Juneau declared disaster area

By Paul Marose for the Daily Times
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 12:55 PM CDT

JUNEAU - Mayor Ron Bosak officially declared Juneau a disaster area Tuesday night, the first step toward acquiring federal money to help in the wake of last weekend's downpours and floods.

The declaration, presented and unanimously approved by the council, followed earlier action by Dodge County and the state as they seek funds from the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

“The county passed (a declaration) that covered us, but it always is good to have one of your own,” Juneau Emergency Government Director Dave Beal told the council.

Dodge County is one of 30 counties in which the governor had declared a state of emergency.

Beal also reported on a meeting at city hall earlier in the day at which department heads and city officials joined to discuss responses to the emergency that flooded streets and basements and overwhelmed Juneau's wastewater treatment plant.

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He said the city plans an extra garbage collection Thursday during which storm-damaged items may be placed on the curb for pickup prior to regular trash collection.

Juneau Utility Commission President and assistant fire chief Dan Wegener reported on measures taken by those two agencies to control damage when rain and wind lashed Juneau this weekend.

“We were washed out; there was no two ways about it,” Wegener told the council.

Torrential rains may have overwhelmed Juneau's wastewater treatment facilities, but not before a coalition of public crews and private citizens staved off more-extensive flooding, Wegener said.

The strain on the treatment plant began to subside Monday, Schaefer said.

“We were working with three main pumps and five others, now we're down to one auxiliary pump and the three mains,” he said.

In his annual, compliance maintenance report to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, approved by the city council, Schaefer said, “The city is addressing peak flow management needs, as well as performing major maintenance on its clarifiers in 2008. Peak flow management will be improved by upgrading the three existing raw wastewater pumps, as well as adding a fourth pump.”