Waukesha - Although state officials say it is an unsafe structure, it will be at least six months to a year before Margaret Zerwekh's mill pond dam is removed, according to testimony during an administrative law hearing today.

Some of Zerwekh's neighbors who live on the mill pond and object to having the dam removed are scheduled to testify tommorrow in the hearing on whether the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources should issue a permit to have the dam removed.

State Dam Safety Engineer William Sturtevant urged Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Boldt to deny a request  by the neighbors to delay by an additional 90 days the issuing of the permit.

The neighbors say they want more time to try to work out an agreement with Zerwekh to have the dam rebuilt - at an estimated cost of about $600,000 to $800,000 - rather than removed.

Sturtevant says further delays in the permit approval process could mean the dam removal will not be completed until next summer or possibly early next year.

DNR is already required to wait 120 days before issuing the permit if it is approved by Boldt.

Earlier in the day, Michelle Schneider, another DNR dam engineer, said after the dam was damaged during flooding in June state officials discovered that the structure's concrete was crumbling and there were rust holes in some of the steel beams.

Sturtevant said there is no immediate threat to the public, provided there is no flooding similar to what was caused by torrential rain fall last summer, because stop logs in the dam gates were gradually removed to slowly drain the 11 acre mill pond.

City of Delafield - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the city have reached a compromise over DNR's plans to plant grass and vegetation seeds on the mud flats created by drainage of the mill pond of Margaret Zerwekh's Nemahbin Roller Mill Dam located at Main Street and Mill Road.

The mill pond has been slowly receding as a result of DNR ordering that boards in the dam spill way be removed to gradually drain the pond in order to relieve presssure on the dam after flooding in June and July threatened the stability of the dam, according to state officials.

Two weeks ago, the Common Council delayed DNR's plans by refusing to allow the agency to plant grass and vegatation seed on city right of way located between the pond shore line and the property line of homeowners residing along the pond.

DNR officials said they wanted to plant grass and vegatation in order to stablize the newly created banks of the Bark River and to reduce the amount sediment that would flow from the bottom of the mill pond down stream into the Nemahbin Lakes.

City alderpersons said they did not want the mud flats seeded with grass and vegatation that might interfere with the restoration of the pond in the event the dam was repaired rather than removed.

Some homeowners who live along the pond have objected to DNR's plans to issue Zerwekh a permit to remove the dam.

Zerwekh says she wants the dam removed because she cannot afford build a new spillway on the dam that has been described as a "high hazard" by the state because of the potential loss of lives and property if the dam failed.

Jim McNelly of the DNR told the Common Council Monday night that an agreement had been reached. City officials had agreed to allow the department to  plant winter wheat on the city right of way and land owned by the objecting property owners.

The winter wheat would die this year and would be replanted next year, if necessary, McNelly said.

The mixture of grass and vegatation seed that DNR originally intended to use would be planted on mud flats along Zerwekh's property.

The seeding was completed last week, according to McNelly.

City of Delafield - City officials were optimistic Saturday morning that a crisis may have passed and it appears no longer likely that Lake Nagawicka will rise high enough to overflow the earthen, concrete and steel dam that stretches across St. John's Bay.

Fire Chief Jack Edwards briefed the Common Council Saturday morning and told them that the  water levels on the lake continued to drop over night Friday, according to Mayor Ed McAleer.

McAleer said city engineers believe there is enough water storage capacity in the lake to absorb any further rain storms that would create more run off from the Bark River.

McAleer said a surge of water north from the Bark River is anticipated over the weekend as a result of the heavy rain storms Thursday.

The amount of water stored in the lake and later released south into the Bark River can be manually controlled by opening and closing the gates.

Water levels on the Upper Nemahbin Mill Pond, about a mile downstream on the Bark River, also appeared to be lower Saturday morning.

Margaret Zerwekh, owner of the mill pond dam, said Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource officials ordered more lumber boards removed from the dam Friday which resulted in lower water levels.

Adding or removing boards in the nearly 180 year old dam can adjust water levels in the pond similar to opening or closing steel gates in modern dams, she said.

Earlier in the week, city and state officials had been concerned that Lake Nawicka might overflow the dam because of the more than eight inches of run that drenched the region last week end.

City of Delafield - Fire Chief Jack Edwards says city officials are "confident" that the 900 acres of water on Lake Nagawicka will not over flow the earthen, concrete and steel dam that stretches across St. Johns Bay, on the north edge of the city's downtown business district.

Edwards said that an inspection of the dam at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning revealed that the lake level had lowered about two and half to three inches since Wednesday morning when city officials became concerned about the possibility of the lake overflowing the dam and creating a disasterous flood downstream on the Bark River.

"We are confident there is not going to be an over flow," the Fire Chief said Thursday afternoon.

However, Edwards acknowledged city officials do not know how much rain might cause the lake to swell enough to raise concerns again about lake levels and the dam.

The fire chief said that Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource officials may ask the city to open the dam gates wider in order to prevent the lake overflowing the dam during the weekend because of additional rain fall.

The city can manually control the gates of the dam but, as Edwards pointed out, the wider the gates opened the greater the danger of flooding downstream.

Town of Summitt Police Chief James Race said about 13 homes downstream along the Bark River have been flooded.

Edwards said a residence and two commercial buildings along Mill Street, which is north of the St. John's Bay dam on the edge of the downtown business district, have been flooded.

City workers and volunteers spent much of Wednesday and Thursday filling and stacking sandbags on the north and south ends of the earthen dam, on the nearby Highway C bridge, and along Mill Street.

Conditions have also improved at the Upper Nemahbin Mill Dam and pond about a mile downstream from the St. Joh's Bay Dam where state officials became concerned about a possible breach of the dam late yesterday afternoon, according to Edwards.

An abandoned dam race adjacent to home of Margaret Zerwekh, 88, who owns the dam and mill pond, became flooded when wooden barriers at the race opening were ripped away by water pressure from the pond.

Water gushed through the race ripping tearing out some of the Lannon Stone Channel and causing state officials to be concerned that the force of the water through the race might cause a breach in the earthen dam.

Contractors for Zerwekh were able to install sheet metal across the race opening to reduce the flow of water.

City of Delafield- The Common Council has been called into an emergency session scheduled for 1 p.m. this afternoon to review the city's emergency response plan.

Acting City Administrator Marilyn Czubkowski said city officials want to review the plan because of growing concern over water levels on Lake Nagawicka.

Czubkowski said that the gates on the St. John's Bay Dam are wide open, water is running over the spillway and the water level on the lake is increasing.

She said there is concern about what may happen if there is additional rain and water on the lake continues to rise.

City officials have also been meeting with Margaret Zerwekh, the owner of the Upper Nemahbin Lake Mill Dam, which is about a mile southwest of the city owned St. John's Bay Dam, acccording to Czubkowski.

Zerwekh said yesterday that she had removed four of the wooden slats that are part of the gate of the nearly 180 old wood and grist mill dam. She said the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had requested additional slates be removed but she was encountered problems removing the slats because they had been bolted together with metal plating.

City of Delafield - Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warned Tuesday night that they will begin to lower the water levels of the Upper Nemahbin Lake mill pond later this summer unless the community begins making progress in determing whether a dam owned by city resident Margaret Zerwekh is going to be removed or rebuilt.

"There are dams failing throughout this state," said DNR Basin Supervisor Jim D' Antuono following a weekend of torential rain storms that have endangered some dams in Wisconsin.

"I do not want to come here in October and November and have to pull boards out of the gates of that dam because it is failing and have all of the sediment going down the river," he said following an information meeting on a proposal by Zerwekh to remove the dam.

DNR Dam Safety Engineer Brent Binder said the agency would prefer to gradually lower the water levels in the pond this summer or fall and reduce the amount of sediment that would flow down stream in the event of a dam failure.

Binder says the dam, which has been in need of repairs for more than a decade, is safe but is considered to be a "high hazard" because of the potential loss of lives and property downstream on the Bark River in the event the dam failed.

Zerwekh is seeking permission from the DNR to remove the dam because she cannot afford to pay for rebuilding the dam spillway which DNR says is necessary.

About eight homeowners who live along the mill pond are objecting to the removal and instead want the 169 year old dam and pond preserved. However, the group has not explained how they plan to raise the estimated $685,000 to $800,000 that would be needed to rebuild the dam.

Meanwhile, the Upper Nemahbin Lake Management District has asked DNR to appoint an administrative law judge to conduct a contested hearing regarding any plans the agency might propose for removing the dam.

Tim Mentkowski, chairman of the district, says residents along Upper Nemahbin Lake want to be sure that if the dam is removed, Zerwekh and the agency have a plan that will prevent much of 55,000 cubic yards of silt in the pond from being deposited in the lake.

Binder said DNR will work with Mentkowski in an effort to reach an agreement that would make the hearing unnecessary. Binder acknowledged that if the legal proceeding is conducted it could delay for months decisions on how the dam would be removed.

Mentkowski emphasized the lake management district is not taking a position on whether the dam should be removed or preserved but district officials want to make sure Upper Nemahbin Lake is protected if the dam is removed.