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Radtke Contractors faces state fine for lake work (UPDATE)

By: Adam Wise, [email protected]//June 23, 2011//

Radtke Contractors faces state fine for lake work (UPDATE)

By: Adam Wise, [email protected]//June 23, 2011//

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By Adam Wise

A Winneconne contractor must pay $60,000 as part of a settlement with the state for illegal grading and construction of a seawall and riprap in Lake Butte des Morts, according to the Wisconsin attorney generals office.

Radtke Contractors Inc. also must remove rock riprap in some places and deconstruct portions of an estimated 166-foot lakeside seawall, according to court documents. The contractor, according to the settlement, has until Sept. 1 to do the work.

In October 2007, Radtke sought a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources to repair existing rock riprap along 285 feet of shoreline on Lake Butte des Morts in Winnebago County, according to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice.

Riprap, which is a loosely built wall of stone, is used to prevent soil erosion along waterways.

Among the requirements of the permit, Radtke had to replace the riprap within the original footprint and not extend the riprap more than 8 feet into the water from the ordinary high-water mark, which is the point where the action of the water leaves its mark on the shoreline, according to the DNR.

Radtke also built a seawall and graded more than 10,000-square-feet of lake bed without a permit, according to the complaint. The company sought an after-the-fact permit, which was denied.

The main stipulation in the case focused on the high-water mark, said Charles Sweeney, an attorney for Madison-based Axley Brynelson LLP who represented Radtke in the case.

“Our client believes they set the ordinary high-water mark that was appropriate,” he said. “After the fact, they found out there were other ordinary high-water marks set there years ago.

“It’s a difference of a few feet.”

The name of the property owner who hired Radtke for the project was omitted from legal the complaint. Sweeney would not provide the name.

The 2007 DNR permit also required Radtke call Shawn Eisch, a DNR water management specialist, to notify the department when the project started and when it ended. Sweeney said Radtke never made the calls.

“The guy in charge of permitting (at Radtke) at the time — they were in transition and he is no longer there,” Sweeney said. “The individual no longer there likely didn’t follow procedure. There was a failure to communicate.”

Eisch did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tom Radtke, owner of Radtke Contractors, also did not respond.

Sweeney said Radtke would complete all of the work outlined, as well as confirming the work with the DNR, by the September deadline.

“My client believes they didn’t do anything wrong to this day,” Sweeney said. “They might have missed the notification, but other than that, it was a pretty minor situation.

“With the cost of litigating (compared) to moving on, they felt it better to move on.”

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