Cedarburg's Common Council voted unanimously to let residents, not elected officials, decide the fate of the Woolen Mills Dam. The decision sends the long-simmering question of whether to repair or remove the dam straight to a public referendum, with city officials saying the vote will likely happen next April.
The council's move, reported Friday by TMJ4 News, came after members heard presentations on both potential solutions for the aging structure. The exact wording and date of the referendum have not yet been finalized, according to the outlet's reporting. City Administrator Mikko Hilvo told TMJ4 that Cedarburg is trying to be proactive with its decision rather than wait for a crisis to force the issue.
No Imminent Danger, But No More Waiting Either
Hilvo said the dam currently poses no imminent threat of failure. Still, per the city administrator, doing nothing is no longer considered an option. That framing follows an earlier step this year in which Cedarburg approved a feasibility study for dam removal, part of an effort to understand the costs tied to each path forward, after a similar push was tabled last year.
Money is a major piece of the equation. Earlier reporting from gmtoday.com put the repair estimate at between $1.5 million and $2 million, while separate figures cited in the dossier place both the repair and removal options at roughly $2 million apiece.
Neighbors Split Between History and a Healthier Creek
Some residents say the question of what to do with the dam resurfaces almost like clockwork, roughly every ten years, by their own account. David Bartsch, who operates Alpine Gift Haus inside the Shops at Cedar Creek Settlement, supports keeping the dam. He said it offers a good view and serves as a major tourist draw, adding that people regularly take pictures there and that efforts to remove it have dragged on for years.
Other neighbors argue that the dam, built in the 1930s, is part of Cedarburg's charm and history and worth preserving for that reason alone. Dam removal proponents counter that the creek would be healthier running in its natural, shallower state, and that removal would end a cycle of recurring, costly maintenance. Keeping the dam, by contrast, would preserve the waterway's current depth and its millpond for neighbors who value the pond as it exists today.
Clint Gridley, a former Cedarburg city administrator, said putting the decision in front of voters makes sense given how difficult the choice would be for just eight councilmembers to make. Gridley said he personally favors keeping the dam by about 60 percent, largely for its history, while seeing roughly a 40 percent case for the natural, shallower argument.
Wisconsin's Dam Failures Add Urgency
The debate isn't happening in a vacuum. A commentary published by gmtoday.com noted that Wisconsin has recorded 34 dam failures since 2000, with 28 of them occurring since 2018 alone. Any repair or removal work the city eventually pursues would also need to clear state oversight, since the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requires permits or approvals, along with a fee, for dam-related activities on both navigable and nonnavigable waterways statewide.
A Nearby Precedent in Grafton
Cedarburg isn't the first Ozaukee County community to wrestle with this exact dilemma. In 2010, Grafton residents voted to preserve the village's Bridge Street Dam, according to Ozaukee Press. That vote followed a petition signed by 1,672 residents demanding a referendum before the village spent money on removal, and a public hearing where 45 people addressed the Village Board for more than three hours.
Grafton's board ultimately voted unanimously to repair rather than remove its dam, the paper reported separately, after a consultant estimated replacing a faulty hydraulic cylinder at $180,000 compared with a roughly $2 million removal estimate. The dam has needed attention again more recently: its hydraulic arm broke earlier this year, severely reducing the Milwaukee River's width upriver. Village Administrator Tim Wellnitz said those hydraulic-arm repairs have been pushed back to spring.
Whether Cedarburg follows a similar path remains to be seen. For now, the city's next move rests with voters, who are expected to settle the Woolen Mills Dam's future at the ballot box next April.
