Copyright 2001 Racine Journal Times reprinted with permission

Caledonia, city near sewer deal
By Dustin Block, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001
    RACINE COUNTY - Racine and Caledonia officials have reached a tentative
agreement to renovate the city's wastewater treatment plant and establish a revenue
sharing system between the two municipalities. 
    Officials from the communities made the announcement Friday, after settling the
last of their major disagreements during a three-hour meeting. 
    Racine Mayor Jim Smith and Caledonia Chairman Dennis Kornwolf released
few specifics about the deal, but said the two sides have agreed on the contract's
basic structure, the amount of money involved, and how the deal will be
implemented. 
    Past estimates listed Caledonia's share of the sewer expansion at about $18.1
million, with annual shared revenue payments to the city of about $837,000. Smith
said the dollar amounts are roughly the same in the tentative sewer agreement.
    The two sides will continue to tweak aspects of the proposal next week, such as
how the 30-year plan would end. But Kornwolf and Smith said the communities
were past the major obstacles that would trip a deal between the negotiators.
    "I'm quite certain it's going to happen now," Smith said. 
    Negotiators from the town and city are scheduled to meet Feb. 21 to discuss a
final draft of the proposal. If they reach agreement, the communities will hold
separate public hearings about a month later, and then send the plan to elected
officials for approval. 
    Smith said the process could take several months, and the deal would not take
effect for at least a year. Meanwhile, a moratorium on sewer extensions to the town
will remain in tact until the agreement is finalized by the two communities. The
Racine City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to lift the moratorium if a
community reaches a sewer expansion agreement with the city. 
    Otherwise, the city's moratorium is scheduled to run through April 1 and could
be extended, further blocking development that has been stalled since November,
Smith said. All municipalities east of Interstate 94 are affected by the moratorium,
including Caledonia, Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant.
    The tentative agreement between Racine and Caledonia is a breakthrough in
stalled negotiations to expand the sewer plant. Communities serviced by Racine's
wastewater plant have been negotiating a $90 million plan to expand the plant,
which is nearing capacity. 
    Slowing any deal is a shared revenue system included in the proposal that would
require outlying communities to pay for a portion of city services, such as the Racine
Zoo, public library and Wustum Art Museum. Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant have
mounted strong opposition to the system. 
    Mount Pleasant has filed a $1 million claim against the city for instituting the
sewer moratorium, and Sturtevant board members passed an ordinance forbidding
its negotiators from discussing shared revenue with the city. 
    Smith said he hoped the agreement with Caledonia would further negotiations
with the deal's opponents. If it doesn't, he said the city and Caledonia may move
forward with the sewer expansion without them. 
    "I think we have to," he said. "We can't just sit back. The train is leaving the
station and we need to know who's on board. We know Caledonia is on board." 
Though work on the proposal remains, Kornwolf did not contain his excitement
about the tentative deal. He said the proposal is a significant step toward ending a
long-running battle between the city and its outlying communities over economic
development and municipal borders. 
    Under the agreement, the city will benefit from growth in Caledonia through the
shared revenue payments; and the town is able to avoid annexations through a
border agreement, and, if it wants, can pursue incorporation as a village or city. 
Kornwolf said the deal would allow the two communities to work as partners
instead of wary neighbors, a needed alliance if the area is going to reverse the fall of
local jobs and correct the highest unemployment rate in the state.
    "If we don't get together, we'll find ourselves sliding farther and farther behind
other communities in the state," said Kornwolf, adding that local communities have
increased competition to keep local businesses and jobs. 
    "We have to compete with communities across the nation, and with other
countries," he said. "We sure can't do it while we're at war."