Politics & Government
Judge Allows Town of Brookfield Incorporation Effort to Proceed
Judge says law isn't ambiguous and Town of Waukesha lands can be submitted as part of the plan sent to the state Department of Administration.
The Town of Brookfield has taken the first big step forward in incorporating a village.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Donald Hassin Jr. ruled Thursday the petition to incorporate Brookfield as a village can proceed to the state Department of Administration for review. If approved by the state agency, the measure then would go to a referendum vote by residents in the area proposed to be incorporated.
The area requested to become an incorporated area does include the Town of Waukesha which objected to inclusion, but Hassin said at this stage of the process, it may be more beneficial for the Town of Waukesha to look toward a referendum.
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“I’m not insensitive to the concerns of the Town of Waukesha,” he said.
Lawyers for both towns, Waukesha, Brookfield and Sussex were present at the court hearing Thursday as municipalities raised issues with the incorporation effort, such as the potential of Town of Waukesha residents being part of the newly incorporated area.
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Because of the rules governing how incorporation takes place, even if all of the Town of Waukesha residents voted against incorporation in the referendum and the measure still passed, they would be part of the new village.
Attorney Douglas Hoffer, who represented Town of Waukesha, said the Town of Brookfield was trying to take advantage of a loophole in the law on what areas can be incorporated under a petition because statutes simply don’t say if it is permissible or not. But Jim Hammes, the Town of Brookfield's attorney who is representing the petitioners, argued that isn’t the case.
“To call this a loophole is a giant leap,” Hammes said.
The incorporation petitioners will now submit the plans to the state for review by the Incorporation Review Board along with a $25,000 application fee.
It is the third review of a Waukesha County incorporation in the past two years, with Summit winning its effort to become a village in 2010 and Town of Lisbon being denied last year.
on the town's incorporation request.