Neighbors object to height of water plant addition

About a dozen people living near the Port Washington water plant appealed to city officials this week to reduce the height of a planned addition, saying it will negatively impact the lake views they enjoy.

They said they are willing to give up the noise mitigation features intended to reduce the sound of an emergency generator at the plant if it means the building will be shorter than the two stories currently planned.

“Even if we could knock something off, that would be worth it,” one man said during a public informational meeting on the $18.3 million plant renovation project Monday.

Another man called the second floor “the biggest wart in this.”

Noting that the generator would only run during an emergency and monthly testing, he said, “If it means it would be a lot louder for that hour each month, I could live with that.”

And when the Design Review Board considered plans for the needed addition to the water plant on Tuesday, Tom Cloonan, who lives in the Newport Shores condominiums, asked that the city reduce the height or move the two-story portion of the addition to the west to mitigate its impact.

“Most people who move there, move there for the view of the lake,” Cloonan said.

The two-story portion of the building addition will block at least part of the view from the second through fifth floors of the building, he said, as well as homes in the Lighthouse Condominiums, he said, impacting 24 residences.

“It has a big impact on the neighborhood,” he said.

The impact goes beyond just aesthetics, he said, but also affects property values.

While acknowledging that it may not be feasible to reduce the building height significantly, Cloonan urged the city to do what it can.

“There are 24 families who would appreciate it,” he said.

Design Review Board members said they understand the residents’ viewpoint.

“I’m sympathetic to the neighbors’ concerns,” member Jeremy Hartline said. “It’s tough.”

The board recommended Plan Commission approval of the building plan but asked that if it’s practical, the height of the addition be reduced.

The board also recommended that the city consider adding landscaping where feasible and suggested that instead of the numerous smaller murals intended to be installed to break up the facade, larger paintings or photographs be considered.

“I’m a big fan of go big or go home,” Hartline said. “That’s a lot of wall there.

Both would help soften the look of the building, board members agreed.

But in general, they said, the addition matches the existing water plant and reflects the same architectural style with matching cornices and quoins — a decorative corner feature.

The color of the building will also be changed to a blue grey to better reflect the lakefront location.

The addition will be built on the south side of the water plant and take up much of the existing green space between the facility and Jackson Street.

It’s needed to house the generator and new clearwells required by the Department of Natural Resources as well as an ultraviolet treatment system.

The project will also include replacing outdated equipment at the plant.

But the sheer cost of the water plant project caught one woman at Monday’s informational meeting by surprise.

“How did we get here to have to spend $18 million?” she asked, saying there should have been a capital improvement budget to handle some portions of the project through the years.

“The cost blew me away,” she said. “My water bills are going to go up. People are getting crunched. We need to be innovative, to think outside the box.”

More than half the cost of the project is to relocate the clearwells, building them to be at least two feet above the lake level as required by the DNR, Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said.

The UV system is something the city has been considering but it couldn’t be added without a building addition, so this is the right time to do it, he said.

“I think we’re getting the biggest bang for our buck,” Vanden Noven said. “This is a major, major upgrade.”