few observations on the River Hills Conservancy, which several Village Trustees toured last week, and some Village Hall updates.
THE GROVE
After many months of work with the City of Mequon, the Mequon Water Utility (MWU) and University School of Milwaukee (USM) and applications to the Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Water Utility and the Village received final approvals for the water main extension into the Village on June 30th. As you may know, the MWU supplies municipal water to parts of Bayside and will now run a water line under I‑43 West along Fairy Chasm to Spruce, then south to Greenbrook and west to the Northeast corner of the Village‑owned property consisting of 53 acres, which will then service the 51 homes in The Grove. The new water line will also continue down Fairy Chasm to the edge of USM’s property where it will snake through the USM campus to service its seven academic and athletic buildings until connecting back to the MWU at County Line Road. USM uses about 70,000 gallons of water a day, so moving it to municipal water will be a huge win for those residents in the area who draw water from wells. Under the terms of our Development Agreement with Cornerstone, the Village will also be bringing a sewer line to the property for the residents of The Grove.
Getting the permit from the PSC was the last major hurdle to the closing on the sale of the 25 acres to Cornerstone Development and I am happy to report that the sale was completed on July 24th. The Village received $2,500,000 from the sale, before expenses.
Lots of thanks to pass along, particularly to Tammy and the Village Staff, our counsel, Bill Dineen and Alan Marcuvitz, and our Village engineers, Mustafa Emir and Brandon Flunker. I’d also like to acknowledge the partnerships we have forged with the City of Mequon and its Water Utility and University School of Milwaukee. Finally, we received invaluable assistance from the offices of State Senator Dan Knodl and State Representative Deb Andraca as we navigated our way through the approval process with the DNR and the PSC.
RIVER HILLS CONSERVANCY
Last week, Trustees Peggy Russo, Bill Walker, Ike Isaacson and I toured the 28‑acre River Hills Conservancy with Bre Plier, Manager of Sustainability at Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Bre is the project manager for the restoration of that property and was responsible for turning it into a prairie with constructed and restored wetlands. The property was a sea of yellow and white with Black‑eyed Susans in full bloom and the oxeye daisies hanging on after first blooming in mid‑June. Bre says that this is one of her favorite projects in the MMSD’s service area and is really pleased with how well everything is growing in. According to Bre, “The River Hills Conservancy is a good example of how development can be balanced with ecological function. The native wetlands and prairie flowers will offer critical habitat stop overs for migrating birds, pollinators and other animals while protecting Fish Creek and Lake Michigan. MMSD was proud to partner with River Hills on this project.” MMSD’s contractors planted grasses, sedges and prairie flowers such as Little Bluestem, Coreopsis, Beebalm and Cornflowers, and wetland grasses and perennials such as Bulrush and Blue Flag Iris. All plants are native to the Midwest and Southeastern Wisconsin. If you’re interested in seeing the full list, please feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to send it to you.
VILLAGE HALL UPDATES
You may have noticed that solar panels have been installed on the roof at Village Hall and on the roof of the DPW building. The panels have been fully functional for several weeks and are generating power in excess of what the Village needs, which means we are receiving credits from WE Energies to offset the cost of any electricity we purchase in the future.
The bioswale in front of Village Hall is completed and has been designed to filter out sediments before entering tributary streams or creeks, which drain into Indian Creek and the Milwaukee River. This is another MMSD‑Green Infrastructure sponsored project.
As you all know by now, the Village‑wide reassessment was completed and letters showing the updated land and improvement values were provided to each of us by Tyler Technologies, the Village Assessor. A number of residents have met with representatives of Tyler and I would anticipate that appeals will be brought before the Board of Review at its meeting scheduled for August 17th at 8 a.m.
Please mark your calendar for the annual Village reception, which will be held at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center on September 14, 2023.
Finally, John’s Disposal will be doing its semi‑annual clean-up day on Saturday, October 7th from 9 a.m. to Noon. This is the time to get rid of your old air conditioners, appliances, batteries, televisions, electronics, etc. Watch for a complete list of items that will be accepted by John’s Disposal in a future communication.
Feel free to call or email me if you would like to discuss any Village business.
Chris
