BRWAA Post Implementation Survey. Your feedback is wanted.

BRWAA Post Implementation survey is at this address: http://goo.gl/ty1mxN

Hello BRWAA City Water Participant.

On this one year anniversary since the start of construction of the BRWAA city water project, we would like to get some feedback from you to help us gauge the success and overall satisfaction levels with the project.   To that end, we have put together a quick survey, which you can fill out online using this link (or the one above).

We are aware that many of you would like to have property damage issues addressed.  The main contractor (Dorner) as well as the private contractor that constructed the laterals to the homes (Debelak) are obligated to restore the properties back to acceptable condition.   These contractors are expected to return to the area this spring to finish up the restoration work left at the end of construction, and to deal with the expected land settling issues that occurred naturally over the course of the past year.  We expect these contractors to return to the area in late May or early June, to give the ground some time to dry out a little bit from the early spring rains.

The survey will (among other things) ask you about your particular property damage issues, and this feedback will be considered by the parties involved including the Village of Bayside, Mequon City Water, and the contractors (such as Dorner and Debelak).

Please take the time to answer the survey.   Please be sure to complete the survey all the way to the end.  Only surveys completed to the end will be recorded.   You will get a confirmation that your response has been recorded at the end of the survey.

We are also aware that some have inquired about the status of the BRWAA initial fee refunds.  Due to the unexpected success of the project, the $300 fee collected from each household member resulted in an over collection, resulting in more initial income than the association required.  Our intention is to refund a portion of this fee to each household member upon completion of the project, which we view as the completion of the land restorations mentioned above.   There will be a more detailed email about this to follow, which will be sent out just before the refunds are mailed out to the BRWAA members.

The BRWAA will exist for at least 10 years, and will act as the conduit for refunds due the membership from an agreement we have with the Mequon Water Utility.  Homes that did not originally participate in the project, and decide later to hook up to main lines constructed as part of the BRWAA project, will owe a refund to the BRWAA per this agreement.  We have a membership list that shows a handful of BRWAA members with mailing addresses different from the Bayside address now serviced by city water.   If you have a mailing address that is different from the Bayside address, please make sure to confirm your other mailing address in the survey.  It is the responsibility of each BRWAA member to inform the association of a change of address.  The BRWAA will not be responsible for refund checks lost in the mail because of a wrong mailing address.

Please take a few minutes to answer the survey, your feedback is greatly appreciated.  You can reach the survey using the links at the top of this email.

Thanks much, and I hope all is well.

…. Howard

BRWAA private lateral installations and paperwork

Hello city water project (BRWAA) participant.

The city water project is progressing, and some private homes are finally becoming eligible to hook up to the water utility.  The first homes to hook up will be in the southwest portion of the neighborhood, where the lines were first installed when the project began construction about 4 weeks ago.   If you live in this area, Debelak has probably already contacted you and has set up a lateral installation appointment for your home.  A copy of the updated construction timeline can be found on the Village web site, found here: http://www.bayside-wi.gov/?nid=363 or this direct link.  Please keep in mind that it may take a week or two after your street has been constructed, for it to be tested and ready for lateral installations.

Debelak has laid the groundwork for these installations, and will be contacting you to schedule your installation date.  They would like to proceed with the lateral installations along more or less the same route the city water project has been constructed, installing approximately 8 (eight) homes a day in our project area.   As portions of the build-out are constructed down the streets and approved for water distribution, Debelak will follow close behind, installing the laterals as the project goes forward.

Please keep in mind that because of the heavy machinery involved (and the time required to move such machinery around), and because of the water project build schedule itself, it is not possible for Debelak to schedule your install on a day of your choosing.  They will pick the install date and let you know some time in advance when they will be installing your home.  It is not necessary for you to be home when they do the install, but they will need access to your home on the day of your installation in order to perform the job.

Once the lateral (up to and including the water meter) is installed to your home, you may opt to have the Debelak plumber do the work to finish the job that day by hooking up the water supply from the meter horn to your house.

If you haven’t already done so, it is necessary for each member to fill out the Billing Application form for the water utility.   This form can also be found at the village web site: http://www.bayside-wi.gov/?nid=363 , or this direct link

As stated in the document, to comply with regulation it is necessary to accompany this with a copy of your driver’s license or other government issued photo ID.   You can then mail the documents into the City of Mequon, or you can fax them in.  For those that are more tech savvy you can scan and email the documents.  Alternatively, you can drop the application off at Village Hall, and if needed they can photocopy your driver’s license or ID for you and get these over to the water utility.   The contact information and addresses (mail, fax, and email) are given at the bottom of the form.  If possible, please send this paperwork in by the end of the week.  The utility will not turn on the water to your home until this paperwork is filled out.

As always, please email me at northwaywater@gmail.com if you have questions, and I hope all is well

…. Howard

BRWAA private lateral installati​on process

Hello city water project (BRWAA) participant.

 

As you may already know, the construction of the city water project is set to begin this Monday, May 13th.  Details regarding the construction schedule can be found on the village web site at this address: http://www.bayside-wi.gov/?nid=363

 

For the construction of the private laterals for all the homes with the best pricing possible, we have chosen to go with Debelak plumbing.   They have a great reputation in this area and have provided us with fixed pricing for the private service laterals for the homes.  The pricing for the laterals (up to and including the meter horn and meter) is $1,500 for a clear-cut installation, and $1,750 for the directional bore installation.   We feel for many reasons that the directional bore option is far superior to the clear cut option, and well worth the extra cost.  It is important to note that this pricing only covers the installation of the private service lateral up to and including the meter horn and water meter.   Additional plumbing will be needed after the meter horn to hook up the new water supply to the house.  Debelak is available to provide this additional plumbing if you would like them to, in addition to the private service lateral installation, and they can propose the pricing for you to complete the entire hook up to your home, during their initial visit to your home (more on this below).

 

The first step in the lateral installation process involves a visit by Debelak to each home (before construction of the water lines in your street) so they can work with each homeowner in order to determine the best possible placement of the public curb stop.   It is in each homeowner’s best interest to place the curb stop in the most optimal place possible, so that the entry of the lateral inside the home can be put where it is best suited for the home.  Ideally, if the curb stop is placed in the proper spot outside the home, it should minimize the private plumbing costs once inside the home.

 

We have been working with Kevin Gill from Debelak plumbing to facilitate this process.   In order to visit the 142 homes in the BRWAA as efficiently as possible, he has proposed blocking out a single day and visit as many homes as they can on that day.  He chose a Saturday, to give the best possible chance for folks to be home, and blocked out timeslots by street for which he would visit the homes on that particular street.

 

The day chosen for this is Saturday, May 18^th 2013

 

The timeslots by street for the 18th of Saturday are as follows.  If your home is on the corner of two streets, figure the earlier of the two possible time slots will be used for your home visit.

 

7:30am – 9:30am: N. Iroquois Rd

8:30am – 11:00am: N. Mohawk and W. Krause

10:30am – 12:00pm: W. Ellsworth Ln

11:30am – 2:30pm: N. Santa Monica, N. Regent Rd, Marti Ct, and Malibu Dr

1:30pm – 3:00pm: W. Glencoe Pl

2:30pm – 4:00pm: N. Seneca Rd and N. Navajo Rd

 

A map showing these timeslots can be found here:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx3ibCIthGnET0d0RVBjczJ0ek0/edit?usp=sharing

 

If someone can be home during these hours to allow Debelak access to your home on that day, then no further action is needed on your part, and someone from Debelak will show up at your home on that day within those hours.  They will only need to spend 10 to 15 minutes per home.  During this time they will visit the basement of your house, and work with you to determine what your private plumbing needs are and where best to place the entry of the lateral and meter horn inside the home.  They will also work out a plan for your additional plumbing for the city water hook up, and provide you with pricing for that interior plumbing work.  They will then mark the curb stop location with a steak in the ground outside your home, and then move on to the next home.

 

If you know that you cannot be home during these hours on May 18^th, please call Debelak at (262) 251-2630 to schedule an appointment for some other time.

 

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me (Howard) at this email address: northwaywater@gmail.com .

 

Thank you much, and I hope all is well.

 

… Howard

BRWAA Vote and Meeting Reminder

Electronic vote link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/votetoproceed

Hello BRWAA Members:

Please remember to attend the association meeting on Monday, April 8th at 6:00pm, to be held at the Bayside Middle School cafeteria.   You are not required to attend, however we believe that this meeting will be informative and will explain how the city water implementation will proceed this spring and summer.

 

The proposal for construction of the water mains has been accepted by City Water.  As part of the BRWAA agreement, all contracts require a majority vote.  The good news is rate bids for the project came in approximately 30% less than anticipated.

 

We are at a crucial moment in the project, and want your approval to enter into a formal contract with City Water and the Village of Bayside, so that we can officially proceed with awarding the project to the contractor.  Both the Village of Bayside and City of Mequon have approved the agreement.  If we do not have the contract signed by Monday April 8th, we risk losing the favorable bid and we may incur higher costs.   There are many details to be worked out, but we must sign the formal contract this Monday, April 8th.

 

Please "Vote" electronically by clicking on the link below, and fill out the form.  If you would rather vote in person at the meeting on April 8th, that would be good too.  But if you will not be attending the meeting, please "Vote" now.  This vote is necessitated by our BRWAA Agreement.

 

Please vote by using this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/votetoproceed

 

You are voting to proceed with the signing of the agreement for the construction of the public project (the water mains) between BRWAA, City Water and the Village of Bayside.  If you have any questions, please contact me (Howard) at the following email address: northwaywater@gmail.com

 

Thank you for your vote, and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

 

... Howard

Continuing progress and meeting announcement

• BRWAA Questionnaire (please fill out by Friday, March 15th): Click Here
• BRWAA meeting: Monday, April 8^th 2013 6:00pm at the Bayside Middle School

Hello,

 

We are continuing our progress towards the installation of city water here in Bayside for the 139 participants of the BRWAA project.   The 3-way agreement between the BRWAA, the village, and the Mequon water utility has been approved by the village board, and will be considered by Mequon this Wednesday.   The main engineering has been completed, and the bid package for the public project has been made available to the contractors for their review.

 

Meanwhile we are making progress towards finding a suitable contractor in the area to provide services in bulk for the installation of the private laterals to homes, as well as plumbing services to hook up the new water supply inside the homes.   I have been asked by some of these contractors to provide information for the homes in the association, so they can know the plumbing situation and preferences for each home.  Rather than having each contractor collect this information from each home separately, I have offered to run a questionnaire to ask each homeowner a set of questions, and then pass this information along to the contractors making proposals for the lateral and plumbing installations.

 

Please take a few moments to fill out this questionnaire for your home (it will only take a couple of minutes).   You can find this questionnaire here:

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRWAA_Plumbing

 

Please answer the questionnaire by Friday, March 15.  By answering the questions on the survey, contractors will be able to provide the lowest and most accurate pricing for internal plumbing for your home.

 

We will be holding a BRWAA association meeting at the Bayside Middle School on Monday, April 8^th 2013 at 6:00pm.   This meeting will be held to discuss the status of the project at that point, answer questions, and explain how construction will proceed.

Welcome new members!

(Click here for BRWAA agreement)

Hello everyone,

Over the past few months, we have been working on building the number of participating homes, to lower the costs per household by as much as possible.

Now due to the recent decision of Northway Water Co-Op #2 to join the group, we are receiving a huge number of new entrants into the water project very rapidly.  At this moment, including that trust, we have 116 members of the BRWAA, and that number should continue to climb.  This is well above the 50 or so members we expected to sign up from the outset.

As each additional household enters into the association, the price will continue to fall.  At this point, because the news is so new, we are adjusting and reacting as quickly as possible to the influx of new members.  Due to the fluidity of the situation, we do not have specific pricing but it will continue to lower as each additional household enters into the association.

At this time, we believe that every single member signed to the BRWAA should be serviced by city water, and not one single signed up member will be denied access to the water infrastructure due to lack of interest near them.  The city water project will encompass almost the entire neighborhood, and will provide water access to just about the entire area.

Tomorrow Evening (December 20) actions will be taken by the Village Board regarding the financing aspects of the project.   It is preferable that everyone who is interested in participating in the city water project sign up for the project by 12 noon on that day.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or would like some more information.  To sign up for the project, please print out The Bayside Residential Water Access Association agreement is available from the following link below:

Bayside Residential Water Access Agreement

To sign up or city water, please sign and notorize the agreement.  The best way to get this back to us would be to drop it off at Village hall (for convienience, there is also a notary at Village hall).

We are also asking for an up front payment of $300.  If for some reason we are unable to service your residence with the city water infrastructure, this payment will be returned to you.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, at northwaywater@gmail.com

Thank you much

... Howard

Bayside Residential Water Access Association

Hello everyone,

First of all, thank you for all who attended our meeting tonight..  The Bayside Residential Water Access Association agreement is avaialble from the following link:

Bayside Residential Water Access Agreement

The last page has the contact information sheet, which will explain the steps necessary to join the association.  

Basically we ask that you sign and notorize the agreement, and get it back to us either by mailing it back to me, dropping it off at my paper box, or dropping it off at Village hall (there is also a notary at Village hall)

We are also asking for an up front payment of $300.   This payment will be returned to you if it is determined that we are unable to service your residence with the city water infrastructure.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, at northwaywater@gmail.com

Thank you much

... Howard

Public meeting venue change

Hello everyone,

Due to the possibility of a high turnout at the city water project meeting, the meeting place has been changed to the Bayside Middle School, at 601 E. Ellsworth Lane.  The meeting will be held in the school cafeteria at the same time (7:00pm)...  I apologize for the confusion and the late notice, but hopefully we won't have to crowd in so much over there..

.... Howard

Public meeting date set

Hello neighbors,

Today I sent out some mailers to inform the neighborhood that we have another public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 19th at 7:00pm, to be held at Village Hall the Bayside Middle School Cafeteria.

The purpose of the meeting is to update everyone on our progress, and to inform the public on what steps have to be taken in order to formally join the project.   There will be more details in the days to come, but please remember to reserve the date if you would like to find out more and have your questions answered in a public forum.

Also, I will be attending the village picnic on Saturday September 8th at Ellsworth Park.   I am not sure exactly where I will be situated, but you can find me by looking for a large posterboard sign labeled "City Water Project" or similar.   Please stop by and I will be glad to have a one-on-one discussion with you.

As always, please feel free to email, or call my phone number, and I will be glad to discuss any aspect of the project.   You can always see the email address and other contact information by selecting "Contact Information" under "Pages", to the right.

.... Hope to see you at the picnic, and I hope to see you at the meeting!

.... Howard

Meeting video posted online

Hello Neighbors,

I have posted the video tape recording of the meeting that took place at Village Hall on Tuesday, February 7.

The video is in two parts..  The first part (from the camcorder) shows the two presentations as given by Jim Voigt (from the water utility) and myself, and the second part (from the i-phone) shows most of the question and answer session that followed.

Big thank you goes out to Roy Dietsch for providing the second part..   Roy had the presense of mind to start filming the meeting on his i-phone as the video tape ran out on the camcorder.

The videos may be a bit soft on the audio, but if you turn the volume up on your speakers you should be able to hear the audio well enough.  Also if you have trouble seeing the presentations on the screen in the video, you can follow along on your computer using the presentation links found in the prior post.

Watching the video back, it occurrs to me that I did not answer (or did not understand) some of the questions fully enough.   My apologies for that.   If you would like a more complete answer to something that you or someone else may have asked at the meeting, of course you should email me at northwaywater@gmail.com .

Anyhow, you can access the video online with the following links:

Part 1 - Presentations

Part 2 - Questions and Answers

If you have trouble viewing the video, please let me know..  And, as always, if you have any questions please feel free to email me...

... Hope all is well

... Howard

Meeting presentations posted online

Hello Neighbors,

First of all, thank you all for what I feel was a great success in our meeting from last night.  It was very encouraging to see such a huge turnout, I would guess there were about 80-90 people there last night.

I have posted the two presentations that were given at the meeting online, for anyone to view or download.  You can view or download these presentations using the following links:

1) City Water Presentation
2) Northway City Water Project Presentation

I have been getting a lot of feedback since last night, and most of it is encouraging.  I will work on updating the interest level maps to see where we are at.  If you feel your interest level has changed, please let me know.

The survey site will be up until the 20th of February, so we can still use it to gather peoples' information..   So, if you haven't done so yet, please head over to the survey site and fill out the survey..  You can access the survey site using the following link:

Northway City Water Survey

As always, if you have any questions or need some more clarification concerning the presentations or anything else, please send an email to: northwaywater@gmail.com

Thank you all again for a successful meeting last night!

... Howard

Meeting date set

Hello Neighbors,

Well, the survey is complete and we recieved some very useful results.

Approximately 1 out of 3 homes surveyed responded, and 5 out of 6 of those responses showed at least some level of interest in obtaining city water for their homes.

For those of you who responded to the survey, thank you for taking the time to do so.  Using this data we will be able to come up with possible route and cost scenarios, which we can present to the community.

Almost all of the survey responses also showed interest in attending a meeting, so they could learn more about the city water project.  A meeting is ideal, becuase it will make it easier to lay out the different scenarios, and explain the various costs and options avaialble.
 
So, we have arranged for a meeting to be held on the following date and place:

Time: Tuesday, February 7th, 6:30pm
Place: Bayside Village Hall (located at 9075 N. Regent Rd)

At the meeting we can discuss the results of the survey, the benefits of a city water conversion, some proposed routes, and of course the financing and the costs (which is what everyone wants to know).  We can then answer questions anyone may have.

Hope to see you all there!

... Howard

Whose water is it?

Hello neighbors,

So it has been a few days since the surveys were sent out, and so far we have been able to collect a lot of good data from fair number of respondents so far, but of course it could be a lot better.    For those of you who have responded to the survey, thank you so much for doing so.   These survey responses will do a lot of good, not just for those who will ultimately switch to city water, but to the rest of the neighborhood as well…

I have personally made it a point to call or email back anyone and everyone that calls the phone number (215-0671) or emails the address (northwaywater@gmail.com), to address all concerns and questions anyone may have.   Please, if you have questions or would like to know more feel free to call or email me with your message, and I will make sure to get back to you within a day.

One question (or misconception) that keeps popping up from people calling or emailing in is that there are concerns that the water from the Mequon water utility is coming from the wells in Mequon, and that the Mequon wells may have bad quality water.   People would prefer that the water come from Milwaukee instead of Mequon.

The Mequon water utility actually does not obtain its water supply from Mequon, and in fact they obtain their water supply from Milwaukee.  More specifically, to service this area, the Mequon water utility obtains its water supply from the North Shore Water Commission, which is the same entity that services Glendale, Whitefish Bay, and Fox Point.   The water is treated Lake Michigan water coming from the North Shore filtration plant, which is located near Nicolet high school. 

Please be assured that the water we are bringing in to this community is amongst the highest quality water in the country, and is tested and treated before it is pumped to the homes in the North Shore.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who has responded to the survey so far.   For those of you that have not responded, please make sure to do so by a week from Monday, January 16^th.

Hope all is well,

… Howard

Letter and surveys sent out

Hello neigbors, and welcome!

My name is Howard, I am the trustee of the Northway Water Co-Op #1, and I live in the neighborhood here on Navajo road.

If you are viewing this site, that means that you have received the survey in the mail, and would like to know more about the city water project we are launching for this subdivision.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read the letter, and for taking the time to visit this blog site. We sent out more than 200 surveys throughout the subdivision, and it is our hope that with this outreach we will find many more households in the area that are as frustrated with the water situation as we are, and would like to do something about it.

The blog site will be used to help keep everyone informed of the latest project developments, and answer questions people may have.  Please send your questions to the email address: northwaywater@gmail.com, and I will either answer it with an email, or post it to the blog as part of an FAQ so I can answer it for everyone.

If you haven't done so already, please head over to the survey site at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NorthwayWater and take a few minutes to answer the survey.   If you answer the survey online then there is no need to fill out and return the survey on paper.  Answering the survey does not commit you to anything or exclude you from anything, we simply want to use it to collect information at this point.

Again, welcome to the blog site and thank you for taking the time to answer the survey.   There are sure to be some developments over the next few days, so please keep checking back for the latest information.

Hope all is well,

.... Howard

Survey cover letter

This letter, along with a survey, will be circulated to all the residents of the Northway subdivision that are not already on the participating water trusts. 

Due to well water quality, safety, reliability, and ongoing cost issues, the Northway water co-op #1 and the Vista del Mar water trusts located in the Northway subdivision, are about to embark on a large joint project to convert our combined 40 homes to city water.  The water will be provided by the Mequon Water Utility.   Almost a year’s worth of planning has gone into the project so far, and we intend to have the conversion completed to city water by summer of 2012.

In order to lower our costs as much as possible, we hope to expand this project to the remaining households in the Northway subdivision.  As more households join the project, the cost of the project on a per-household basis will fall, so everyone can benefit as the project expands.

This letter is accompanied by a survey to gauge the level of interest of households in the Northway subdivision that are not members of the two water trusts.  If you have internet access, please answer the survey online at the web address http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/northwaywater, otherwise please fill out the included survey form.   Instructions for return are included on the survey form.

Currently we are looking at several different routes for the building of the public infrastructure (the system of water mains).   The responses to the survey will assist in making a final determination on which routes the infrastructure will take and which areas will be included.  If there is sufficient interest in other areas beyond the two water trusts, we will expand the project out to the interested households, and they will be able to join this project, if they choose to do so.

Because of the size of the combined water trusts, the project will be financed to make the costs more manageable to the member households.  Non-trust households that join us and take part in the initial project will have access to the same financing package, and enjoy the same benefits as in-trust households.  These benefits include economies of scale, a water utility revenue credit, and the collection of hook-up fees from non-participating households along the route that switch to city water at a later time.

It is unlikely that there will ever be a larger city water implementation in this area any time in the future.  Taking the size of this project into consideration, along with the current low interest rates for financing, and the current state of the economy which should bring us favorable contractor pricing, we believe that there will never be a better time to go forward with a project like this.  Furthermore, we also believe that the financial structure of the project should provide a cost advantage to those that participate with us in the initial project, rather than those that wait until later time to hook up to city water.

Please note the following:

• Just because your household is interested in joining with the project, it does not necessarily mean that the project will be expanded so it can service your home.  If yours is the only interested household in your area, it may be cost prohibitive to include your home. 
• If you are interested in city water and believe that your neighbors may be interested in converting to city water as well, then it is imperative for you talk to them and make sure that they answer this survey.  The survey results will assist in steering the project into areas with sufficient declared interest.
• Whether your household is interested or not, it is important for you to respond to the survey, as your input will help us with our future planning.
• Please answer the survey by the due date, Monday, January 16

If you have questions or would like to know more, please contact us via email at northwaywater@gmail.com, or by phone at (414) 215-0671.  For status updates and other useful information, please visit our blog at the web address http://northwaywater.blogspot.com