A proposed 186-unit multifamily development north of Barker Road and Greenfield Avenue is stirring up bad blood between the city and town of Brookfield, and the city's insistence on being the supplier of water to the project could stymie current construction plans.
Kevin Thompson, representing property owner BRP Holdings, had broached the topic of getting sanitary sewer and water service to the site with the city.
Neither service is immediately available to the site from the city, but the town has water the development can tap into north of Poplar Creek on Barker Road. The town also can immediately provide sewer service on Barker Road in front of the parcel.
But the city hasn't allowed any outside entity to provide water to a city parcel in decades. It does allow some sewer extensions, but even then an agreement is made with the town and the city provides the service, billing the property owners and reimbursing the town later.
Public Works Director Tom Grisa said the town wants the property owners in the development to be its customers directly, meaning the owners, who would be city residents, would be billed by the town. Because of this unprecedented request, Grisa sought input from aldermen at the Water and Sewer Board on Tuesday.
Aldermen want to keep local control and voted unanimously that the development must be supplied with city water. This is possible through the Weston Hills subdivision. One challenge: The property owner would have to obtain easements first. Thompson said he has so far been unsuccessful in that endeavor.
The board attempted to block the town from getting the sewer revenue, but that failed after a tie vote, 2-2. Aldermen couldn't justify the disturbance that an 800- to 1,000-foot extension would cause when a connection is immediately available through the town.
"The history with the town is just bad," Alderman Bill Carnell said.
The board required the sewer service to follow similar previous agreements, in which the city controls the billing.
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