Grand Chute Needs Supervisors Who Listen

Hi, my name is Dave Van Eperen.  I am a resident of Grand Chute since 1974 and up until the year 2000 I didn’t pay much attention to who was on the town board as I didn’t have any issues.

I purchased a 20-acre parcel of beautiful wooded land in 1984 for hunting at the north end of Casaloma Drive.  This land was part of my father-in-law’s farm. He passed away in 1983.

In the year 2000, Bentwood Estates subdivision located at the corner of Capital Drive and Casaloma Drive, which is the south end of my land, was built. This subdivision had three retention ponds that collected all the storm water, which consisted of the water during a rain event from roof tops and roadways plus all the sump pump water from each of the 32 houses.  These ponds were approved by the Grand Chute Town Board Chairperson Michael Marsden to drain 100% of this water onto my property and flood my land.

A second subdivision Whispering Grove Estates has 19 houses located on the north end of Casaloma Drive that was built in 2005, which has one retention pond located on the west side of my property and 100% of this pond drains onto my property.  The Grand Chute Town Board Chairperson Dave Schowalter approved this flooding to occur and both these subdivisions turned my woods into a lake, killing 50% of my trees.

In 2020, after many years of trying to resolve this water issue with the town, I sent a 43-page letter packet, which included many pictures showing the devastation and the amount of water on my land to Dave Schowalter and the supervisors, which consisted of Jeff Nooyen, Travis Thyssen, Jeff Ings, and Brad Gehring.   Jeff Ings and Brad Gehring still serve on this current board in 2024.  I never received any response from Dave Schowalter or any of the other board members except for Jeff Ings, who contacted me and toured my property to see the damage and was a voice to the board but was out-numbered by the other board members that didn’t seem to care.

There is another subdivision with ponds north of Casaloma Drive and a ditch that continues to flood the wooded property of other neighbors.  After being flooded out for over 20 years, Jim March, Town Administrator, and Katie Schwartz, Public Works Director, both are no longer employed by the town, were of no help in resolving my flooding issue until 2020 when the Casaloma Drive reconstruction project occurred, which included redirecting the pond water most of the time from Bentwood Estates to the legal drain.  I asked Jim March for assistance in rebuilding my woods by planting trees that I have lost.  He said, “No” and also stated, “Go ahead and sue the town.” His mindset and inappropriate response, under the direction of Chairperson Dave Schowalter, gave me the impression he was encouraging legal action.

My question to the residents of Grand Chute is whether Supervisor #4 Brad Gehring is the type of board member we want representing us for two more years?  He has demonstrated in this case that he is not looking out for the residents.  He wants to continue to build the tax base just like the previous two town chairpersons, at all cost, until all the farm land is used up. It appears to me he doesn’t understand or care about the flooding issues that go along with these developments.   Supervisor #2 Jeff Ings shows he cares and is the right person for this job as he represents the residents, shows concern with flooding issues and supports getting rid of special assessments.