By Kim McDarison
Whitewater Parks and Recreation Director Eric Boettcher, addressing the Whitewater Common Council remotely Tuesday, noted that more information was required before a plan to continue with the restoration of Trippe and Cravath lakes could be brought before council.
During a meeting held in November, council voted unanimously to reject the two bids it had received to perform dredging within the two lakes.
Both bids, Clapper explained in November and again on Tuesday, exceeded the amount the city had budgeted for the project.
The city received two bids for the project, one of $2.49 million and another for $3.8 million. The city had planned to spend $1.5 million.
Citing the two bids, Clapper said in November: “Both of those numbers are higher, so, at this point, we have to reevaluate the scope of the project or the timeline for the project to make this, the dredging and the completion of the lakes project, a reality.”
Clapper said staff would work quickly to bring additional information before council to develop next steps. He anticipated bringing new concepts before council for consideration on Dec. 7.
On Tuesday, Clapper said, the decision in November to reject the two bids was based on discussions with the city’s engineers and legal advisors. The rejection of the bids allowed the city to move forward — having met the requirements of a public meeting process, he said — and to reach out to other potential contractors who might provide options, allowing the restoration project to continue, but stay closer to budget.
“So we have done that, and we are gathering information, but we are not ready I think, yet, to have a vote on it tonight,” Clapper said.
Addressing council, Boettcher said that since the last council meeting staff had been in an “information gathering phase.”
“I’ve been in contact with five to six different contractors, trying to have another proposal. Unfortunately, I was hoping to have some proposals for you tonight, but since the last meeting we’ve also had a holiday season, and a lot of people go deer hunting, so I haven’t gotten the numbers back that I had hoped to get,” he said.
Boettcher said over the course of the previous two weeks, he had met with two contractors and had given them tours of the project area.
On Tuesday, he said, he had met with yet another contractor, and was planning to meet another within the days following Tuesday’s meeting and perhaps into early next week.
“So (we are) just trying to gather information and trying to see if we can get a better price. Obviously the almost $2.5 million price was a big price compared to what our budget was, so we are trying to work ways to whittle that down. In the meantime, I did reach out to the DNR (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) to find out some other questions, in case we need to extend and do this over a couple of years,” Boettcher said, adding that he learned from DNR that the city’s dredging permit would remain valid until November of 2026.
“So we have time there, and we could potentially keep the lakes drawn down, so right now, we’re just trying to find a contractor who will be able to do it closer to our budget and trying to work that process out. So hopefully at our next meeting, we’ll have some numbers for you and have something for you to discuss and move on,” Boettcher said.
Responding to Boettcher’s invitation to answer council members’ questions, Councilwoman Carol McCormick said: “I have one, because a lot of people are asking about it: There was talk of the controlled burn, is that still going to take place or is that kind of put on the back burner?”
Boettcher said the burn was scheduled to occur. Hired contractor Field and Stream Restorations still had some mowing planned, which, he said, was weather dependent, and scheduled, along with the anticipated controlled burn, for next week.
Additionally, he said, the company was working with the DNR to make sure the city’s burn permit was in order.
“When this comes back, I’d like to understand how much money we’ve spent so far and I think that would go into helping with making the decision,” Councilman Gregory Majkrzak II said.
He asked: “Is there a choice to do nothing? We just fill it back up?”
Majkrzak continued: “I’ve heard opinions from both ways: ‘We want to spend this money, we want to make it look like a beautiful lake.’ I’ve heard from the other side: ‘Why’d you do anything? Let nature take its course.’ If we could have that information that would help us.”
Boettcher said he could provide the requested information during the council’s next meeting.
“We can definitely have the option of what it would be if we don’t do anything, or if we just fill them back up,” Boettcher said.
He noted that he could provide costs associated with the project since 2016, which, he said, was before he became involved.
Councilwoman Lisa Dawsey-Smith advocated for communication, requesting, with regard to any potential burning, that a “very concerted effort” to inform the public be made.
“There are people who live in our community, such as myself, who are incredibly sensitive to smoke, so that’s very helpful to know,” she said.
Boettcher said the contractor is “required to notify through a letter before they do the burn. So, we will make sure that that’s followed through.”
“I gather the suggestion was more than a letter though. I think a notification …,” Council President Lynn Binnie said.
“I think we can tell the media as well,” Clapper added.
Councilman Jim Allen asked Boettcher to include a proposal for a dredging project of smaller scale than what was initially proposed.
“If we’re not going to have the dollars to do the dredging that we wanted to do, then do we want this to, you know, like Greg said — make it look nice … we at least want to then scale it back to dredging out in front of the park and in the old beach as possibilities,” Allen said.
A map provided by the city and indicating various controlled-burn-related zones along Trippe and Cravath lakes is here: https://www.whitewater-wi.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2666/BURN-MAP-12-08-21-PDF?bidId=.
An earlier story about lake-related dredging costs and the bidding process is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-city-rejects-trippe-cravath-dredging-bids-explores-new-bids-scope/.
Members of the Whitewater Common Council receive an update on the Trippe and Cravath lakes restoration project. More time was required to gather information before staff could present options and next steps, both City Manager Cameron Clapper and Parks and Recreation Director Eric Boettcher noted during the Dec. 7 meeting.
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