At a 2:00 PM meeting held at the Town of Paris Town Hall on October 11, 2016, officials of the Village of Somers, Town of Paris, City of Kenosha, and Kenosha Water Utility, announced they have reached an agreement to end boundary, water, and sewer battles. By doing so, all parties will take steps to dismiss pending litigation which could have carried on for quite some time without this agreement.
The Memorandum of Understanding is a historic document where all parties agree to permanent boundaries that follow a 50 year plan in addition to making water and sewer services available along the I-94 growth corridor. No Town of Paris owner of property located in the future growth area of the Village of Somers and the City of Kenosha will be forced to annex until the conclusion of the 50 year planning period where all property in the future growth areas will annex to either Somers or the City of Kenosha. The Village of Somers and Town of Paris have also agreed to revenue sharing in the Village future growth areas when development occurs. Click here to view boundary map.
Critical to the development of the I-94 corridor, the City of Kenosha and Kenosha Water Utility agree to provide municipal water/sanitary sewer service connection points at two permanent sites, (1) West of I-94 at a location to be determined by the Village of Somers, and (2) East of I-94 at the “Amazon, and a third temporary site at a point south of Highways S and H. Additionally, the City of Kenosha and Kenosha Water Utility will forgive and forego requiring the Town/Village of Somers to connect all current sanitary sewers into master meters thereby eliminating a significant cost to the Village.
“I am here to say that the water wars in the Kenosha area are over. There are no boundaries to worry about because the boundaries are set forever. There are no more battles on who gets water and how they get water. Water and sewer are available to everyone involved and the Kenosha area can continue to keep development momentum in the right direction”, stated Edward St. Peter, General Manager of Kenosha Water Utility.
Although all parties agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding, implementing final documents is a process. Within the next 45-55 days, it is expected each municipality will approve a Resolution authorizing this concept to go forward. The next step will then be a boundary agreement which will take approximately six months to one year to complete.
Meeting at Town of Paris Town Hall, October 11, 2016
Announcement of the Memorandum of Understanding
Left to Right: Mark Molinaro, Chairman, Town of Somers; Todd Battle, President KABA; Karl Otsby, Trustee, Village of Somers; Ed St. Peter, General Manager, Kenosha Water Utility; Ronald Kammerzelt, Supervisor, Town of Paris; George Stoner, President, Village of Somers; Virgil Gentz, Chairman, Town of Paris; Jim Krueser, County Executive, Kenosha County; John Antaramian, Mayor, City of Kenosha; Ken Monson, Supervisor, Town of Paris; Samatha Kerkman, State Representative
(Photo by Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson)
Left to Right: George Stoner, President, Village of Somers; Virgil Gentz, Chairman, Town of Paris; Jim Krueser, County Executive, Kenosha County; John Antaramian, Mayor, City of Kenosha
(Photo by Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson)