City seeks grant to aid $10M Valley Creek project

Port Washington’s effort to restore the Valley Creek watershed took another step forward recently when the Common Council agreed to seek a $375,000 grant that would help eliminate stormwater erosion from Upper Lake Park.

Aldermen authorized the city to submit a pre-application proposal to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for a $375,000 grant that would support the engineering and construction of bioretention basins in Upper Lake Park.

“Anything we can do to stop that (erosion) so we can have the gully for the next century is good,” Mayor Ted Neitzke said.

The pre-application is just the first step in obtaining the grant, Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said. If it’s accepted, the city will be asked to submit an application for the grant.

The work is needed, Vanden Noven said, because stormwater is directed from drain tiles into the gully, where it erodes the ravine walls.

“We want to capture that water and slow it down so it doesn’t continue to erode the area,” he said.

The project includes moving the drain tiles and installing the basins in the northwest section of the park, and it would add some walking paths that would connect to existing trails throughout the Valley Creek corridor.

Ald. Mike Gasper asked if there are any concerns that the runoff could get into the sand seam in the bluff and cause slumping.

Vanden Noven said that’s not anticipated, noting the city will be planting deep-rooted plants in the area to help stabilize the hillside.

The grant, if approved, isn’t expected to cover the full cost of the project, Vanden Noven said. Stantec, the engineering firm working on the project for the city, has estimated the full cost will be about $475,000 more, he said.

“I’m hoping their estimate is high,” Vanden Noven said, adding that the city will seek other grants to make up any shortfall.

The city expects to find out if it will receive the grant in October, he said, adding that if approved design work would begin immediately with construction slated for next year.

The Valley Creek project, which has been in the works for years, would use nature-based solutions to prevent degradation, protect critical infrastructure, reduce flooding risk and restore local habitats.

It was initiated after a 2018 flood that caused significant damage to Veterans Park and the Lighthouse Condominiums and brought to light the extent of erosion along the creek.

The project, which would run almost two miles from the Birchwood Hills Nature Preserve on the city’s north side to the lakefront at Veterans Park, is estimated to cost at least $10 million. Officials have said it would be done in phases, adding they hope grants will pay for the bulk of the work.

This year, Vanden Noven said, there will be increased water quality monitoring by students from the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as well as survey work being done to collect data needed for the project.

In addition, he said, the city will plant more than 300 native trees and remove invasive species from the ravine around Upper Lake Park and Birchwood Hills. a project funded through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife grant.

Vanden Noven said that in the next month the city plans to apply for a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help fund the first phase of the total stream restoration project.

The scope of that first phase is still being defined, he said, so the actual dollar amount has yet to be determined.

Vanden Noven said he is confident the city has a good chance at this grant because the foundation has already financed some of the Valley Creek work.

“Once they put you in the pipeline, they expect what they funded will be designed and constructed,” he said.