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Consideration of request by Director of Public Works for approval of a Relocation Order and Acquisition Plat relative to the purchase of land from 11415 W. Burleigh Street for the installation of a water pumping station at the Burleigh Water Tower site
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Submitted by:
David Simpson
Department:
Public Works
A. Issue
The City's Common Council has allocated $5.25 Million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the design and construction of a secondary west zone water pumping station, CIP Project #5113. As part of that project a small area of land needs to be purchased from the adjacent property owner. At this time approval of a Relocation Order and Acquisition Plat is needed in order to acquire property located at 11415 West Burleigh Street, as part of an eminent domain proceeding, for purposes of necessary water pumping station construction.
B. Background/Options
Wauwatosa owned water pumping stations currently receive water from Milwaukee Water Works and subsequently pump the water at an elevated pressure to homes, businesses, and elevated storage towers across the City. Pumping stations and elevated towers ensure that appropriate water pressure and volume are available throughout the City for residential, commercial, and firefighting efforts when necessary. The City of Wauwatosa's water utility provides service to two separate pressure districts, east and west. The eastern district utilizes three pumping stations and two elevated towers, while the western district only has one station and one tower available at this time. The lack of a secondary pumping station makes the western district extremely vulnerable to system wide failures if the water feeding the pumping station or the pumping station itself experiences a failure. If a systemwide failure were to occur and pressure within the system was reduced the lack of pressure would result in potential contamination to the drinking water supply as well severely limit the ability to provide water to combat fires. In order to protect the western pressure district's water customers a secondary pumping station is needed in order to provide backup to the existing primary station. The proposed secondary pumping station will be located adjacent to the Burleigh Water Tower. This pumping station is being sized to serve the entire western district so that if a failure occurs at the primary station no loss of service would occur. The design of this project is currently underway and funding is being supplied through ARPA allocations.
In order to build the pumping station a portion of land is needed from the adjacent property owner in order to meet minimum building setbacks. The building itself will be located on the existing water tower property, as you can see on the attached draft site plan. Also attached is an aerial photo of the area to better show you the proposed area of acquisition.
Attached is a proposed Relocation Order with an attached Acquisition Plat exhibit which, if approved, would begin the eminent domain proceeding. Following approval and issuance of the Relocation Order by the Common Council, the consultant working on this project, Graef, would hire a subcontractor to prepare the appropriate appraisal to establish the value of the acquisition area and proceed through the acquisition process. The land being acquired consists of approximately 1,735 square feet, or about 0.040 acres, as identified in the attached Relocation Order and exhibits.
C. Strategic Plan (Area of Focus)
Priority 2: Public Safety
Priority 3: Infrastructure
D. Fiscal Impact
The cost of acquisition was budgeted as part of the overall project budget of $5.25M and the exact purchase price will be established through the forthcoming formal appraisal process.
E. Recommendation
It is recommended that the Common Council approve the Relocation Order and Acquisition Plat so that a 0.040-acre area of land can be acquired from 11415 West Burleigh Street
recommendation
Recommendation to Common Council