Town again cautions developer about plans for Waubeka mill

The developer of the Waubeka mill won’t get help from the Town of Fredonia until he can work out details over the troubled property with the state and county.

Charles Sheridan Sr., who is the registered agent for Waubeka Development, which owns the building on Mill Road, told the Town Board last week that he’s hoping to open an existing culvert and install another under the road to draw water away from the building’s foundation, which he said is being eroded.

Fuel has leached into the ground below the road from  a storage tank under the building. The state Department of Natural Resources has said the site is safe unless the road is disturbed, which it would be if culvert work was done.

Sheridan said he hoped the town would work with the county and the state to get permission to get work done.

Town Chairman Lance Leider immediately cut Sheridan off.

“That’s not going to happen,” Leider said. “Your structure is not viable.”

The mill building, W4132 Mill St., is one of the oldest structures in Waubeka and has been out of use since the mid-1990s. A town email referred to Sheridan’s son, Charles Sheridan Jr., as the mill owner.

The property’s appraised value is $14,000, according to the demolition report. Waubeka Development bought the mill for $1,000 last spring.

Sheridan Sr. told the Town Board he plans to tear down two collapsed sections on the west side of the mill and that Waubeka Development has offered to sell him a parcel to the east where he hopes to install a holding tank for the button factory building.

He also said he’s trying to attract investors to help him restore the buildings and that he wants to create an “artificial whitewater rapids” for canoes and kayaks at the mill, which sits on the south bank of the Milwaukee River.

Sheridan Sr. also has said he believes the site holds potential as a “small hotel” and restaurant, with a patio overlooking the river.