More Private Property Sewer Inspections Sought in EPA Work Plan

The city would seek permission from homeowners in six targeted areas to inspect their private sewer connections for leaks, under a plan endorsed Tuesday to address an EPA order to fix sanitary sewer overflows.

Homeowners who are found liable for repairs could be reimbursed thousands of dollars for the work, according to the plan.

The EPA ordered Brookfield in October by 2016 to address overflows of untreated sewage and storm water or face penalties. The city must file a detailed work plan by Feb. 21 on how it intends to proceed and comply.

The city's Water and Sewer Board unanimously recommended approval of a work plan presented Tuesday by city staff, but not without some debate by one alderman who suggested more be done.

Ald. Gerald Mellone said there were more actions that homeowners could take to prevent storm or rain water from entering and backing up sanitary sewers, including green techniques such as rainwater harvesting and installing certain sump pumps and other equipment.

Mellone said he was finishing drafting his own nine-page work plan and encouraged fellow board members to delay action on the staff's plan until they reviewed his plan. He questioned, for example, whether the city could offer a tax credit to homeowners who did certain repairs, such as install new sump pumps.

But Ald. Scott Berg cautioned Mellone to be careful about recommending that certain fixes be made since Mellone and his family operate a plumbing company, Northland Sales in New Berlin. There could be a perception of financial interest, Berg said.

"My advice to you is to tread carefully," Berg said.

Mellone said in an interview after the meeting that he did not believe he had a financial or conflict of interest in voting on the work plan, which includes proposals to help reimburse homeowners who make certain listed repairs.

"I don't install any equipment," Mellone said. "I sell equipment to the plumbing wholesalers, who sell to the contractors."

Under the work plan endorsed Tuesday:

• The city will continue to inspect, monitor and make repairs to sanitary and storm sewer systems. The city already funds an average of $1.7 million a year on such work, and has spent "tens of millions" in the past decade, Grisa said.

• But the plan also recommends adding four more areas of the city to the to seek permission to inspect private residential sewer laterals and other connections for leaks.
  
  Five of the six areas are on the eastern half of the city, which flows to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. One — near Brookfield Road — flows to the Fox River Water Pollution Control Center, a regional sewer treatment plan operated by Brookfield.
  
  The areas are dubbed Adelaide/Lilly, Robinwood, Brookfield Road, Center/ Arbor, Ponoma Road and Indianwood.

• Homeowners in those areas who participate and are found to need sewer repairs would be eligible to receive from half to full reimbursement — up to $10,000 — from funds through a grant program with the city and MMSD. Removal of a combination sump pump, for example, could be reimbursed 100% up to $8,000.

The MMSD grant funds available total about $150,000 a year, Grisa said in an interview.

He said city contractors already have conducted more than 100 inspections in the first two areas of the pilot program, the Adelaide and Robinwood neighborhoods.

"We found one illegal connection," Grisa said, and a couple laterals that need to be repaired. Grisa said he did not know yet the extent of any leaking found in those inspections.

But he said illegal connections are more rare than people may think. After devastating flooding in 1997, a city review of "thousands" of homes found 22 illegal connections. "It's not this smoking gun," Grisa said, that will solve sanitary sewer overflows in major rain events.

For information on the city's voluntary inspection program and other flooding information, the city has a web page with links to resources. It also is working to develop a more comprehensive website, perhaps by year end, Grisa said.