GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The city of Green Bay is preparing to take emergency action to stabilize a dike that sits between the bay and a two-mile stretch of homes on the city’s east side.
There’s concern the dike might not hold up with the recent high water levels and strong storms.
The dike, which was built in 1973, starts near Bay Beach Amusement Park and ends near Mahon Creek or Nicolet Drive.
“dike right now is fragile, frail,” said Ted Pappas, who has lived in the neighborhood most his life. “It’s like an older person is trying to fight this virus-thing off.”
East Shore Drive area residents like Pappas tell FOX 11 they’ve been asking the City of Green Bay to fix the dike dividing their backyards from the bay for years.
“The dike has lacked maintenance over the last 20 to 30 years. You can tell by looking at the rocks behind me that they’ve been subject to a lot of abuse.”
A city memo states in May 2019 the dike didn’t have signs of imminent failure, but another look after a strong storm in December showed damage in need of a ‘larger magnitude project.’
“If we keep getting hit with big waves like we did, it’s eventually going to take its toll,” said Steve Grenier, Green Bay Public Works Director.
“Something is going to happen, which is why we need to do the repairs now, so yeah the repairs are definitely needed, but as things sit today, I can’t say that dike is in danger of breaching, no.”
The city has been considering four repair options, but Grenier says only one is currently viable.
Grenier tells FOX 11 with the necessary approvals, the city could spend $2.5 million this year to start applying a large riprap type protection along the dike.
“We’ve got that much set aside, we’re going to take that as far as we can this year, see how far that gets us to give us an idea of what we may need additionally for next year. So, we’re going to go out there, we’re going to armor that slope and see how far it takes us, but right now there is no good way to estimate how much rock is needed because the water levels are so high and it’s hiding the lower portion of the dike.”
Unlike other repair options, Grenier says this plan does not require waiting for permits. He says the DNR informed the city the work can be done right away as emergency action. The permit would still need to be obtained after the work is complete.
When asked for a ballpark figure on how much it would cost to apply the stabilization to the entire dike, Grenier says it could be more than $20 million. Right now, there isn’t a plan for how that work could be paid for.
“I’m just glad they’re going to do something,” said Pappas. “I just wish they could do the whole thing at once, but I know it’s not feasible.”
The city hopes to put the $2.5 million it currently has to work soon. Property owners and the city council have to sign off on it first.
Grenier says the finance committee could take up the expense at its meeting next week.
The city admits more work needs to be done beyond the stabilization.
This stabilization plan would not prevent flooding that some of the properties have seen during recent storms, according to Grenier. He says putting in that type of protection would require further city council approval.
