Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto has announced that progress on a new high-speed rail station will be postponed for two weeks while the state Department of Transportation mulls over the cost estimates.

The Mayor states that he is opposed to the project based on misinformation. He wrote in a memo to aldermen that estimates for the Brookfield station were anywhere from $17.9 million to $30 million. The confusion ensues – after the state set aside $5 million for the station from the $810 million in federal stimulus money for the project, new estimates were written. The Mayor went on to add that the lowest number was $12.9 million, and the state share ballooned to $7 million, which means Brookfield taxpayers would have to foot $5.9 million of the cost.

While lessened with parking and advertising income, Brookfield would have to pay up to $100K a year in maintenance.

The main problem is that the Mayor has opposed using local tax dollars to fund the high-speed train station, as well as the aforementioned local taxpayer problem.

Fore more information, including planned stops and routes for the new high-speed line, view the full post on JSOnline.com Waukesha News

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Like a lone voice in the wilderness, Waukesha Mayor, Jeff Scrima is the only city official opposed to an application for a Lake Michigan water supply. As a candidate for mayor, Scrima opposed the Great Lakes plan and remains committed to that position.

Scrima has an alternative plan, but each of his proposals have been previously rejected by various water supply experts. Rather than requesting access to Lake Michigan water, with an estimated start-up cost of $164 million, critics say Scrima’s plan would cost around $211 million. The basis of his plan is to treat water from deep wells that is high in radium, drill more shallow wells and treat water pumped from quarries.

Some people question what Waukesha locals are doing to conserve water, saying they are using much more water than their fair share and want to take water from other places to meet their selfish needs.

When the Water Utility presented him with a letter stating a lake water supply was the only reasonable option available to the city, Scrima refused to sign it, and he wrote to Department of Natural Resources saying the city should not move ahead with the application. That caused the department to suspend reviewing the city application.

As reported at the end of last month, the Chamber of Commerce supports the bid for Lake Water Waukesha Chamber of Commerce Asks Members to Support Lake Michigan Water Bid

Critics of the radium treatment plan say the operating costs of radium treatment will climb as radium concentrations continue to increase. They also say continued drawing of water from the local wells is unsustainable, citing the fact that water levels are already down 600 feet.

See the in-depth story at JSOnline.com Waukesha News

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Waukesha – Mayor Jeff Scrima is demanding that water utility staff highlight all changes made in a city application for a Great Lakes water supply between the time the Common Council approved the plan on April 8 and it was submitted to state environmental officials six weeks later. View full post on JSOnline.com Waukesha News

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