Muskego Launches $265,000 Test Pilot to Prevent Basement Back-Ups in 100 At-Risk Homes

Homeowners in four Muskego neighborhoods have been offered the chance to participate in a pilot program that uses Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) funds to help reduce basement back-ups during heavy storms, said City Engineer Dave Simpson at the Public Works meeting Monday night.

The program could ultimately include all of the homes in Muskego needing repairs if MMSD funds continue to be available as allocated, Simpson said.

Muskego is one of the first of 28 communities offered access to the funds to initiate work, Simpson said.  About 25% of the 100 homeowners who received letters inviting their participation have already responded they wish to join the pilot, Simpson said.

The response rate is “pretty darn good,” Simpson said in a post-meeting interview, “but it’s a pretty good program.” 

Homeowners are “essentially getting free money” through the grant program, Simpson said, a savings of up to $12,000 per home, depending on whether laterals need repair and what type of repair is required.

In addition, homeowners must sign a waiver agreeing to correct any plumbing code violations that exist on their property at their own expense before work can begin.

Many, but not all, of the homes included in the test pilot have suffered chronic problems, Simpson said.  For example, “Freedom Acres has about 70 homes at risk and quite a few have had basement back-ups,” he said.

All of the homes in the pilot program are considered "at risk" for basement back-ups.

The pilot will draw on $265,000 in MMSD funds and is expected to run from August through the end of October 2011.  That would leave over $1.2 million available to repair laterals at other Muskego homes. 

“We can’t do all 9,000 homes at once,” Simpson said, but the plan is to roll the program out to as many qualified Muskego homes as possible over the next 10 years.  “That could solve a lot of problems,” said Alderman Keith Werner.

Detailed information on the test pilot program is available by clicking here.