MMSD wants Estabrook Dam removed

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is pushing to have the Estabrook dam removed.

The MMSD file a resolution at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

The Estabrook dam is a major need of repairs, the price tag is $1.6 million according to the Milwaukee County Board, and those repairs are scheduled to begin in the fall.

\"I think with it now it helps the river overall\", said Glendale resident Jonathan Pitzen.

The MMSD is giving a different take on the matter, by demolishing the 78-year-old dam, that will reduce the risk of flooding within the Milwaukee River watershed.

But the first district supervisor on Milwaukee's county board is road blocking that claim.

\"We believe it is part of a flood control projects that widen in that river, and to remove it would create an unnatural scenario where the water level to drop at a level where the water was never at\", said County Board Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb Sr. \"The water damn re-creates the original water level so without it you have a stream, it will fill, new islands or form, trees will grow up, and we won't be able to bathe the same amount of water. It'll cost flooding. \"

CBS 58 also spoke with the mayor of Glendale Monday evening who says tearing down the damn would be a huge blow to his text pairs.

\"It would be a significant hit two property values to several hundred homes in the city of Glendale which would be a hit to our tax base\", said Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy.\"

CBS 58 contained MMSD Monday evening, but no one was available to speak on camera.

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